And here we are, at the end of our weekly series of dramatic footage shot by an anonymous drone pilot who has flown over Scientology’s most secret compounds.
Five weeks ago, we started this series with a view of Scientology’s secretive international management base (“Int Base”). Four weeks ago our pilot flew us over the even more secret “CST” headquarters compound in the mountains above Los Angeles, where we believe Scientology leader David Miscavige stashed away his wife Shelly eleven years ago. Three weeks ago we got an unprecedented look at the ranch in San Luis Obispo County where Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard died in 1986. Two weeks ago, he took us over Scientology’s vault location in the Sierra foothills of California, the Lady Washington Mine. And last week, we got a look at another secretive “CST” underground vault site owned by the church, one which is located in California’s far northern coast, near the town of Petrolia.
For his final act, our anonymous pilot this week has taken us over perhaps that most iconic of CST vault locations, the secret complex in New Mexico near the town of Trementina.
The property is in a very remote location, and isn’t easy to get to, as John Sweeney and Marc Headley learned a couple of years ago. Here’s a map showing its location in relation to Albuquerque and Santa Fe…
The compound is pretty easily spotted and prominently labeled on Google Earth, and the CST logo carved into the high desert is easily visible, along with the nearby landing strip…
The vault itself is carved into the side of a cliff between the airstrip and the CST logo. In past years, a house had been built to camouflage it. Dylan Gill, the former CST worker, called it the “ventilation house” — it was more a prop than a dwelling…
But as you’ll see in the video, that house has been removed entirely. Now, a fake rock wall covers up the vault entrance, and there’s a new structure that’s been built down the hill from the opening itself.
Here’s a closer look at that new building, and what appears to be ongoing work on the grounds around it…
And the vault entrance…
On the way to the CST logo, there’s the stately LRH House, where L. Ron Hubbard, once he returns to Earth in a new body, will have a luxurious place to live until he’s ready to take over the reins of Scientology again.
And here’s the breathtaking footage itself. You know the drill. Go full screen and soak up the incredible detail recorded by the 4K camera.
There is one more CST property, located in Wyoming. But our drone pilot says that he didn’t find any online evidence that structures or a vault had been built there yet, and so he decided not to attempt a flyover there.
We are grateful that he did make such amazing flights over Scientology’s other secret locations. We’ve never seen them in such detail. And he included links at his YouTube page so anyone can download the files in full and use them however they want, he says.
We don’t know who he is, and after sending us a final message, he deleted his email account.
Now, there’s just his YouTube account, where he refers to himself as Angry Thetan. What a mystery! And what footage!
Here it all is again. Let’s hope the videos stay up indefinitely.
1. Scientology’s secretive 500-acre international management base, “Int Base” or “Gold Base,” near Hemet, California…
2. The Church of Spiritual Technology’s headquarters compound, near Lake Arrowhead, California, where we believe Shelly Miscavige has lived and worked since 2005.
3. The “Whispering Winds” ranch near Creston, California, where L. Ron Hubbard lived out his final three years in seclusion, dying there on January 24, 1986…
4. The Lady Washington Mine, in the Sierra foothills near Tuolumne, California…
5. The dramatic spaceship-shaped vault structure at the CST property on the northern California coast near the town of Petrolia…
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‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ audiobook now on sale
Audible.com has released the audiobook version of The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper and you can get the book for free if you’re signing up at Audible for the first time!
Read by the author (that’s us), the book tells the incredible tale of a journalist who was among the first to expose Scientology’s controversies, and nearly paid for it with her life. Go to Audible’s website for more details — [US version] [UK version]
To support the Audible launch, Paulette Cooper joined us for an “Ask Me Anything” session at Reddit on September 29, which covered a lot of topics about the book and about this website.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 12, 2016 at 07:00
E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our book, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…
BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts
Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield
