FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory (popularmechanics.com)

Alien conspiracy theories are swirling after an observatory in New Mexico has been unexpectedly closed due to an unnamed "security issue," prompting evacuations and a visit from the FBI. "The Sunspot Observatory is now currently closed to both staff and the public, with no word on why or when it will be open again," reports Popular Mechanics. From the report: "We have decided to vacate the facility at this time as precautionary measure," said spokesperson Shari Lifson to the Alomogordo Daily News. "The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy who manages the facility is addressing a security issue at this time." Lifson said that the facility was first evacuated on September 6 and has remained closed since then. According to Lifson, the observatory has no date for reopening yet.

As part of the investigation into the security issue, the observatory has contacted the FBI, which has been reported on the scene with multiple agents and a Blackhawk helicopter. According to local sheriff Benny House, the agency has been working with local law enforcement but refuses to share any details. The sheriff speculated that the evacuation could be due to some kind of threat made against the facility or its staff, but expressed confusion as to why local police would be left out of the loop. "If that's the case, why didn't they call us and let us deal with it?" he said. "I don't know why the FBI would get involved so quick and not tell us anything."
UPDATE (9/22/18): A warrant application filed in the case suggests the closure involved an FBI investigation into child pornography.

Comments

Aliens

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not going to say it was aliens. But it was aliens. Ancient alien investigators agree.

Re:Aliens

[elrous0]

Maybe they've come back to build us some more pyramids.

Re:Aliens

[volodymyrbiryuk]

Refering us to the SUN eh... you could as well give us an Alex Jones video. At least that would be entertaining.

Re:Aliens

[wooferhound]

The Movie "2010: the Year We Make Contact" is finally coming true . . .

Re:hacking

[Calydor]

In that case you don't publicize that you're swarming around the area, you send a single computer geek to the observatory to plant fake data for the equipment to sniff, then see where it ends up.

Andromenda Strain anyone?

[bickerdyke]

So the Andromeda strain is here.....

for some strange reason, I loved that movie as a kid. On the other hand, that might explain a lot nowadays...

Re:Andromenda Strain anyone?

[Zorro]

More likely a training exercise.

Eight story structure in the middle of nowhere near a large Army base.

Less people to freak-out than if you did it in NYC or LA.

Re:Andromenda Strain anyone?

[CaptainDork]

This is actually not farfetched.

While the telescope was scoping out Andromeda, the observer at the scope licked the glass membrane that separates the photons that hit the mirror from also hitting the tongue.

Using the field equations put forth by Ben Carson, we find that contamination on one side of the eyepiece and the photoelectric effect on the other side can, within the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, enable quantum tunneling by the Boring Co. ball cap that the observer was wearing at the time.

Whether this actually happened, we must defer and refer to Schrödinger's cat.

Re:Andromenda Strain anyone?

[amicusNYCL]

Why hide a training exercise? Why not tell the local law enforcement?

Re:Andromenda Strain anyone?

[RockDoctor]

Err, it's a SUNSPOT telescope.

There's a very good chance that it couldn't even image Andromeda - either the constellation, or the nearby galaxy on he borders of that constellation.

Re:Andromenda Strain anyone?

[bickerdyke]

Oh. Then it's "Anathem" Sorry, wrong novel....

And somehow, locking up the smart people for the common AND their own good sounds somehow appealing nowadays.

First probable cause

[hcs_$reboot]

"Alien conspiracy theories are swirling", which is, from the set of probable causes the most unlikely reason by far. Instead of fantasizing, would be more interesting to list a few of the likely causes.

Re:First probable cause

[neoRUR]

Yea, they were running out of show ideas and were tired of talking about the Pyramids, so they got proactive and went out there and created their own news.

Re:First probable cause

[loonycyborg]

Resonance cascade. They got carried away re-enacting events of Half-life.

Re:First probable cause

[atrex]

Probably the gestapo shutting down climate change research.

Re:First probable cause

[The Angry Mick]

The air conditioner went out

Espionage ?

[hoofie]

Pretty Simple really:
1)Overlooks White Sands Missile Range.
2)Large Tower.
3)Suspicion of surveillance devices placed on tower/systems that should not be there.

Re:Espionage ?

[Zocalo]

Note also that at least some the Observatory staff are in the loop having seemingly called in the FBI in the first place, but the local police are not. That's pushing me more towards with the epsionage angle too, possibly as a result of the staff having discovered and identified the most likely purpose of some additional equipment on the tower and knowing that would fall under the FBI's jurisdiction. Post Office angle is a bit of a puzzle, but maybe something to do with data exfiltration?

Re:Espionage ?

