Sunspot

Conspiracy fanciers have  had a lot to work with lately concerning  activities at the Sunspot Observatory south of Cloudcroft, New Mexico.  The feds shut the observatory down for over a week for what was first called a “security issue”, kept the public and local police in the dark as to why,  and then announced that the it was really only an ordinary investigation into one of the janitors suspected of having child pornography on his computer.  The observatory has re-opened after being closed for eleven days, and, as of reports from  last week, neither  the suspected janitor nor anyone else has been arrested.  

That may be all there is to it, but one does not have to be a conspiracy buff to conclude that it surely smells like a cover story, and a fairly lame one at that.  One only has to pay attention. It is well known that officials including people in the FBI lie to the public when it suits them. There is  news all the time about employees at businesses, schools, or government offices being arrested for having or dealing in child pornography without any stories of disruptions of their employers’ activities.  In many of the cases state and local cops are mentioned as working with the feds on the investigations and arrests. I cannot remember news of another case being handled as this one was said to have been.  It is no wonder the conspiracy theorists are out there theorizing like crazy. 

As to what really went on and perhaps still is going on,  one can only guess.   Sunspot is fairly close to Fort Bliss, Holloman Air Force Base,  and the White Sands Missile Range, and not too far from the Mexican border.  It could be that the original story about security was mainly true – whether involving espionage or only worries of someone seeing or hearing something he was not supposed to. It could have to do with concern over  something recorded through the telescopes, though it seems unlikely a solar observatory would detect anything  out there worrisome to the authorities.  It could be something else altogether. It could even be that the official version is no cover story at all, but on the facts as reported, that does not seem to be the way to bet.