The photo in that article is not of the Sunspot Observatory, but of the Apache Point Observatory next door. I wonder if it is just Sunspot or both? I haven’t been up there since spring but I usually visit several times a year, so I’m very curious what’s going on. I may head up to APO this weekend and see if I can get on premesis.
FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
91–100 of 129 posts
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#92Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anyone can look at those though, they can't really hide them
Not every hobbyist had access to 1m+ mirrors, though. I imagine you could take a reasonably revealing picture of eg an Orion: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(satellite)
I don't understand this thread. Sure with enough effort and manpower you can prevennt your own civilians from discovering these. How would the US government stop civilian entities in say Russia or China from discovering these? I still see a marginal potential utility though: not showing adversaries that you have noticed their satellites (in order to prevent them from improving their stealth).
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
A late friend who worked on type II supernova simulations was once invited to talk about his team's software with some gentlemen at an NNSA lab, Los Alamos or Livermore or Sandia (I forget which one.) At the conclusion of the talk, the DOE guys said appreciative things about the current work, but also pointed out that certain avenues of investigation into certain characteristics might lead to the gov't declaring this…
Did they attempt to open source the software?
Hopefully not
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am curious as to what would happen if an organization that owned a large telescope was unwilling to cooperate with such a request.
it'd likely have something to do with a long-term non-optional residency as guest of the government in Leavenworth, Kansas
What law would this violate? Please be specific, as legal definitions of things like espionage are often not as broad as a layperson might guess (and on occasion, they're broader).
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Because there's not a visible security presence, the Alamogordo Daily News is making this up? Nope. At this point, I believe that this was a fairly orderly shutdown (temporary or permanent) that wasn't communicated very well. The "FBI" and "Blackhawk helicopter" were probably federal employees removing federal property from the observatory's antenna arrays before handing it over to the university. I suppose it's po…
>At this point, I believe that this was a fairly orderly shutdown (temporary or permanent) that wasn't communicated very well. The "FBI" and "Blackhawk helicopter" were probably federal employees removing federal property from the observatory's antenna arrays before handing it over to the university. I suppose it's possible that some of that could have been classified, since it's situated within line of sight of a mi…
Your post sounds like a diversion story to me.
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#96Apparently it has “excellent views of Holloman AFB and White Sands Missile Range” ( https://reddit.com/r/SpecialAccess/comments/9f91sm/_/e5uy1fd... ) . Further down, someone says that someone claims that the Chinese were using the antenna array at the observatory to spy on missile tests at WSMR. If the place was truly low on staff then this theory may not be so far fetched.
I've seen this repeated often, but it doesn't seem to be entirely true - it has an excellent view of White Sands National Monument, not the White Sands Missile Range, which is about 20 miles NNW.
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#97That observatory is near a couple of bases. They likely want to fly some experimental aircraft and minimize the amount of specialized recording equipment in the area.
Why would they shut down the Post Office for that? Most plausible theory I've seen so far is that the spying one. Maybe they were posting hard-drives or USB sticks from there with footage of the base testing some new equipment or something.
Why wouldn't they?
As best I can tell, the housing up there only serves employees at the observatory, which is closed. What point would there be to keeping the post office open?
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wasn't Sunspot a solar observatory? Wouldn't its telescope be set up for light levels that would make viewing anything on the ground rather problematic?
Its a coverup to prevent the public from learning that the sun is actually flat.
approximately flat, a big hole in the heavenous sphere, not sure if flat or curved makes sense for a hole
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#99Apparently it has “excellent views of Holloman AFB and White Sands Missile Range” ( https://reddit.com/r/SpecialAccess/comments/9f91sm/_/e5uy1fd... ) . Further down, someone says that someone claims that the Chinese were using the antenna array at the observatory to spy on missile tests at WSMR. If the place was truly low on staff then this theory may not be so far fetched.
The views of the AFB and missile range are truly excellent. Google Maps panoramic view: https://goo.gl/ckkCQc
Sarcasm? I just see trees.
Re: FBI Mysteriously Closes New Mexico Observatory
#100Earlier quoted context omitted.
Other than a big telescope great for looking at things far away? I used to work in astrophysics. Telescope operators are expected not to look in certain places. Those were fun conversations. My guess is they found a spy.
I am curious as to what would happen if an organization that owned a large telescope was unwilling to cooperate with such a request.
Perhaps we just found out?