[Jane Q. Public]

Who would put surveillance equipment in a solar observatory when its findings are basically public anyway?

That doesn't make a lot of sense.

Re:Espionage ?

[muecksteiner]

Someone finds an espionage device on the tower?

The sane response to that would be to send a geek with a screwdriver to unmount it, and have it analysed in a lab. Not to lock everything down, and send a Blackhawk.

Unless you are also suspecting that any espionage kit you find will be booby-trapped with an insanely strong explosive. But that is pushing things *very* far.

Re:Espionage ?

[Zocalo]

The function of the observatory has nothing to do with it, but it does have a large tower that overlooks the White Sands missile range and a couple of airbases used for testing new aviation tech. Besides the benefit of greater altitude and a clear line of sight, the tower also potentially offers a much better place to try and stash some electronic surveillance equipment in the hope that might get overlooked amidst all the legit gear mounted on it compared to trying to figure out a way to locate it in any of the other surrounding viewpoints that also overlook the area.

Re: Espionage ?

[phantomfive]

Even if it had explosives, the helicopter wouldn't be much use.

Re: Espionage ?

[muecksteiner]

Even if it had explosives, the helicopter wouldn't be much use.

Except to bring in a ordnance disposal team, in case that was the quickest way to get specialists there. Hazmat and bomb disposal people often need a lot of kit, so a larger helicopter like a Blackie can, depending on circumstances and the threat in question, actually be warranted.

Re:Espionage ?

[Smidge204]

> The sane response to that would be to send a geek with a screwdriver to unmount it, and have it analysed in a lab. Not to lock everything down, and send a Blackhawk.

No, because tampering with evidence in what may become a serious federal investigation may get you into even more trouble.

If this hypothesis is correct, then it makes sense that government spooks would be all over it; They want to secure the device ASAP, keep everyone without adequate security clearance away, and keep the details as secret as possible for as long as possible. Nothing good can come from letting a potential enemy/spy learn about what you may or may not know.
=Smidge=

Re:Espionage ?

[muecksteiner]

No, because tampering with evidence in what may become a serious federal investigation may get you into even more trouble.

What I meant was actually to send an FBI geek over, not any random sysadmin dude. In a situation like this, it can be quite advantageous if the people who placed any such device are not immediately alerted to the fact that their gizmo might have been discovered.

Instead, they sent the cavalry. Inconspicuous this ain't.

Re:Espionage ?

[Smidge204]

> Instead, they sent the cavalry.

Without knowing exactly what's going on, there's no way to know if this response is appropriate or unreasonable.

=Smidge=

Re: Espionage ?

[NormalVisual]

Or if you have to get men and equipment out there, and do it quickly enough so as to not give someone warning before your arrival.

Re:Espionage ?

[ArchieBunker]

If it was why would the feds come in and make a big deal? That stuff is usually handled quietly. Plus the local post office was shut down. Most likely someone mailed something they shouldn't.

Re:Espionage ?

[rtb61]

Error, does not computer. That would the Inspector Clouseau method https://www.youtube.com/watch?.... The way a real investigatory agency would handle it of course, would be to very, very quietly disable the device and see who would come to repair it, spy vs spy for dummies volume 1. Now of course if they were looking to install secret devices for some reason without anyone looking, well, then yes, some bullshit story to hide installation of the device or devices from all staff at the facility they are apparently spying upon. So apparently they suspect someone at that facility of being somewhat naughty. Shutting the facility down, means hiding it inside the facility, people at the National Solar Observatory, you are now being watched, probably in more rooms than you suspect, quick joint in the lavs, well, expect to be extorted or imprisoned. Woo hoo great fun to work for the US government because the corporations trust you the least of all because you can not be as readily corrupted.

Still pretty clumsy and smells of the incompetence of political appointees. Someone doing, something with those computers and that high bandwidth access.

Re:Espionage ?

[AlwinBarni]

Lock down and evacuation helps to prevent erasing any evidence. Why not a Blackhawk, how else efficiently and quickly to get there?

Re:Espionage ?

[number6x]

They also closed the local post office. So there must have been evidence of something being shipped to the observatory.

It may have been physical evidence, or it may have been some kind of intelligence gathered.

I remember one incident when I-25 was shut down because of a shipment of radioactive rebar from Juarez.

A lot of the press coverage back then was focused on the environmental concerns. I was an undergrad at New Mexico Tech at the time. All of us science and engineering geeks immediately started thinking about the fact that the government must have had detectors for radiation installed at the borders, or along the path the truck traveled. I know that sound pretty standard to most people in the post 9/11 world, but back in the 1980's secret radiation detectors and surveillance were things that only 'evil empire' communist governments did. The good ole' US of A would never have secret detectors deployed in America! How naive we were.

