DRONE FLYOVER: The Gold Country mine where Scientology stores its scriptures

 
In 2016 we got our first aerial views of one of Scientology’s secret vault sites, the Lady Washington Mine near Tuolumne, California. Now, a new anonymous drone pilot is providing us with great views of Scientology’s small mountain compound, where the church stores archives of L. Ron Hubbard’s work to survive future civilization collapse.

It’s one of four such vaults where Scientology stores Hubbard’s words on etched steel plates kept inside titanium boxes (as well as other state-of-the art archival materials), aiming to keep his words intact for at least the next 6,000 years, according to Scientology’s own promotional materials.

Scientology purchased the old quartz mine in 1988 and then constructed the vault in 1997. Here’s a guide to its location…

 
The bizarre archiving work and operation of the vaults is done by the most secretive of Scientology’s subsidiaries, the Church of Spiritual Technology. We provided an overview of CST’s strange mission with the help of Dylan Gill, the only former CST employee to speak publicly about the secretive group.

We asked Dylan to take a look at the new drone footage and asked if he noticed any changes that stood out to him. He said the place looked pretty much the same, but that if you understood CST’s mission, then you’d understand why the place doesn’t change.

“They’re designed so that once things are in place, you just have a caretaker and nothing really changes,” he says.

On occasion we see some pretty wild speculation about these sites, particularly the vault site in New Mexico, but Dylan tells us they really are set up to do merely what CST designed them to do: Store Hubbard’s words for future generations.

Take a look for yourself at another stunning look at a truly beautiful location in California’s Gold Country…

 
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Ask a Scientologist!

Here’s a question that came in to askascientologist@tonyortega.org, and we thought Claire Headley would be the best person to answer it. If you have a question for one of our many experts, please send it in!

Do Sea Org members file taxes on their meager earnings?

I joined the Sea Org in 1991, so my experience was in the years of 1991-2005. In 1996 I was promoted to RTC, which was the first year I was required to file a tax return on my annual earnings of $2,600. In the time I was in RTC, all RTC staff were required to file annual tax returns, with the claim that it was a requirement dictated by the IRS granting Scientology tax exempt status. To my knowledge, staff in lower orgs were not required to file annual tax returns and did not do so. Also, every time I was paid, from 1991 to 2005, I was given a pay stub that showed gross earnings of $50 per week, and showed taxes deducted, resulting in the grand net of $46, which was always disbursed as two $20 bills, one $5 bill and one $1 bill. But of course that was only when staff pay did not get cut from the weekly financial planning for whichever org I was working in (note that RTC staff received half pay for a few months but otherwise were always consistently paid, not so with Gold and other orgs I worked for). While Marc and I were both working at Golden Era Productions, sometimes there were months at a time where we were not paid. Marc used to joke that if we ever needed money, we could always count on “Headley Savings & Loan,” a/k/a our “back” pay, which it was claimed would be paid to us when it could be afforded. Of course we were never paid that “back” pay.

— Claire Headley

 
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Source Code

“It’s the inability of the Catholic Church, and the inability of the Methodist and Angelican and other faiths, to unravel the why that lay behind human-emotion-and-reaction that convinced them utterly that man was a sinful being and that was born in sin, and he was conceived in sin and born in sin and would die in sin, and that he was evil. You can see them now on the rostrum, on the platform shaking their fingers at their congregations and how they were evil sinners, and they were all sinners. That’s just all, they didn’t have the right why. So, your own future morale pursuing a line as an Establishment Officer actually is greatly dependent on your ability to penetrate a situation and discover a correct why.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 2, 1972

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Able Body Bill said (in the UFO lecture) that siding with the EU and its Marcabian masters was better than siding with the USA and its gray Andromedan masters. Marcab controls the population through economics and tax, while the grays from Andromeda use brain chips and implants.”

Random Howdy

“Even after all this time I’m still shocked at how this ‘religion’ is able to turn people into the biggest bunch of liars, bullies and amoral a-holes I’ve ever come across. I’m use to associating with junkies, prostitutes, and various other sundry shady types, but generally speaking, those people have more of a moral compass than your militant Scientologist.”

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

Criminal prosecutions:
— Jay Spina: Sentencing set for April 3 in White Plains
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members: Trial set for April 14 in Los Angeles

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Waiting for an appellate decision from the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ (Valerie’s options.)
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology: March 11 (plaintiff attorneys pro hac vice, defense motions to quash), March 20 (demurrers by Masterson and Scientology), March 27 (motions to compel arbitration)
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe’s attorneys have asked for discovery, April 20 hearing set (motion to compel arbitration)
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach bankruptcy appeal: Oral arguments on March 11 in Jacksonville
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Complaint filed.

 
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Start making your plans…

 
Head over to the convention website and meet us in St. Louis!

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

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 our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Mike Rinder on Scientology’s smears, Miscavige’s fears, and waiting for ‘Aftermath’ news
[TWO years ago] Scientology TV is now installed at the Ideal Orgs — when do the rest of us get to see it?
[THREE years ago] Leah Remini’s ‘Troublemaker’ finally gets a UK publisher — and you can probably guess who!
[FOUR years ago] APPEALS COURT STRIKES SCIENTOLOGY’S $1 MILLION JUDGMENT AGAINST KEN DANDAR
[FIVE years ago] NEW TODAY: Memoir with shocking claims by notorious Scientology spy, Merrell Vannier
[SIX years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology nuttiness on Oscar Day!
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology Mythbusting with Jon Atack: That L. Ron Hubbard TV Ad!
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology on the High Seas: Three Major Enemies Scalped!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 2, 2020 at 07:00

E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post 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 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, 1995-2019 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2019), 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, 14 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