Sunspot Solar Observatory, what do you think is going on there?

[I Push Buttons]

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/...-in-new-mexico

A week ago, the Sunspot Solar Observatory was closed due to 'security issues' and the facility and the surrounding area were evacuated by the FBI. People in the area have reported seeing a Backhawk helicopter circling the observatory. The US Postal Service says that its post office there was evacuated and they were not given a reason as to why... Local law enforcement said they helped the FBI with the evacuation, but they too have been given no information as to what is going on. And the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the organization that oversees the observatory, has thus far only told the press that they vacated the facility as a precautionary measure and are working with the proper authorities, no other information.

The observatory remains closed and no further information has been released yet.

So what do you think is going on there? Aliens? Chinese spying on White Sands? The sun is about to die?

Let's have some baseless speculation.

---

EDIT: Oh and this is not a conspiracy theory, this is actually happening and no one has any information on what is going on.

[EnclosedOne]

my first inclination would be to assume it's some kind of gas leak which can be quite dangerous but who knows, maybe they'll us but maybe they won't

[Rustedsaint]

Foiled terror plot by flat earth groups

[Kheirn]

They accidentally invented sun-infused ice cream which was so tasty that it was classified a national security threat and had to be taken care of.

[Phookah]

Kevin won't stop farting, everyone has to go

[Collegeguy]

my first inclination would be to assume it's some kind of gas leak which can be quite dangerous but who knows, maybe they'll us but maybe they won't

Why would the FBI be needed for a gas leak?

[madethisfor1post]

They figured out how to turn Fortnite into a renewable energy source.

[Darknessvamp]

They saw a face on the sun and were quite rattled by it.

[Sinyc]

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/...-in-new-mexico

A week ago, the Sunspot Solar Observatory was closed due to 'security issues' and the facility and the surrounding area were evacuated by the FBI. People in the area have reported seeing a Backhawk helicopter circling the observatory. The US Postal Service says that its post office there was evacuated and they were not given a reason as to why... Local law enforcement said they helped the FBI with the evacuation, but they too have been given no information as to what is going on. And the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the organization that oversees the observatory, has thus far only told the press that they vacated the facility as a precautionary measure and are working with the proper authorities, no other information.

The observatory remains closed and no further information has been released yet.

So what do you think is going on there? Aliens? Chinese spying on White Sands? The sun is about to die?

Let's have some baseless speculation.

---

EDIT: Oh and this is not a conspiracy theory, this is actually happening and no one has any information on what is going on.

A month ago the Parker Solar Probe was launched by NASA in order for them to study the Sun, it is the first of it's kind. Shortly after the launch of said probe strange sightings where reported by the Sunspot Solar Observatory, according to J. Parker, (Whose real name we won't disclose) an astronomer working at the Observatory said they discovered that the Sun wasn't just an ordinary star. In-fact it might not be a star at all as the things the observatory observed indicated that it was far more likely the Sun was actually a hole through which a giant eye gazed upon our universe. According to Parker some scientists at the observatory took rather grim conclusions from the recent discovery and decided to kill themselves by means of a strange ritual in the observatories mess hall. Because of this the authorities where alerted and became involved.

Fan fic?

[IIamaKing]

Swamp Gas.

[Kapadons]

I’m gonna blame it on whose fault it always is... Trump. He hates observatories. Always has.


Or swamp gas was trapped in a weather ballon and retracted the light from Venus.

[P for Pancetta]

A month ago the Parker Solar Probe was launched by NASA in order for them to study the Sun, it is the first of it's kind. Shortly after the launch of said probe strange sightings where reported by the Sunspot Solar Observatory, according to J. Parker, (Whose real name we won't disclose) an astronomer working at the Observatory said they discovered that the Sun wasn't just an ordinary star. In-fact it might not be a star at all as the things the observatory observed indicated that it was far more likely the Sun was actually a hole through which a giant eye gazed upon our universe. According to Parker some scientists at the observatory took rather grim conclusions from the recent discovery and decided to kill themselves by means of a strange ritual in the observatories mess hall. Because of this the authorities where alerted and became involved.