Who knows what the evidence is in this case causing the shutdown, but the post office closing as well does point to something being shipped there.

BTW, many of you have probably heard of New Mexico Tech from either the VLA or, more likely, from watching Mythbusters. If you are a first responder who took a terrorist or bomb training course, it may have been at NMT. NMT was a great place to go to school. I could not imagine going to one of those universities most people go to where students are either partying or in class. We were either in class, building stuff, or blowing stuff up. Blowing it up in the name of research, of course!

Re:Espionage ?

[mysidia]

and keep the details as secret as possible for as long as possible.

Exactly... which is why it is more likely whatever the threat is puts the entire facility or people there in immediate danger to require the evacuation and closure -- this is probably not some surveillance device they discovered.

Putting in the News headlines "Sunspot Observatory closed due to security problem" is not quite keeping their discovery secret, and likely the last thing they would want.

Likely the response wouldn't be "evacuate" the facility --- they'd send a team in off-hours including some key staff from the facility and work in a clandestine manner so as to keep the discovery confidential.

Re:Espionage ?

[mysidia]

Probably something involving a response to some threat someone made or a possible biological agent received.

My thinking is if the security folks found something like an explosive or suspicious package, they would have already sent the bomb squad and detonated it after evacuating for a day or less --- although there might be difficulties doing so at such high altitude: the news headlines would already say what the threat is.

On the other hand, if they have INFORMATION that a potential hazard will exist which they haven't yet been able to find or identify yet, for example someone called in a threat, or they discovered a suspicious chemical or biological agent that could be a potent poison, bioweapon, or radiation hazard, then that could warrant keeping the place quarantined for a longer period of time; it may also be that there is a new kind of hazard that they want to keep secret for now.

Re:Espionage ?

[mysidia]

So apparently they suspect someone at that facility of being somewhat naughty. Shutting the facility down, means hiding it inside the facility, people at the National Solar Observatory, you are now being watched, probably in more rooms than you suspect

If that was true, they still wouldn't close the whole facility --- they would work with management on the staffing schedules to figure out the off-hour times perhaps at 3AM when their team could be in and out in 10 minutes with nobody noticing for each particular room.

Re:Espionage ?

[jythie]

Evacuation makes sense if you want everyone out of the building so it can be picked apart and examined.

Re:Espionage ?

[Talderas]

The evacuation and continued site closure just means that the FBI doesn't trust that the staff aren't responsible for the suspicious item. That's not to be confused with the FBI suspecting members of the staff are responsible for it. This is just a move to protect the site from tampering by the actors that placed the suspicious item and possibly to try to get the perpetrator anxious enough to flinch in a way that outs themselves.

Re:Espionage ?

[Comrade Ogilvy]

Secrecy also protects suspects who may be innocent.

Hypothetically speaking, rather than announce that "Chinese scientists are spying for China" and end up tarring the reputation of a dozen people, they could do a careful investigation and winnow the suspect list down to the actual 1 or 2 people who are responsible for a particular suspect device.

Re:Espionage ?

[mr.mctibbs]

I graduated from NMT in the mid-2000s. Dunno how it is now, but blowing shit up, breaking into any and everything physical or digital, and related hijinks were still the primary entertainment when I was there.

Re:Espionage ?

[Chelloveck]

They also closed the local post office. So there must have been evidence of something being shipped to the observatory.

The entire "town" of Sunspot is half a mile in diameter and consists of the observatory, the post office, and a few dozen houses. Probably has nothing to do with the post office. The FBI probably just evacuated the whole place and the local postmaster was a convenient point of contact for the media to interview.

It's a distraction

[HornyBastard]

The FBI is just doing this to get the conspiracy nuts to focus their attention on something minor while they do something else that they do not want people to know about.

(Or they share my sense of humour, and are doing this just to mess with crazy people)

Re:It's a distraction

[blindseer]

Or it's because the observatory lies on federal land, a national forest.

The FBI does this quite often, according to a former FBI agent friend of mine. A national forest will have a police force from the US Forest Service but if it's more than they can handle for some reason then they call in for help from the FBI. On some federal properties the FBI is the primary law enforcement. As this observatory, and the land it sits on, is managed by multiple federal government agencies I'm guessing that there are FBI agents there regularly.

Re:It's a distraction

[HornyBastard]

I was not aware of that. thank you.
But that still does not explain why they closed the observatory.

This is embarrassing.

