When my friend Wings Hauser stunned Scientology about its high prices

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Geoff Levin was close with actor Wings Hauser for more than 50 years, and they met in Scientology. With news of Hauser’s death at 77, Geoff shares details of their friendship in and out of the church, and the moment when Wings dared to speak up like no celebrity before or since. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Dianetics, like any other true treatment, like aspirin or penicillin, was originally designed to handle the apparent basic cause of psychosomatic illness. The first research was intended to help allied prisoners of war degraded by the Japanese and Chinese prison camps and who after V-J day were transferred to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. Later, in 1954, in a much more advanced state of development, Dianetics was successfully employed to eradicate the results of allied prisoners of the Korean War who had been subjected to Russian brainwashing. The subject has been improved, made easier to teach and apply and its results bettered continually over a total period of 29 years. It was in 1969… fully updated as Standard Dianetics. In 1978 it has again been upgraded as New Era Dianetics. It is very successful and is in very broad use over the world.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1978

 
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

 
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney [43] Tory Christman [44] Kate Bornstein [45] Christian Stolte [46] Mark Bunker [47] Jon Atack [48] Luke Y. Thompson [49] Mark Ebner [50] Bruce Hines [51] Spanky Taylor and Karen Pressley [51] Geoff and Robbie Levin [52] Sands Hall [53] Jonny Jacobsen [54] Sandy Holeman [55] Mark Bunker [56] Trish and Liz Conley [57] Trish Conley [58] Alex Barnes-Ross [59] Alex Barnes-Ross [60] Alex Barnes-Ross [61] Alex Barnes-Ross [62] Alex Barnes-Ross [63] Alex Barnes-Ross [64] Tory Christman [65] Tammy Synovec [66] Dennis Erlich [67] Alex Barnes-Ross [68] Valerie Ross [69] Kat in Austin [70] Mark Bunker [71] Phil Jones

 
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Source Code

“Let’s get the idea that right this moment you’re engaged in killing a woman. Now let’s remember this as an incident that occurred 20 years ago. Now let’s get the idea that you’re right this moment engaged in killing a man. Now let’s remember this as though it happened 35 years ago. All right….Now let’s get the idea of being a space ranger, a space man being shot to death right at this minute. Now let’s get this on recall now, as something that happened a hundred thousand years ago. This very incident. All right. Now let’s get the idea, right this moment you’re engaged upon being a sultan. Being a sultan. And now recall this as having happened 200 years ago. Now let’s get the idea of being a general, a general who is engaged in slaughtering a million troops. Killing them all to the last troop. Now let’s get this as having occurred a hundred and fifty thousand years ago. Now let’s get the idea of you being engaged this moment, successfully engaged upon blowing up the entire physical universe. Now get this as having happened yesterday. Now let’s get the idea of your own universe at this moment being blown to pieces. Now throw your memory into action as though it happened last night. And now as though it happened 50 years ago. And now as though it happened a billion years ago. And now as though it happened a trillion years ago. And now as though it happened 76 trillion years ago. Now, let’s get the idea right now of being engaged upon the construction of an entirely new universe. Now let’s get this as though you were engaged upon it, actually, at six o’clock this morning. OK.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 22, 1954

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“SECURITY: Remember, we were doing great until we forgot our security in letters, telexes and radio comms and ceased to be archaeologists or moving pictures people. Get our security in.” — The Commodore, March 22, 1969

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“I think various people are rollercoastering from lack of proper supervision and having done weird things to their own cases, as well as those of their PCs. I think what we’re seeing is the outcome of a huge experiment on their part into what happens if all the checks and balances of Scientology are ignored. Left to their own devices and doing the wrong processing actions badly, or skipping key actions altogether, they’ve managed to create a really bad chain of BPCs, overruns, etc. In a properly supervised org scenario, all of these indies would have their folders red-tagged and it would get handled with a GF, from which any other repair actions would be taken. There would also be Qual oversight over their processing.”

 
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Past is Prologue

2001: The St. Petersburg Times published and editorial criticizing the Chief of Police Sid Klein for allowing Scientology to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have off-duty officers patrol Watterson Ave. “Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Thomas Penick, who has the unenviable task of refereeing sidewalk skirmishes between the Church of Scientology and anti-Scientology protesters in Clearwater, recently pointed to an arrangement that allows off-duty Clearwater cops to work for Scientology and noted, ‘They are coming very dangerously close to becoming a private security force for the Church of Scientology.’ Penick was right to call attention to the uncomfortably cozy relationship developing between city police and the church, which has its spiritual headquarters in downtown Clearwater. As reported Sunday by staff writer Deborah O’Neil, the Church of Scientology has paid nearly $150,000 to 110 officers since January 2000. The Police Department gets $2.50 an hour from the church to cover fees and workers’ compensation. The off-duty officers are hired by the church to make sure that no one — particularly staff of the Lisa McPherson Trust — messes with Scientologists coming and going from church facilities on Watterson Avenue, a downtown side street where many clashes between the two sides have occurred. Though Scientology has worked to improve its image and relationship with the city in recent years, the fact is that the church, by virtue of its controversial history in Clearwater and its altercations with the Lisa McPherson Trust, is not like most other Clearwater churches. Also, there is a big difference between providing an off-duty officer to a church to direct traffic after Sunday services and supplying off-duty officers to protect Scientology from its critics every day of the year. Klein orders officers who work off-duty for Scientology not to take sides. It is naive for him to expect that every officer earning income from Scientology and interacting regularly with its members will always be capable of objectivity. And it is unwise to place officers employed by the church in a position to be first-responders, report-writers and official witnesses when incidents occur between the church and protesters. If Klein sees a need for a law enforcement presence on Watterson Avenue, he should assign on-duty officers to work there, whether or not off-duty officers continue to be employed by the church.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Margery Wakefield writes in ‘The Road To Xenu’ about how they were allowed and encouraged to watch Star Trek in the mess hall. They would laugh about how the ‘wogs’ didn’t understand what they were watching were real Whole Track memories.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Found guilty on two counts on May 31, remanded to custody. Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. DA’s response to appeal brief due April 15.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing March 31.
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, convicted of fraud, awaiting sentencing.

Civil litigation:

 
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SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

 
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Sure sign of Scientology’s decline? The new ‘OT Phenomena’ are not very… phenomenal
[TWO years ago] Scientology is going space crazy! Hold on to your wallets, pilgrims, and let’s blast off!
[THREE years ago] War in Ukraine: What does it mean for Scientology there and in Russia?
[FOUR years ago] Scientology on the ground: Despite church PR, things look very grim as the pandemic lingers
[FIVE years ago] Scientology tries to rah-rah its way through the pandemic while endangering its members
[SIX years ago] Here’s the police report on Scientology’s sad attempt to mess with ‘Aftermath’
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology TV gives viewers a glimpse of the church’s most secret locations — but why?
[EIGHT years ago] The real reason Leah Remini is taking a wrecking ball to Scientology
[NINE years ago] Trial set in New York on April 7 over Narconon drug rehab hiding connection to Scientology
[TEN years ago] ‘Going Clear’ subject Hana Eltringham Whitfield fills us in on a Scientology secret or two
[ELEVEN years ago] Jon Atack: Why I call Scientology a cult and not a church
[TWELVE years ago] Scientology’s Sneaky Infiltration of New York City Schools

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 22, 2025 at 07:00

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Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, 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 can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2023 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2023), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | 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 | Shelly Miscavige, 15 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 | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

 

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

 

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone