TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Alex Barnes-Ross is a former Scientology staffer who has once again done something pretty special: A video interview with a current staffer at the Edinburgh org who said what interested him in Scientology was that he was a film fan who thought Tom Cruise must be on to something. [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“The champion list of all time is the C/S 53. On one page, any general thing that can be aberrated in a thetan has been assembled. There are two forms of it—Short Form for preclears who know the terms and Long Form for preclears who are unindoctrinated (they are the same lists but the Short Form is in single word and the Long Form is a full question). A Director of Processing giving a D of P Interview can use one of these and obtain enough material to enormously help a Case Supervisor. It is not the only D of P Interview action but it is very helpful when used. An auditor can debug a program or a session with it.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1980
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“I do not know if it can be established for sure what I say about the deteriorating size of a thetan is a curve, but I believe it to be, and that the composite track of 74 trillion years might be the banks of cells which you now have, which once ran bodies. And you might have a rather brief tenure on the track really. Because it would be almost impossible to separate these things. And that’s why you couldn’t give a damn whether you have a past life or not. It just doesn’t matter. The point is you’ve got a future one.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 12, 1953
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“A new CLASS VI (plus HDG) recruitment campaign is being telexed out to CLSs. We are offering a Petty Officer (Tech) rating to field VIs, VIIs, VIIIs, so they become fully contracted SO Members. They will be shipped direct to Flag where we will jump them through AB, Mission School, SS I, SS II, Class VIII, IX and X. These will be purely tech ratings…Target is to make every Scn org as big as SH was in 1967. So that’s where we’re going. The blocker is Tech Personnel and we’re hammering hard on that.” — The Commodore, January 12, 1971
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“We audit beings, the thetan. Even if it has two different bodies in different planets, the being is the same. So we are facing here the tech necessary to audit the being when it has two or 10 bodies running simultaneously. Do you know the steps necessary to do that? Does the Church of Scientology have that tech? Does Freezone or Ron’s Org? Does the other LRH in the other planet?”
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1996: Grady Ward announced that he expects to be deposed in the Dennis Erlich case. Grady and his mother have been visited by Scientology members attempting intimidation. “I understand that the RTC (one of the litigation arms of the criminal cult of scientology) is seeking to have me deposed in the case of their immoral attack on Dennis Erlich. But my only personal knowledge is the criminal lawbreaking by Quiros and my mother’s account of Eugene Martin Ingram’s theft from my mother.”
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“Burroughs thought that psychedelics could help him break his junk addiction, but he also thought the same thing about Scientology.”
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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, waiting for 2nd Appellate District court to set a hearing date. 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 (eligible for parole in two to three more years). Awaiting transfer to 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 Feb 2.
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. Leah’s respondent’s brief is due February 11.
— 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 is on appeal. Appeal fully briefed. Motion to replace Jane Does’ AI-tainted brief denied by court. Awaiting a court hearing date.
— Jane Doe 1 v. Scientology, David Miscavige, and Gavin Potter: Case unsealed and second amended complaint filed. Scientology moves for religious arbitration, gets ruling to depose Jane Doe 1. 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] Forgiveness: An alien concept in Scientology that is key to putting it behind you
[TWO years ago] Scientology has a permit in Austin for this Saturday, but the ‘Ideal Org’ looks unready
[THREE years ago] The prosecution’s argument that won the day for a retrial of Danny Masterson
[FOUR years ago] VIDEO: An unprecedented glimpse inside Scientology’s royal family
[FIVE years ago] Scientology’s anti-mask star Leigh Dundas may have overdone it at Capitol riot
[SIX years ago] Scientology honors its bodysnatchers with stars on its Xenu-rrific walk of fame
[SEVEN years ago] David Miscavige in South Africa: The new ‘Advanced Org’ gets its castle
[EIGHT years ago] When Scientology tried to convince the FBI that a college prof ran a cabal of critics
[NINE years ago] LAPD to Leah Remini on her records request about missing Scientology leader’s wife: ‘Go fish’
[TEN years ago] A great peek into how Scientology uses fronts to love-bomb a public official
[ELEVEN years ago] Monday Funnies: More evidence that Scientology is gearing up for a really tough 2015
[TWELVE years ago] Gary Weber: Another former Scientology official talks about women forced to have abortions
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Joe Reaiche (1958-2024) did not see his daughter Alanna Masterson in his final 6,999 days.
Mike Rinder (1955-2025) did not see his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in his final 7,589 days.
Tammy Synovec has not seen her daughter Julia in 3,506 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,010 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,516 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,066 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 3,056 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,442 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 2,937 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,241 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 4,892 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,110 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,664 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,005 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,576 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,492 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,659 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,241 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,500 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,252 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 3,817 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,132 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,307 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 4,989 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,326 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,179 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,295 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,657 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 4,068 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,456 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,340 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 3,905 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,416 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,676 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 15,780 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 12, 2026 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter.
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.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2024 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2024), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