[Gravis Zero]

Look, guys, it's not whatever you were thinking. I hate to admit it but I'm the reason they shut the place down. Honestly, I had no idea that RIAA would go so crazy that I was torrenting/seeding a crappy Justin Bieber album and ignored the DMCA notices. I'm really sorry, I didn't think it was that big a deal, really. ;)

Let's have some fun!

[war4peace]

Big rock coming our way, discovered by that facility. Silence needs to be kept, FBI will do the job.

Re: Let's have some fun!

[drewlake2000]

If you think they've got that power, why didn't they cover up the cover up?

Re:Let's have some fun!

[mysidia]

This particular observatory is staring at the sun; not looking for big rocks.

Re:Let's have some fun!

[froggyjojodaddy]

Wait. You're saying the SUN is coming our way??? We're all doomed!

Re:Let's have some fun!

[RockDoctor]

Actually, that's one of the slightly less stupid scenarios. The PHA (Potentially Hazardous Asteroid) survey telescopes can't both survey the night sky and the near-solar sky (it's too bright), so they only search for things 40-odd degrees from the sun's position. So it is relatively credible for a large object to come in from the Sun's direction, having been deflected from an orbit which didn't seem to be particularly hazardous. But the credible windows of size, albedo, and orbital characteristics are fairly small, for large objects. The Chelyabinsk meteor(-ite) of 2013 came in from a solar direction (flight path from the east, early morning), but that wasn't a large object.

In practice, there are several space-based solar observatories (STEREO, SOHO, soon Parker) which have some chance of spotting objects in a near-solar trajectory. But that still wouldn't give much warning - a few hours to a few days. Which is worse than useless.

Re:Let's have some fun!

[mysidia]

So it is relatively credible for a large object to come in from the Sun's direction, having been deflected from an orbit which didn't seem to be particularly hazardous. But the credible windows of size, albedo, and orbital characteristics are fairly small, for large objects.

Fair enough.... on the other hand: just because an object comes from the Sun's direction does not necessarily mean it crosses the path of a telescope zoomed in at the sun in a manner that the telescope will detect an object and be able to determine anything....

Re:Let's have some fun!

[RockDoctor]

just because an object comes from the Sun's direction does not necessarily mean it crosses the path of a telescope zoomed in at the sun in a manner that the telescope will detect an object and be able to determine anything.

... those are questions addressed at the design stage of your PHA-survey programme. When SL-9 created 20000km-diameter impact damage scars on Jupiter, funding became available for implementing some of those plans.

Arizona laboratory codenamed

[phantomfive]

Black Mesa

Re:Arizona laboratory codenamed

[Mashiki]

Wake up, Mister Freeman. Wake up and ... smell the ashes.

Re:Arizona laboratory codenamed

[Nidi62]

Black Mesa

Well, the place is technically full of G Men now

Re:Arizona laboratory codenamed

[thedarb]

That was a joke. Ha Ha. Fat Chance!

Occams Razor has ruined fun.

[AbRASiON]

I can't read comments to stuff like this anymore, or imagine away fantastic things.

It's very likely something exceedingly mundane and or probably the FBI over reacting to something.
Example, they discovered aliens? Oh no! Shut it down! It's not like any other obs towers exist on earth...

(Etc)

It'll be fairly basic stuff. Man be lovely it was some kind of Melancholia scenario but I doubt it.

Re:Occams Razor has ruined fun.

[Thyamine]

Yes, I was thinking the same thing. It would be great if this was something cool, but it's probably extremely mundane.

Re: Spy Planes?

[Anonymous Coward]

Unlikely. The FBI is part of the DOJ, so if they're indeed the ones on the ground there then there's the assumption that a crime has occurred. The DoD/IC have enough black suits that can shut the site down if they think the collection is accidental. Plus, I don't know any DoD/IC component that would trust the FBI with sanitizing systems or otherwise protecting their classified data.

Most logical theory at this point is that a foreign adversary was able get sensors installed at the station, or they were able to take control of sensors already there.

Must have accidentally caught a glimpse of ...

[sajavete]

Must have accidentally caught a glimpse of the U.S.S. George W. Bush or somesuch ;)

Re: Must have accidentally caught a glimpse of ...

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that from the movie Iron Sky?

Love it!!

Plausible but...

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems to be about 50km away, googling the formula SquareRoot(height above surface / 6.752) = visible distance to horizon (distance in KM, height in cm)
So about 1688 metres above sea level to see that dar, and Apache Point is 2788m, so its high enough.

But your talking 50km zoom, like this guys 40km zoom, which clearly cannot be 40km because the horizon would be only about 5km away, he's just not high enough:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=94&v=l118uREKNZo

Meh. Same as this one, claims 50km (Croydon to Wimbledon stadium is only about 6km):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAozLcvQdfw

Nah.

