Free Astronomy Magazine November-December 2018

26 NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018 OBSERVATORIES away, included a possible ter- rorist attack and a contact with an alien civilization. To feed the allegations, vague declarations were also con- tributed by the Association of Universities for Research in As- tronomy (AURA), the consor- tium that manages the observa- tory. From the beginning, AURA explained away the evacuation with a generic “security rea- sons,” a choice that left open any interpretation. In the absence of satisfactory official clarifications, we try to create our own opinion of what happened by reading what was written during and after the event by the most authoritative local newspaper, the Daily News of the town of Alamogordo, Otero County, located between the Sacramento Mountains (to the east) and the Holloman Air Force Base (to the west). Here is an extract of what has been published by that news- paper in various articles de- voted to the mystery of the Sunspot Solar Observatory. Sep 14, 2018 − Sunspot Observa- tory was closed and evacuated Sept. 6 due to an un- disclosed security risk. Federal officials aren’t saying why it was closed, and the silence has led to inter- national media coverage and plenty of speculation. Authori- ties remain tight- lipped. The FBI referred all questions to the group that manages the site, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Officials there say they’re working with authorities. AURA released a statement, stating it has “decided that the observatory will remain closed until further notice due to an ongo- ing security concern. Nothing’s changed from last week,” AURA spokeswoman Shari Lifson said by phone Thursday afternoon. Lifson offered no further information. Se- A detailed map of the Sunspot area and the nearby Apache Point Observatory, which has not been affected by the September FBI operations. [Google Maps] curity guards from Alamogordo private se- curity firm Red Rock Security were posted at the observatory’s gate on Thursday due to the amount of curious visitors who have come to the site since the closure. [...] Everyone in the facility and the Sun- spot community was evacuated, said Sun- spot Solar Observatory Director and New Mexico State University astronomy profes- sor R.T. James McAteer. NMSU’s four em-