TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Scientology’s floating cathedral the Freewinds has produced another set of super beings who have achieved ‘OT 8.’ According to founder L. Ron Hubbard these geniuses can crush a planet between thumb and forefinger! Recognize any of these superheroes? [What is this Substack thing, anyway?]
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Technology Cocktail
“If you have ever seen a preclear undergoing processing roll up in a ball suddenly, or leap convulsively on the couch, you will understand that the intraabdominal pressure is increased. When that pressure is increased, even mildly, we get a transmission to the unborn child. We particularly get a transmission in a grief engram. When mama cries convulsively, sobs in grief, that grief charge will transplant, and it will have the very interesting data in it, ‘Let’s go over it again. Let’s go back to the beginning. When I count from one to five, the phrase will flash into your mind. Come up to present time.’ These are very uncomfortable commands to have in an engram; it means that when a person gets to some part of the engram, he will have a tendency to go over it again.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1951
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“I hypnotized, one time, the staff of St. Elizabeth’s. Told them they’d heard a good speech and left the stage. They all came around afterwards saying, ‘What a good speech that was you gave!’ That was a mean thing to do. That was certainly backing out of it, wasn’t it? But it was in the early career of Dianetics and I felt very much like backing out of it. I was preceded by someone who told all of them how bad it was over ‘Ron-ward.’ They might afterwards have suspected my knowledge of the mind, but certainly not my knowledge of hypnotism. It’s very easy to hypnotize groups.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 1, 1956
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“The cause of war is incompetent government. The cause of ‘secret intelligence wars’ is incompetent intelligence services. We have no intention of getting loused up here so be alert and handle it both as ship organization and with your own personnel PRO ashore. We are honest legitimate people. Where we go money flows in. The enemy must not be permitted to cut income off from our local friends because Jewish international bankers hate anyone who help such a country as this.” — The Commodore, November 1, 1969
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“Trump is very OT. He is part of a higher society. He may be being used to help us, but he is not being controlled! A prophet. I think he and Ivanka are from the Pleiadian society, here to fight the reptilians (as strange as it may sound). Regardless, so many have been programmed (brainwashed) into this society that it is difficult for them to wake up. They are still in a dream, but they are waking up! And many are already awake.”
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2001: The San Francisco Chronicle reported on November 2nd that Scientology is abandoning the org in downtown. “Only weeks after opening an Ikea-furnished, dot-commy new branch in San Francisco’s South of Market area just as the neighborhood once again goes to seed, the Church of Scientology has quietly placed its downtown headquarters up for sale amid a devastating slump in property prices. The new SoMa branch, or ‘mission’ in church parlance, came about as a result of actress (and Scientologist) Jenna Elfman taking an interest in emulating actress-Scientologist pal Kirstie Alley, who led the way in opening a mission in her hometown of Wichita, Kan. Scientologists-in-the-know tell me that Elfman specifically wanted to create a space that would reflect the young and fresh energy of the area, which she apparently thought remained a mecca for young and fresh dot-com entrepreneurs. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Yet even as the dot-coms imploded, Elfman pushed ahead with efforts to lease the 7,300-square-foot Mission Street property and appoint it with snazzy furniture and a tech-industrial
sensibility. A children’s center and activity room were built downstairs, complete with a ballet bar along full-length mirrors. No one ever visits, at least not that I can see. The neighborhood, as those who actually live here know, is not the sort of place that people naturally associate with spiritual growth. The Tenderloin headquarters building is thus up for sale, and the church is shopping around for more spacious, affluent digs in the Financial District. Insiders say they hope to vacate the premises by the beginning of next year. ‘We bought that building back in 1978,’ Quiros said. ‘We always believed that we could make it in any neighborhood.’ It took the church headquarters more than two decades to learn this isn’t true. Anyone want to bet that the SoMa mission lasts nowhere near as long?”
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“If Hubbard hadn’t created Scientology, no one would even remember him.”
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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 heard and submitted, waiting for ruling. 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. Scientology’s attempt to gut the case failed, and appeals court upheld. Back to trial court in December.
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ 17 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. Case returning 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. Hearing on arbitration motion set for March, 2027.
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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’s IAS gala 2025: Another protest, and a Tom Cruise sighting
[TWO years ago] Scientology relieved the natural disasters came to them this time
[THREE years ago] Jenna Elfman will emcee Scientology concert in England that sees David Miscavige’s return
[FOUR years ago] The Insider: David Miscavige makes a telling change to Scientology’s ‘Ideal’ scam
[FIVE years ago] The fulfilling life of a Scientologist in a chaotic world
[SIX years ago] Checking in with Scientology social media to see how the world takeover is going
[SEVEN years ago] Kansas City going Ideal! Scientology’s grand opening is tomorrow — will Dave be there?
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology’s new survey is a hoot — we’re itching for your answers!
[NINE years ago] The first Scientologist with ‘Super Power’ gets super spanked by bankruptcy judge
[TEN years ago] Hillary Clinton has considered David Miscavige’s appeals lawyer for the US Supreme Court
[ELEVEN years ago] Jonny Jacobsen: Reflecting on the first week of Scientology’s criminal trial in Belgium
[TWELVE years ago] Jon Atack: Are cult members — like those in Scientology — unduly influenced?
[THIRTEEN years ago] Scientology Surprise: An Interview With OTVIIIisGrrr8!
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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 3,799 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 4,303 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 4,809 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 4,359 days.
Klaus Büchele has not seen his daughter Jasmin in 5,735 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 3,230 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 6,536 days.
Marc Headley has not seen his mother Trudy in 5,185 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 4,403 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 5,957 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 5,298 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 13,868 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 9,785 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 5,952 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 5,538 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 5,797 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 4,545 days.
Marie Poulin has not seen her mother June in 4,114 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 2,425 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 3,600 days.
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 5,282 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 5,619 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 10,472 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 5,588 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 3,950 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 4,749 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 4,593 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 4,208 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 4,709 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 4,969 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 16,073 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 1, 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, 1995-2025 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