It'll be a bomb threat from a religious nutter against a science target. i.e. Global warming isn't real, ergo scientists are crisis actors, or some such bull shit mental insanity

Hacked by Chinese?

[mentil]

My guess is that the observatory's computer system was hacked, and they're being quiet because initial data points towards China/Russia. I bet observatories have info on where all the black satellites are. Or maybe they just wanted to disable it.

Sunspot Aliens

[Donwulff]

It says "Sunspot Observatory", I had to Google it and turns out that's actually it's name, but it IS a solar observatory, one that's dedicated to observation of the closest star to our planet. Ie. the Sun. This makes it exceedingly unlikely they would have anything to do with any alien discovery, unless they're some sort of Sun-dwelling variety, it'd be more likely to run into one at a Walmart.

It also should go without saying (But I'll say it anyway) that it isn't the world's only solar observatory, and the world includes many more countries than USA, so any discovery relating to Sun couldn't be hidden by shutting down this one, nor would it make sense as it'd stop further observations.

According to article I quickly skimmed, the observatory was founded for radio observations of the sun, and there's mentions of the feds being very interested in the "antennas", so the espionage angle seems almost certain and would necessitate evacuation to prevent tampering with evidence (Perhaps not allowing them to pack their stuff when leaving though, as one article claimed) and continued espionage. Main argument against this is that all sensitive communications would be encrypted nowadays, but still just the existence of certain communications would be a security issue.

Re:Sunspot Aliens

[DredJohn]

it IS a solar observatory, one that's dedicated to observation of the closest star to our planet. Ie. the Sun.

The facility personnel were using the telescope to get rid of their ant problem.

Re:Stormy Daniels

[bobstreo]

Clearly this is the work of the patriarchy.

FBI finally realizes that Stormy Daniels came from Planet Pussy

And her relationship with that orange one ...

E.T. bone home.

Re:Where is the Gay Niggers from Outer Space comme

[drewlake2000]

Wow is it that long? I guess it is, I fancy some grits now for some reason (I'm from the UK so don;t even know what they are...)

Re:Other observatories just shut down too

[blindseer]

Does anyone have links to stories about those sites being closed as well?

Another training camp for school shooters?

[cascadingstylesheet]

I look forward to finding out when some halfwit judge releases everybody ...

Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator

[Johnberg]

They've been there so long because there are so many rabbit holes around the observatory.

Missing person

[TJHook3r]

On an unrelated note, police are trying to track the parents of a young girl seen in the area but believed to be a runaway. Around 11 years old.

Re:Missing person

[Black Parrot]

"11 years old" sounds suspicious in the context of a sunspot observatory.

Mercury - the metal, not the planet

[neilo_1701D]

I believe this has all been planned in advance:

NMSU - SSOC Transition Plan

There's probably less to this story than the conspiracy theorists would like to believe.

The telescope sits on a liquid mercury bearing. From the linked document (p8):

Further, the TCS contains significant risk in its older server motors, mercury float bearings, and control software. Regular inspection and
maintenance is key to the longevity of the TCS. Fully documenting maintenance and risk, and implementing upgrades greatly reduces the risk associated with the TCS. As such, the telescope will be less expensive to operate, and much less liable to catastrophic failure. At minimum, the SSOC will require one telescope control engineer ready to assume full control and maintenance of the TCS in Oct 2018.

So a mercury spill could be quite hazardous, and if you were of such a mind, that large amount of mercury could be an inviting target to steal.

Re:Mercury - the metal, not the planet

[ArchieBunker]

When a train car full of chemicals spills does the FBI show up? No the DEP and EPA handle that. The FBI isn't trained to contain mercury spills and a facility that uses mercury should be able to handle it anyhow.

Re:Mercury - the metal, not the planet

[Sqweegee]

Planned in advance!

So you're saying this goes way deeper than we could have possibly imagined!?

Re:Mercury - the metal, not the planet

[Mal-2]

No.

Re:Mercury - the metal, not the planet

[cyberchondriac]

I wouldn't expect the FBI to get involved with that though, unless it were already stolen. Best explanation yet though.

Re:hacking

[AlwinBarni]

In that case you don't publicize that you're swarming around the area, you send a single computer geek to the observatory to plant fake data for the equipment to sniff, then see where it ends up.

I think in such a case FBI would be justified, and due to press freedom ("still") the word would spread, however evacuation is pointless in case of spying.
Evacuation indicates some bio-hazard, however the question would remain "why there", there is nothing significant about it, except science equipment.
The FBI silence is fueling speculation, however as unnerving it is, I guess it is a standard protocol for FBI - they don't say anything because they do not have to.

