Chris Owen | The Underground Bunker

For Memorial Day 2024: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s bogus war injuries

TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: As on past Memorial Days, we think it’s important to remind readers about Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s ‘stolen valor.’ Historian Chris Owen looks at Hubbard’s claims about being injured in war versus the […]

How a police raid in Detroit prompted the creation of the Church of Scientology

[Early Scientology had several raids, including the FDA in 1963, pictured]

The Bunker marked the auspicious 70th anniversary of the Church of Scientology yesterday with birthday wishes from its contributors. Today, historian Chris Owen brings us the previously unreported story of the events that prompted L. Ron Hubbard to take the momentous step of declaring Scientology […]

Greek church calls BS on Scientology: Why doesn’t this happen more often?

The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church – the church’s ruling body – has issued a warning to Greeks about Scientology infiltrating public institutions, such as schools, under the guise of drug awareness activities. In a statement released on 5 September, it […]

More letters — from Ethan Suplee and others — on behalf of Danny Masterson to Judge Olmedo

Last week, we created a firestorm when we published letters by Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis that they had written to Judge Charlaine Olmedo, asking for leniency after their That ‘70s Show costar Danny Masterson was convicted May 31 for two counts of forcible […]

‘Harass and discourage’: The role of lawyers and journalists in Scientology’s attack plans

[Vanity Fair reporter John Connolly, right]

In the third and final part of a deep dive by historian Chris Owen into Scientology’s machinery for attacking its critics and gaining influence, we’ll look at the role of lawyers and the Office of Special Affairs in litigation and lobbying. See part one here and part two […]

‘Ruin them utterly’: how PIs and volunteer members work against Scientology’s enemies

[Former Scientology private investigator Cierra Westerman]

In this second part of a three-part deep dive by historian Chris Owen into the inner workings of Scientology’s harassment operations, we’ll take a look at how the church uses private investigators and volunteers to investigate and harass critics. See part one […]

‘Only the ruthless can own it’: behind the scenes of Scientology’s dirty tricks operations

[David Miscavige and, farthest to the left, Marty Rathbun, back in the day]

This is the first of a three-part series by historian Chris Owen taking a deep dive into the mechanisms and structures by which Scientology carries out harassment, surveillance, litigation and influence operations to suppress its perceived enemies and gain influence worldwide. In this […]

For Memorial Day: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s farcical first command

It’s Memorial Day here in the US, and once again we’re happy to post an excerpt from Chris Owen’s excellent book Ron the War Hero to commemorate L. Ron Hubbard’s war service. Make sure to pick up a copy of the book if you haven’t […]

The spy who never was? L. Ron Hubbard and ‘Maj. Ian Macbean of the British Secret Service’

The South China Morning Post has published a lengthy piece by Paul French on L. Ron Hubbard’s trips to Asia as a teenager in the late 1920s. While much about this time in Hubbard’s life is already known and recapitulated in the article, it does a good job of highlighting one of the more mysterious […]

The subchaser that never was: L. Ron Hubbard’s farcical first command

It’s Memorial Day here in the US, and once again we’ve asked Chris Owen for an excerpt from his excellent book Ron the War Hero to commemorate L. Ron Hubbard’s war service. Make sure to pick up a copy of the book if you haven’t […]

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