National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Sunspot, New Mexico, was shut down by FBI agents earlier this month (September 2018) due to security concerns, but the facility was reopened later on. Even so, many of us are wondering what are the reasons behind this action.
At present, the solar observatory no longer represents a security issue, but conspiracy theorists are not relaxed on this particular topic. According to AURA (Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy), the location is now re-opened, but the association has temporarily hired a security team to patrol the site.
AURA made this statement back on September 16th:
“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,” the statement adds. “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.”
Sunspot Solar Observatory is transitioning back to regular operations as of September 17th Read AURA's full statement here: https://t.co/tiGiwEL8Nn @NSF @SunspotSolarObs pic.twitter.com/cPpaGrTNtU
— AURA (@AURADC) September 16, 2018
Even so, the question remains:
Why did the FBI suddenly evacuated space observatory in New Mexico?
Let me begin by saying that an official statement regarding the reason why the New Mexico observatory was evacuated was not yet released and I don’t know if we’ll ever going to have one. Even so, with a little digging I was able to find out that the reason seems to be a local investigation regarding a child porn probe.
Other theories
Now, let’s get into the wild and see what fans of conspiracy theories have to say about this event. Some of them will argue that he reason for closing down the observatory was an UFO that was observed in the vicinity of the Sun. Another theory states that just by the time this was happening, there was a massive hole that appeared on the Sun’s surface. The theory was taken one step further and some people said that these alleged super-flares could wipe us all out in the near future. Of course, there is also this theory that states something else: “Chinese were spying on White Sands Missle Range tests via antennae array at observatory site.”
Positioned on Sacramento Peak, the National Solar Observatory (NSO) was opened for the first time back in in 1947. This particular observatory provides the clearest images of the Sun, and the information obtained here is useful to specialists around the world.
