• National Solar Observatory shut down over 'security concerns'. FBI involved.
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SUNSPOT, N.M. — At a small solar observatory tucked away in the woods of a national forest here, scientists and other personnel were commanded last week to leave at once. A week later, the facility remains vacant, and no one is willing to say why. A spokeswoman for the nonprofit group that runs the facility said the organization was ad­dressing a “security issue,” but offered no additional information, other than, “I can tell you it definitely wasn’t aliens.” She said Friday that the facility “will remain closed until further notice.” Neither the FBI — which was spotted on the premises around the time of the evacuation — nor those who worked at the facility would tell local law enforcement what had happened, said Otero County Sheriff Benny House. Shari Lifson, a spokeswoman for the AURA consortium, said in a statement that her group was ­“addressing a security issue” and had “decided to temporarily vacate the facility as a precautionary measure.” She said they were “working with the proper auth­orities on this issue.” Lifson declined to specify who those authorities were. https://www.facebook.com/NationalSolarObservatory/posts/2107342885967203?__xts__[0]=68.ARB87xHPm5gjVZlsUeL8X93xeg6Xva83yRKIoiD3Kx0Ci1nsEXZct-SKkhCF9Jeh7xatEPs1apnPyI8nKXUDlRya4Lqh9oRPeGiRzwf8pmjkFxpkVCH4hw5PvW3ccVKuwSBV6FWp0rOiFuyRRmShrYB60YbT9JTwx23sYK7iT3uAYa2wftfZHA&__tn__=-R Source: The Washington Post Alternate source: Space.com My suspicion lies with this facility's close proximity to the White Sands test range. I'm not really onboard with any speculation about anything going on in space. There probably is some sort of exercise being planned at white sands, and a facility with powerful optics nearby, especially a scientific one likely used for collaborating with international colleagues probably isn't the best to have open during testing. Not quite convinced about the speculation over any foreign hacking. A scientific facility with likely zero access to any critical or sensitive government systems seems an unlikely target for espionage. Sadly I doubt this will ever be officially clarified.
FBI Closes Sunspot Solar Observatory But we've already got a thread for this?
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