[Rhaide]

They tilted the telescope too far and saw that the earth was indeed flat. They had to execute everyone who found out and evacuate until someone can reset the scope's position.

[P for Pancetta]

Fan fic?

I'm not a fan, but it's fic alright.

[igualitarist]

Its obviously the russians.

[SNES-1990]

Maybe they saw a meteor heading for us and they don't want the public to panic :P

[The Stormbringer]

A massive solar eruption is headed towards Earth and will soon fry all electronics, sending the world spiraling into an emergency the likes of which we've never seen. It will be years, possibly decades before we recover, and in that time tens, maybe hundreds of millions will die from lack of access to food, water, and medical care.

...nah!

[cubby]

https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/...-in-new-mexico

A week ago, the Sunspot Solar Observatory was closed due to 'security issues' and the facility and the surrounding area were evacuated by the FBI. People in the area have reported seeing a Backhawk helicopter circling the observatory. The US Postal Service says that its post office there was evacuated and they were not given a reason as to why... Local law enforcement said they helped the FBI with the evacuation, but they too have been given no information as to what is going on. And the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, the organization that oversees the observatory, has thus far only told the press that they vacated the facility as a precautionary measure and are working with the proper authorities, no other information.

The observatory remains closed and no further information has been released yet.

So what do you think is going on there? Aliens? Chinese spying on White Sands? The sun is about to die?

Let's have some baseless speculation.

---

EDIT: Oh and this is not a conspiracy theory, this is actually happening and no one has any information on what is going on.

I appreciate that you just called out for this.

The key is the FBI evacuating everyone. That most likely means not a physical danger, but an information danger. Either a foiled terrorist attack (but why?) or the disovery of information that will be bad for Earth - pick your poison.

Asteroid imminent impact, while a fan favorite, isn't going to work Because that place is neither the best location for that work, nor the only telescope that can spot Earth Killers. Still could be, however, if they were the first to find. However, why make a big deal of it? With a physical presence people are going to be suspicious, like we are now. Why not just take the entire staff quietly, at their houses?

One big item, still falling under the information discovery, is that we have a major solar storm coming our way, one that we might not weather so well. Not sure if a big enough solar ejection can really harm the earth or not, but I would guess that it could, if it was big enough.

Seriously though, probably aliens.

[McFuu]

Most logical reason: staff realized something national security related, ie noticed a foreign countries spy satellite, or potentially discovered a way to disrupt satellites through accident. Other than that, maybe someone on staff was stealing or altering something on site to a significant degree that it fell to the FBI (across state lines).

Complete speculation, but I'd suspect if it were true the same scenario would play out: Staff there discovered something about the sun, IE a massive solar flare is coming, or some other extremely sensitive information.
I would expect a discovery that effected the world would be handled nearly the same way, except there is no talks about the staff not leaving the whole week or anything like that, seeing as the staff themselves said they weren't even told why they were kicked out.

[The Stormbringer]

I appreciate that you just called out for this.

The key is the FBI evacuating everyone. That most likely means not a physical danger, but an information danger. Either a foiled terrorist attack (but why?) or the disovery of information that will be bad for Earth - pick your poison.

Asteroid imminent impact, while a fan favorite, isn't going to work Because that place is neither the best location for that work, nor the only telescope that can spot Earth Killers. Still could be, however, if they were the first to find. However, why make a big deal of it? With a physical presence people are going to be suspicious, like we are now. Why not just take the entire staff quietly, at their houses?

One big item, still falling under the information discovery, is that we have a major solar storm coming our way, one that we might not weather so well. Not sure if a big enough solar ejection can really harm the earth or not, but I would guess that it could, if it was big enough.

Seriously though, probably aliens.

A mass ejection could definitely cause us problems, but only if it hits us square on. Basically, imagine a world-wide EMP as I understand it. Anything not hardened or protected by a faraday cage would be fried. The biggest issue, aside from all computers everywhere being dead, would be the transformers out on power lines would also be damage and need to be replaced... basically everywhere.

If it clipped us, there'd be a lot fewer issues, but it could still wreak havoc. It's a great apocalypse idea, though!