Sept. 17, 2018 - Sunspot Observatory workers talk about evacuation, going back to work
Sunspot Observatory workers talk about evacuation, going back to work
SUNSPOT - The National Solar Observatory facility in Sunspot has reopened following an
evacuation ordered by the FBI on Sept. 6.
“Everything’s back up and running with as much normalcy as we can expect. We’re starting right where we left off, and we’re going to keep going,” said Sunspot Solar Observatory Director and New Mexico State University astronomy professor R.T. James McAteer.
Employees have not been told what prompted the evacuation but are expecting a staff meeting Tuesday, with a news conference likely to follow sometime this week, said Heidi Sanchez, the education and public outreach coordinator of the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitors Center.
Staff was anticipating a line of news vans and curiosity seekers following
the 11-day shutdown, but in the two hours after opening at 9 a.m., there were few visitors or media, Sanchez said.
“Now that we’re officially open and you don’t have to sneak on, it’s not such a draw. I anticipate probably this weekend (will be busier),” she said.
The evacuation
The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the organization that oversees the observatory, reported Sunday that
the site had been evacuated due to "law enforcement investigation of criminal activity" at Sacramento Peak, the mountaintop on which the observatory is located.
Authorities determined there was no risk to staff and that regular work could commence on Monday, the release stated.
“AURA was concerned the suspect may pose a threat to the people that live and work on site. AURA is extremely safety conscious when it comes to employees working in remote areas, and when they get any information like that, they are always going to act safety-first for the employees,” McAtee said.
Around 20 people were evacuated from the facility, including researchers, maintenance workers, and residents.
Employees doing research at the facility were able to telecommute from home during the time they were barred from the Observatory, McAtee said.
“I assured them from the very beginning that they were not going to lose out on getting paid,” he said.
Bruce Sagma, the facility’s maintenance chief, said this was the first time the facility had experienced anything like the evacuation. AURA offered to take care of employees who didn’t have anywhere to stay, he said.
“All residents that were on site were offered hotels if they didn’t have relatives to stay with. Our company was very generous in making sure everyone was taken care of,” Sagma said.
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Red Rock Security guard Angel Escalante stands in front of the Sunspot Astronomy and Visitor's Center, which reopened Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. Red Rock will have guards at the observatory for the rest of the week. (Photo: Dylan Taylor-Lehman/Daily News)
Security on site
Red Rock Security, a private security firm with an office in Alamogordo, was hired last week to keep people out of the site after numerous people illegally entered the property to shoot video or take drone footage.
Red Rock Security guard Dakota Palomino said that security will remain at the observatory for the rest of the week.
“They have us here right now because they’re expecting a spike in visitors,” Palomino said.
Red Rock Security guard Angel Escalante said she personally removed at least four people who were roaming around and filming, and that she has uncovered possible acts of vandalism and evidence of attempts to enter locked facilities.
“They were ripping off window screens to try to get in the houses,” Escalante said.
Conspiracy theories
The nature of the criminal activity that led to the evacuation hasn't been released publicly, but workers on site Monday didn't seem too concerned about a lingering threat.
News of the evacuation came with myriad conspiracy theories. Staff said they were following the rampant speculation online.
“I thought the idea that a spy hacked into the antenna to listen into White Sands Missile Range was the most plausible idea,” Sanchez said, jokingly.
Sagma said the evacuation was blown out of proportion.
The “suspicious” activities associated with the evacuation — such as black helicopters and homes seemingly emptied out in a hurry — have fairly pedestrian explanations, he said.
“This ballooned into something without it being anything,” Sagma said.
The houses on site were not empty because a government agency removed their contents but rather because the National Solar Observatory has been transitioning to a new location over the past two years, Sagma said.
“NSO is building a new telescope on Maui, and they moved the headquarters of the NSO, which used to be here, to Boulder, Colorado. This site is greatly downsized. The housing that used to be full has been evacuated because people have moved off site,” he said.
And the black helicopters — a common trope in conspiracy circles — is not as strange as it seems, Sagma said.
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Residences at the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, pictured here Monday, Sept. 17, 2018, have been largely unoccupied for a couple of years, because a large number of employees were moved to a facility in Colorado, said Bruce Sagma, the facility's chief of maintenance. (Photo: Dylan Taylor-Lehman/Daily News)
There are numerous facilities on the mountain ridge belonging to WSMR that are accessed by personnel from Kirtland and Holloman air force bases — both in New Mexico — via helicopter, he said. If there is an emergency on the mountain, emergency responders will utilize the same helipads, he said.
“That day, it was probably coincidental that that helicopter flew up there,” he said. “It’s like a kid putting a jigsaw puzzle together — yeah, you’re putting the pieces together, but you’re smashing them together.”
Even the presence of security guards prompted speculation.
“There was a picture of me and my partner, and it said that our company was contracted to protect the residents from aliens. I don’t know what their source was, but (protecting against aliens) wasn’t in my job description,” Palomino said.
“We’re also protecting them from Bigfoot,” Escalante said, laughing.
Despite the limited information given to staff, Sagma said he believes that AURA made the right call in evacuating the facility.
“This is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” he said. “They erred on the side of caution and the safety of employees and residents. Rather than take the situation too lightly and not protect their employees, then you really would have some news."
Sunspot history
The observatory, established in 1947, overlooks the Tularosa Basin — an expanse of desert that includes the city of Alamogordo, Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, White Sands National Monument and the site of the world’s first atomic bomb test.
The telescope at Sunspot was originally built by the U.S. Air Force. After several years of operation, it was transferred to the National Solar Observatory, which is part of the National Science Foundation.
New Mexico State University in 2016 launched an initiative funded by the foundation to upgrade and update the facility through the newly formed Sunspot Solar Observatory Consortium.
Sunspot’s one-of-a-kind telescope produces some of the sharpest images of the sun available in the world, officials said.
AURA is a consortium of 46 US institutions and four international affiliates that operates astronomical observatories around the world.