Re: Darwin candidates?

[pslytely psycho]

Sorry, the right lost the right to moralizing when you all turned a blind eye to what you CLAIM to 'abhor' and elected Trump. You also lost any claims to 'the party of fiscal responsibility' at the same time.

Re:Trump can't work a telescope

[Anonymous Coward]

Your grammar is other

More like BSG...

[Grog6]

Aliens who want to enslave all humans by burrowing into their brain Could explain the GOP...

Re:Darwin candidates?

[Mal-2]

You know what really owns the libs? Surfing. Storm surge waves are the best ever, and don't let The Man try to convince you otherwise!

Re:Where is the Gay Niggers from Outer Space comme

[pslytely psycho]

Let me enlighten you.

Mostly flavorless. Makes rice savory by comparison...

Re:Large sun spot

[Mal-2]

It was just a little black spot on the sun today, just the same old thing as yesterday.

Re:based on recent history ...

[Immerman]

So... Christianity? After all white Christian men are responsible for almost all terrorist attacks in the U.S., and nobody ever hesitates to name names when there's even a remote chance that some other religion might be involved. Or when they don't know who did it yet. Or when they know it was a Christian but that doesn't make for good "news".

Re:based on recent history ...

[cascadingstylesheet]

So... Christianity? After all white Christian men are responsible for almost all terrorist attacks in the U.S., and nobody ever hesitates to name names when there's even a remote chance that some other religion might be involved. Or when they don't know who did it yet. Or when they know it was a Christian but that doesn't make for good "news".

No, nobody is the least bit reluctant to name that one. In fact they are eager to do so. Try harder.

You literally just proved my point, lol.

Viral Marketing?

[cyberchondriac]

I'm half-expecting a new blockbuster movie to come out soon featuring that observatory; the FBI were hired as part of the stunt to generate interest. Or maybe they're actors dressed as FBI. Either is probably unlikely, but not out of the realm of possibility I suppose.

Re:Viral Marketing?

[wwphx]

If they do, ALL of the interiors will have been soundstaged because the actual interiors there kinda suck. Looks like 1970s classrooms and very old electronics. (I live 20 minutes from there and have spent a lot of time up there photographing.)

Spaceforce

[SavSoul]

Clearly they were getting too close to the truth about Spaceforce.

Re:hacking

[Anonymous Coward]

Bingo, or plant Hillary upskirt pics from whenever she falls down some stairs and monitor the obituary columns for your spies.

Why the right is so obsessed with Hillary Clinton, I will never understand. Y'all just can't quit her! She's not even in office and you guys can't stop talking about her. You're giving her quite a bargain by letting her live inside your head for free!

Re:Large sun spot

[cascadingstylesheet]

It was just a little black spot on the sun today, just the same old thing as yesterday.

King of pain ...

I choose Asimov over Stephenson

[cellocgw]

At first I was all Anathem, but then I realized that a telescope that's just looking at the sun is clearly causing a real-life Currents of Space. We better get going on our insterstellar escape vehicles while we stilll have a chance. (and for the #tinfoilhat group, clearly this info is being locked down until the Important People can get away on the first rockets)

Re:I choose Asimov over Stephenson

[PPH]

until the Important People can get away

So, The Marching Morons?

Re:based on recent history ...

[Immerman]

I'm trying to think of another. Islam is blared across all the media as soon as any attack occurs (story to be rapidly dropped when it's discovered the perpetrator was a WCM). Buddhism doesn't spawn a lot or terrorists. Judaism - well they're generally well behaved other than the Israeli government. What other religion spawns enough terrorists to even spring to mind?

My guess ...

[PPH]

... is that someone accidentally shipped them some military grade sensors instead of the crappy civilian/academic spec stuff.

Re:based on recent history ...

[Immerman]

Perhaps. You think all the school shooters, abortion clinic bombers, etc. are all dancing on someone else's strings, rather than being an expression of the culture we've created?

Big Question Here

[Scarletdown]

So the big question is; which of this morning's news events are causing the conspiracy theorists to jizz themselves the most; This observatory being shut down; or the exploding homes in Massachusetts?

Local resident here.

[wwphx]

And my wife works at Apache Point Observatory, a mile away, and thus far unaffected. I've done lots of photography at both sites and been all over the place, inside and out of both telescopes.

