Sunspot Riddle Linked To Porn
It turns out that the abrupt and mysterious closure of the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, N.M., two years ago didn’t have anything to do with aliens or national security issues. Instead, it was an FBI child pornography investigation linked to a facility janitor that prompted the 11-day shutdown. The former janitor, Joshua Lee Cope, was indicted on three child pornography counts stemming from the probe.
Court documents reveal that the facility’s chief observer told the FBI that he found a laptop with child porn in it but said he didn’t report it immediately because of other issues at the observatory. The discovery led to a search warrant on Cope’s electronic devices at his Sunspot trailer. When Cope realized his laptop was missing, he told the chief observer that he feared for his life because there was a serial killer in the area. That led to initially shutting down the observatory without consulting the FBI.
The official shutdown stirred national attention and wild speculation, ranging from the discovery of alien life and UFOs to possible security issues regarding foreign players. Here’s one of the reports that followed on KRQE-TV in Albuquerque debunking the original speculation.
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