# What is going on at the solar observatory? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 14, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353 "2018-09-14T18:50:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/41 "2018-09-20T14:48:12Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Where’s **scr4**? He’s a solar astronomer, and while he doesn’t live in New Mexico, maybe he’s heard something through the solar grapevine. Maybe he did, and maybe that’s why he’s “disappeared”. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/42 "2018-09-20T15:07:03Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Maybe he did, and maybe that’s why he’s “disappeared”. 🆒 He posted to this thread a couple days after I posted that. Sorry to extinguish your conspiracy theory. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/43 "2018-09-20T15:31:07Z")
If they were using the telescope to spy in people’s windows, I hope they have a FISA warrant. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/44 "2018-09-20T15:32:47Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > He posted to this thread a couple days after I posted that. Sorry to extinguish your conspiracy theory. All’s forgiven. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/45 "2018-09-20T17:19:35Z")
Raids for child porn aren’t uncommon. Usually they arrest the person and seize the computers and collect other evidence. The raid might take a few hours. I’m not seeing this requiring the evacuation and shutting down of an observatory for an extended period of days. It can’t take very long to seize a laptop. The ISP would have the records of the illegal downloads from the observatory. My bs meter is reading high on this story. I don’t know what occurred but this smells like a cover story. YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/46 "2018-09-20T17:34:48Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Raids for child porn aren’t uncommon. Usually they arrest the person and seize the computers and collect other evidence. The raid might take a few hours. > > I’m not seeing this requiring the evacuation and shutting down of an observatory for an extended period of days. It can’t take very long to seize a laptop. The ISP would have the records of the illegal downloads from the observatory. > > My bs meter is reading high on this story. > > I don’t know what occurred but this smells like a cover story. YMMV I kind of agree with you a bit, but then there’s also the fact that ridiculous over-reactions have also kind of become a thing in law enforcement lately. So, maybe they really are just that nuts? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/47 "2018-09-20T22:46:29Z")
♪ “On the 14th day of September, the agents took from me:” ♫ “Three cell phones, five laptops, one iPad, an external hard drive, 16 thumb drives, 89 compact flash disks and other ma-te-ri-al.” ♩ ♬ ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/48 "2018-09-20T23:29:22Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > If they were using the telescope to spy in people’s windows, I hope they have a FISA warrant. > > Regards, > Shodan Good lord. Can you imagine the moons you’d see with that? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/49 "2018-09-20T23:42:28Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Good lord. Can you imagine the moons you’d see with that? Very suspicious user name for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/50 "2018-09-20T23:53:30Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Raids for child porn aren’t uncommon. Usually they arrest the person and seize the computers and collect other evidence. The raid might take a few hours. > > I’m not seeing this requiring the evacuation and shutting down of an observatory for an extended period of days. It can’t take very long to seize a laptop. The ISP would have the records of the illegal downloads from the observatory. > > My bs meter is reading high on this story. > > I don’t know what occurred but this smells like a cover story. YMMV Sorry, no. It is not that simple. Not in order to build a case you can get a conviction for. At the start of the investigation they had a laptop hooked up to a network used by many. They didn’t have a suspect who was caught with anything. They were eventually able to narrow it down to a suspect due to times used but that’s by no means definitive. It’s not tv. It takes time to build PC for a warrant. It takes time to write up and get a warrant. It just takes a hell of a lot longer to do any investigation correctly than any tv show would make you think. Especially when dealing with sifting through electronic data. It seems to be an overreaction to evacuate given the nature of the threats but the speed of the investigation seems about right to me. And unlike you I’ve been on those kinds of “raids.” ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/51 "2018-09-21T05:02:11Z")
I’m disappointed with NPR. They didn’t post this follow-up story until this evening, almost a day after **MEBuckner** made his post with an article from Reuters. And the NPR story had less detail. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/52 "2018-09-21T10:14:35Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > …It seems to be an overreaction to evacuate given the nature of the threats but the speed of the investigation seems about right to me. And unlike you I’ve been on those kinds of “raids.” Everything I clipped out made sense, but I still don’t understand why everyone was evacuated. Why wasn’t everyone kept on site? What am I missing there? However, I admit to being suspicious of the allegation of child pornography, because people typically are so horrified by it, and afraid to appear less than so, that they might not look into the story so closely. > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’m disappointed with NPR. They didn’t post this follow-up story until this evening, almost a day after **MEBuckner** made his post with an article from Reuters. And the NPR story had less detail. Perhaps only what they could confirm? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/53 "2018-09-21T13:54:02Z")
Update from this morning’s paper: > **[Documents: Sunspot janitor told chief of 'serial killer in the area'](https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/new-mexico/2018/09/20/sunspot-nm-observatory-fbi-investigation-child-pornography/1374860002/)** > > The mountaintop Sunspot Solar Observatory closed from Sept. 6 to Sept. 17. > [@](#): > > After Cope could not find his laptop, the court documents said, he began to act frantically and told the chief observer that there was a “serial killer in the area, and that he was fearful that the killer might enter the facility and execute someone.” > > The observatory closed, without consulting FBI agents, after Cope’s comments about the serial killer and his erratic behavior, the warrant said. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/54 "2018-09-21T14:06:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > If they were using the telescope to spy in people’s windows, I hope they have a FISA warrant. > > Regards, > Shodan They did, but the application cited a dossier that was produced by an alien. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/55 "2018-09-21T14:26:02Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Good lord. Can you imagine the moons you’d see with that? They can see Uranus from miles away. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/56 "2018-09-21T15:43:55Z")
So, the chief observer found a laptop with child pornography on it, never reported it because he was ‘distracted’ by something … more important? So the janitor invented a serial killer - not, apparently, the aforementioned distraction - causing the chief observer to close down the facility. And there were black helicopters. Tell me again why we make fun of Conspiracy Theorists? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/57 "2018-09-24T15:11:10Z")
> [@j666](#): > > So, the chief observer found a laptop with child pornography on it, never reported it because he was ‘distracted’ by something … more important? > > . . . I agree that this is deeply suspicious, and also rather sickening. I hope the FBI are quietly investigating him too. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/58 "2018-09-24T23:05:43Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > I agree that this is deeply suspicious, and also rather sickening. I hope the FBI are quietly investigating him too. I want believe there was any child pornography until I read the follow up about his sentencing. If there was, I suppose it’s possible the CO just never open the laptop - I certainly will never open an unknown one again, now - and never saw the contents. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/59 "2018-09-25T01:18:41Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I want believe there was any child pornography until I read the follow up about his sentencing. > > If there was, I suppose it’s possible the CO just never open the laptop - I certainly will never open an unknown one again, now - and never saw the contents. Management asked me to look for porno on an employee’s laptop. I booted it with a Linux CD and found dumb pictures of him and his girlfriend. Legal people seemed very nervous about using the pictures. I’d have just shown the guy the pictures he was showing a kid and fired him. I don’t know how it turned out. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353/61 "2019-08-04T16:11:09Z")
Reported. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-going-on-at-the-solar-observatory/821353.md?page=2)