At first I thought it was a manhunt, but they wouldn't exclude local law enforcement, and they wouldn't stay in one area for so long. Then for giggles I watched parts of some of the conspiracy videos on YouTube, and I ran in to a comment that had some resonance. The poster said that he saw a comment on another conspiracy vid (therefore it must be true) that a Chinese spy had been caught with 8 computers spying on Holloman Air Force Base. First off, HAFB is a training base flying F-16s and MQ-9 UAVs, the former have been around for decades and the latter aren't that interesting. Not much secret going on there. Now, perhaps the spy was spying on White Sands Missile Range? He would have done better positioning himself in the Organ Mountains on the other side of the basin, except that's pretty rocky, it would've been much more comfortable hiding in the forest over here. Who knows.

Some of the other conspiracy theories were amusing. The sun went out! (we'd know it 8 minutes later, and we know how our sun will die). Something dark passed in front of the sun! (several observatories around the world watch the sun all the time and no one else reported anything - and they would have reported it). They found Planet X! (no one else reported it - see previous).

If we ever get actual information as to what went on, it might be interesting. Or it might not be.

Re:Local resident here.

[RockDoctor]

Update on 16th http://www.aura-astronomy.org/...

(I'm scanning down to see if anyone else has mentioned it.)

Re:Local resident here.

[wwphx]

Yep, got it yesterday. The curious thing is I'm hearing that other solar observatories have been shut down in other countries, haven't looked in to it yet.

The one word that the update doesn't contain is "arrest".

Re: Darwin candidates?

[HornWumpus]

The governor of Puerto Rico is a D. So is the mayor of SanJan.

Those are the chief assholes involved.

Re: Darwin candidates?

[pslytely psycho]

Nope, sorry.
Clinton didn't get elected.
False equivalency.
But thanks for playing.

Re:based on recent history ...

[Applehu Akbar]

Based on recent history ... big law enforcement action and nobody saying anything ... at least 50/50 chance that it involves the militant wing of the religion/worldview that must not be named.

I don't think it's the religion you have in mind. More likely to be this one:
https://deepgreenresistance.or...

Re: Darwin candidates?

[farble1670]

Sorry the left gave up ANY AND ALL pretense of having ANY morals at all when they didn't call for her ass to be thrown in prison.

Let's think about that. A GOP controlled executive branch. A GOP controlled house and senate. A GOP appointed justice dept. A GOP that can literally do anything they please right now. You really ought to look at who you voted for and ask why they are letting HRC get away with these terrible crimes. Seems like you voted for the wrong people maybe?

Plan10?

[aklinux]

Plan 9 back in the 50s failed. The aliens have come up with a new one

Re:Other observatories just shut down too

[meglon]

Does anyone have links to stories about those sites being closed as well?

Does anyone have links to stories about those sites being closed as well, from someplace that isn't a complete fucking nutcase?

Re: Darwin candidates?

[farble1670]

How many dems called for her to be thrown in prison? I rest my case.

They didn't call for her to be thrown in prison for the same reason the Rs aren't throwing her in prison now. I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader to figure it out.

New Mexico, obvious?

[ebvwfbw]

Bunch of guys were at the local tex-mex place and had a lot of beans. Did you see the shape of the observatory? They had to close it down for a while.

Weâ(TM)re fucked if

[Bruha]

They spotted a meteor heading straight for us.

Re:hacking

[RockDoctor]

What one of my friends used to call "Judas pages", back in the days when he earned pin money by typing up people's PHD theses for them. That's ink-on-paper typing, not electrons-to-magnetism typing.

Tell the client that there are 6 "Judas pages", the correct version of which you'll release when they find them in their proof reading. Of course, there are only 5 actual deliberate errors, so the client has to do their proof reading carefully.

Re:Spy Planes?

[RockDoctor]

Doh. It's there in the fucking summary. It's a SUNSPOT observatory, so there's no need for any long exposure (in fact, frequently they're taking film, as several to several-dozen exposures per second), and they wouldn't waste money and effort imaging any area of the sky more than a couple of diameters away from the solar disc (there is good reason to combine coronal observing with sunspot observing).

Update from AURA

[RockDoctor]

Press release Ignoring the padding,

On September 6th, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) made the decision to temporarily vacate the Sunspot Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico as a precautionary measure while addressing a security issue. The facility closed down in an orderly fashion and is now re-opening. The residents that vacated their homes will be returning to the site, and all employees will return to work this week.

AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak. During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility and ceased science activities at this location.

The decision to vacate was based on the logistical challenges associated with protecting personnel at such a remote location, and the need for expeditious response to the potential threat. AURA determined that moving the small number of on-site staff and residents off the mountain was the most prudent and effective action to ensure their safety.

In light of recent developments in the investigation, we have determined there is no risk to staff, and Sunspot Solar Observatory is transitioning back to regular operations as of September 17th.

Not that that will stop the conspiracy nuts.

