New Mexico: National Solar Observatory Closed, Evacuated Due to “Security Issue”
September 10th, 2018Via: Alamogordo Daily News:
The Sunspot Observatory is temporarily closed due to a security issue at the facility that’s located 17 miles south of Cloudcroft in the Sacramento Mountains Friday, an Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) spokeswoman Shari Lifson said.
“The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy who manages the facility is addressing a security issue at this time,” Lifson said. “We have decided to vacate the facility at this time as precautionary measure. It was our decision to evacuate the facility.”
She said she cannot comment on the specifics of the security issue.
…
Otero County Sheriff Benny House said the Otero County Sheriff’s Office was asked to standby.
“The FBI is refusing to tell us what’s going on,” House said. “We’ve got people up there (at Sunspot) that requested us to standby while they evacuate it. Nobody would really elaborate on any of the circumstances as to why. The FBI were up there. What their purpose was nobody will say.”
He said he has a lot of unanswered question about what occurred at Sunspot.
“But for the FBI to get involved that quick and be so secretive about it, there was a lot of stuff going on up there,” House said. “There was a Blackhawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas and work crews on towers but nobody would tell us anything.”
The Daily News contacted the Albuquerque FBI spokesman seeking comment for this story, but telephone calls and messages were never returned.
House said he pulled his deputies from the facility after there was no identifiable threat.
“They wanted us up there to help evacuate but nobody would tell us anything,” he said. “We went up there and everything was good. There was no threat. Nobody would identify any specific threat. We hung out for a little while then we left. No reason for us to be there. Nobody would tell us what we’re supposed to be watching out for.”
Weird that it’s still closed with no answers…
https://www.kvia.com/news/top-stories/closure-of-national-solar-observatory-remains-shrouded-in-mystery/793035021
I’m surprised that they didn’t have some sort of absurd excuse cooked up right away. Gas leak, etc.
Who told you to evacuate? “We don’t know?” That’s a keeper.
This is one to follow. No looking up?
http://earthsky.org/human-world/why-sunspot-solar-observatory-nm-closed-fbi
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 20, 2018. Reuters and other media are reporting that the mysterious 11-day closure of Sunspot Solar Observatory in New Mexico stemmed from an FBI investigation of a janitor suspected of using the facility’s wireless internet service to view and distribute child pornography. Federal court documents filed Wednesday, September 19, revealed this information. The suspect reportedly became “agitated,” leading to the closing of the observatory for the sake of staff safety. Read more from Reuters.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 16, 2018: The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) issued the following statement about the status of the Sunspot Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak, New Mexico. 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.