Sunny Pereira: I saw Charles Manson’s file at Scientology’s Hollywood Celebrity Centre

 
TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Sunny Pereira has written some terrific pieces for us over the years, but this one helps confirm something Scientology has long tried to make go away — Charles Manson’s involvement, and the church’s awareness of it at the time. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]

 
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Technology Cocktail

“Man’s chief weapon in the struggle for survival has been the analytical mind. It is his ability to act rationally that has brought man to his present position of dominance over the other forms of life on this planet. The story of the rise of civilization is the story of man’s increasing rationality in the governing of his life. Despite the tremendous job of breaking away from the encystment of old habit patterns, and despite the insidious nature of the contagion of aberration, most of the areas of man’s activity are at least partly rational. Only in one area has man made very little progress. Man has not learned to be rational about irrationality.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1950

 
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Source Code

“The amoeba and the monocell and the cellular form is apparently an endowed thing. OT comes along and says, ‘Let there be chicken,’ you know. That’s about where all that fit. And he endows this and he leaves a sort of a puddle of theta to continue to animate it, you see. Does a few quick tricks with the — you can’t say ‘fingers’ — and you get an endowment. And that apparently is the way which you get cells. That isn’t factual, from a standpoint of experience or anything like that. I don’t mean that there’s data available here by which we’ve suddenly animated matter. But it more or less is a conceptual basis on which bodies are built. And somebody mocks it up and somebody else can keep it running. But there is something to this old gag of, they say, they go out and say hello to the flowers, you know, and they grow better. Well, at a very, very low state that would not be possible, of course. A person isn’t able to reach that far. But they sort of have a dim idea that they could do it, you see. Because way, way back someplace they probably did. So they go out and say hello to the flowers.” — L. Ron Hubbard, September 8, 1966

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“THE PILL: After considerable data on the subject, any bad effects from a birth control pill are handled by changing BRANDS or STRENGTHS (amounts) and with these handled there should be no trouble with dizziness or auditing, according to data from the M.O. Therefore, please note there is NO restriction on taking such pills except to report any odd effects to the MO. The previous MO, whose data was taken, did not do enough research on it. As trouble has been caused by this, it should be broadly known that there is now no restrictions on birth control pills.” — The Commodore, September 8, 1971

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Dems, including Scientologists, ex-Scientologists and ‘Dem OTs’ are getting their R6 implant restimulated, and becoming Ethics particles. They are intent on destroying civilization. This is why LRH created the Sea Org. To escape this dramatization.”

 
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Past is Prologue

1996: Jeff Jacobsen posted a report of his trip to Petrolia, California, where the cult has a large base. “Between the Rockefeller Redwood Preserve on the east and the mighty Pacific Ocean on the west is a sleepy tiny town called Petrolia. It’s south of Eureka off Highway 101 in California. The loop road that goes through Honeydew, Petrolia and Ferndale before linking back up with 101 is now a favorite road trip for me. A few miles west out of Petrolia is the Old Mattole Road that veers uphill. You can go maybe a mile or so before coming across a ‘No Trespassing: Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law’ sign. If you look up you can see a large 8,100 square foot split level ‘home’ higher up on the mountain, and maybe even the ‘bunkhouse.’ These buildings on the 3,000 acres owned by Church of Spiritual Technology are assessed at $2,024,570. Farther down the hill is an atomic-bomb proof 374 foot underground vault that is assessed at $8,429,259. This is used to store Hubbard’s writings on golden CDs and etched on metal plates and put in titanium capsules in case of- what?- a catastrophe of some huge proportions I guess. I hope it’s earthquake proof too because Petrolia has had up to 6.9 earthquakes in the past few years and is on a ‘triple junction’ of fault lines.”

 
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Random Howdy

“The conspiracy cult is way scarier and more dangerous than any religious cult. The country is on the verge of a civil war thanks to these cynical manipulators and their feeble-minded, heavily-armed adherents. Alex Jones and the rest should be deported for insurrection.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Sentenced to 30 years to life on Sep 7, 2023. Appeal now fully briefed, oral arguments scheduled for June 25. Masterson has also submitted a habeas corpus petition.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Pleaded guilty on Nov 10 to a 17-year prison sentence. Now serving time in state prison.
— Aaron Matthes charged for SA of child under 12 years old: OT Scientologist facing multiple mandatory life sentences. Next pretrial court hearing set for June 19.

Civil litigation:
— Leah Remini v. Scientology, alleging ‘Fair Game’ harassment and defamation: Some defamation claims were removed by Judge Hammock. Judge Hammock’s ruling is on appeal, which is now fully briefed. Oral arguments hearing set for July 23.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 15 days of arbitration completed, Val waiting for further word from the IJC.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson. Judge Upindra Kalra’s ruling denying Scientology’s motion to strike upheld on appeal. Scientology expected to file additional petitions before case can return to Kalra’s court.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration. Trial has been set for January 10, 2028.

 
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Other links: The prosecution of Danny Masterson. Leah Remini’s Fair Game Podcast. Leah Remini’s A&E Series. Scientology’s Celebrities, from A to Z. Bryan Seymour’s suppressed series, 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] Scientology to restore Clearwater to a gloried past that no one remembers
[TWO years ago] Emily Armstrong’s tepid response to backlash seems designed to protect Scientology
[THREE years ago] LIVE: Meghann Cuniff’s reporting sizzled and her photos from Masterson trial were iconic
[FOUR years ago] Don’t allow Paul Haggis to mention Scientology in trial, woman suing him asks court
[FIVE years ago] Anne Archer is still pitching her Scientology front group ‘Artists for Human Rights’
[SIX years ago] All of former Scientology mouthpiece Tommy Davis’s appearances in ‘Melania and Me’
[SEVEN years ago] Hurricane Dorian’s destruction provides Scientology another chance at make-believe
[EIGHT years ago] New Scientology escape book ‘Perfectly Clear’ leaves some important questions unanswered
[NINE years ago] ‘Leah Remini’ show prompting more ‘ranch kids’ to come forward with agonizing family drama
[TEN years ago] Drone footage of Scientology’s secretive Int Base: The reaction from former base employees
[ELEVEN years ago] More proof (from Scientology) that it’s never been a better time to be a Scientologist!
[TWELVE years ago] Lyman Spurlock, 1945-2014: Imprisoned and abused, a loyal Scientology executive to the end
[THIRTEEN years ago] The 1979 Clearwater Sun Editorial the Tampa Bay Times Should Run Today

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 8, 2026 at 07:00

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Our book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is 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.

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