Re:Update from AURA

[eaglesrule]

Evacuating a small town due to security concerns over a subject. Sure, seems legit. Or at least the "least untruthful" explanation we could hope for.

Yes there is a lot of crazy attention-seeking nonsense that gets dreamed up. But then, it's hard for me to find fault when history itself often reads like it was imagined by a conspiracy theorist. It doesn't help that much of our useful information also comes from whistle blowers who are themselves labeled as traitors, criminals, and yes, conspiracy nuts.

But birds? Definitely dinosaurs. No doubt about it.

Re:Update from AURA

[RockDoctor]

It didn't sound like a small town to me - it sounds like a work site. I don't know your life experience, but I find nothing in the least bit weird about going to live on a worksite for a month or two during operations, and only going home at the end of operations. And when the locale gets a bit "hot" (I'm thinking of a specific concern over marauding Somali pirates), you do evacuate the work site down to "essential personnel only". It's not in the least bit controversial or unusual - which is why it doesn't get press interest.

Heh, one of my university friends got caught up in the annual "renegotiation of water rates" - which takes place at gun point - in Iraq a few years ago, but one of the greenhorns on the crew started posting terrified messages to Farcebook, or his wife's social media or something, creating a huge stink and causing the government to get involved and putting everyone at risk. Which is why, of course, you don't abuse your privilege (of having internet access) by posting stupid shit about operations to the outside world. Or you lose your internet access.

Re:Update from AURA

[eaglesrule]

The town is listed as unincorporated, so looks like you're right about it being a work site. Now that more details are out, the official narrative is "child porn". Yeah I don't know why I'm so skeptical.

Re:Update from AURA

[RockDoctor]

The town is listed as unincorporated

Which opens a whole can of political weirdnesses which are probably specific to America. How on earth can a town be "incorporated? It's almost as if it had a historical origin date, with no preceding land ownership. Very bizarre concept.

Re:Stormy Daniels

[Maritz]

I'm sure if he told you 'it ain't so' you'd believe him. Retards.

Re: hacking

[Maritz]

Yes Ivan, you Russians got the best US president for your interests in many a year. No doubting that. A disgusting traitor is still a disgusting traitor. Bob Mueller's coming for Trumpski. Just watch and wait, dickhead.

Re:hacking

[Calydor]

It is similar to how mapmakers would sneak in tiny factual errors, like a teeny-tiny side road in the middle of nowhere; if that road suddenly appeared in a rival's maps you knew he was copying you.

Re:hacking

[mysidia]

Evacuation indicates some bio-hazard, however the question would remain "why there",

Some Hazard for sure.... what the summary didn't say is they evacuated a bit more than the observatory.. They evacuated the entire mountain, including a post office, and residents having to leave their houses, according to this article.

The observatory has been closed – and residents and staff have been asked to stay off the mountain – since September 6. The statement said Sunspot Solar Observatory will transition back to regular operations as of Monday, September 17. The AURA statement said:

The residents that vacated their homes will be returning to the site, and all employees will return to work this week.

AURA has been cooperating with an on-going law enforcement investigation of criminal activity that occurred at Sacramento Peak. During this time, we became concerned that a suspect in the investigation potentially posed a threat to the safety of local staff and residents. For this reason, AURA temporarily vacated the facility and ceased science activities at this location.

The decision to vacate was based on the logistical challenges associated with protecting personnel at such a remote location, and the need for expeditious response to the potential threat.

AURA determined that moving the small number of on-site staff and residents off the mountain was the most prudent and effective action to ensure their safety.

In light of recent developments in the investigation, we have determined there is no risk to staff, and Sunspot Solar Observatory is transitioning back to regular operations as of September 17th.

Re: hacking

[Jerry]

Yes Ivan, you Russians got the best US president for your interests in many a year. No doubting that. A disgusting traitor is still a disgusting traitor. Bob Mueller's coming for Trumpski. Just watch and wait, dickhead.

The TDS is strong in this one ...

Isn't plausible

[Jerry]

An "agitated" janitor is supposedly using the Sunspot Internet connection to upload, download and store child porn and the FBI reacts by bringing in a Black Helicopter and FBI swat team to evacuate the whole hilltop, homes, post office and all other facilities, and keeps them closed for eleven days? And, the Sunspot server admin has no clue that a lowly janitor is busting into his system and using it for illegal purposes?

Not likely. FBI hackers had already identified the janitor as the perp, and two agents could have been dispatched to arrest the perp and made a copy of the evidence before deleting it from the servers.

The Feds wanted that facility offline, and are kept offline for 11 days for other reasons. IMO, the child porn claim is just transparent cover story.