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 Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
Jon, we have a feeling you’re going to get us in a lot of trouble this week. You’ve been unearthing some real gems for us recently, but in this investigation, you’ve found some connections in the early writings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard that suggest he owes a greater debt to some psychiatric techniques than his followers might like to admit. We have a feeling today’s comment section is going to be lively! Continue reading Scientology Heresy: Jon Atack on L. Ron Hubbard’s Debt to Psychiatry
 We have some rare video of David Miscavige, leader of the Church of Scientology, giving a drawn-out and very strange explanation for why and how the IRS battled and ultimately caved to the church over its tax exempt status in 1993. The speech is from the New Year’s Eve 2000 Scientology event, which we hadn’t seen before, and it was edited into a funky video presentation that was assembled in 2007 by J. Swift, who tells us the thing hasn’t been online for several years.
We’d love to get your thoughts on this pre-Anonymous bit of church criticism, and Miscavige’s weird explanation for what motivated the IRS. Continue reading VIDEO: Scientology Leader David Miscavige’s Weird Explanation for the IRS Victory
 Marty and Monique Rathbun Last night, stunning new documents were filed in Monique Rathbun’s lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige. New defendants have been added to the lawsuit, which is heading for a temporary injunction hearing a week from today. But the real fireworks come in responses to a declaration filed last week by Miscavige in his attempt to be let out of the lawsuit. Miscavige argued that he should be let out of the suit because he has only a limited role in Scientology, has conducted no activities in the state of Texas, and he has never even heard of one of his fellow defendants, a private investigator named Monty Drake. We predicted that Miscavige might be stepping into some trouble with those statements — in our own reporting, we had talked to two men who said they worked directly for Miscavige and had conducted business for him in Texas. Continue reading THE MARTY RATHBUN AFFIDAVIT: Scientology Leader David Miscavige Lied To Texas Court
 Jonny Jacobsen Cour de Cassation , France’s highest court, which is considering an appeal of the church’s fraud conviction which was upheld last year. He sent us this report…Scientology’s lawyers argued today in France’s highest court that they did not get a fair trial on appeal, because when the defendants walked out of the proceedings half-way through, the appeal court did not stop proceedings to get them new lawyers. Continue reading Our Man in Paris, Jonny Jacobsen, on the Scientology Appeal in France’s Highest Court
 Take off, Clark! Er, hoser! Oh, Narconon. For so many years you were Scientology’s reliable cash cow, doing your best to pretend that you actually had nothing to do with the church itself, but basking in the glow of testimonials by Scientology’s biggest celebrities — Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley, who all parroted that you were doing legitimate work as a drug rehab network. And now, it’s all falling apart so fast we can hardly keep up. Continue reading Scientology’s Drug Rehab Network Stymied in Canada, Sued by Insurers, Generally Screwed
 Claire Headley is taking us on our journey to train as Scientologists. She and her husband Marc were Sea Org workers who escaped from Scientology’s International Base in 2005. She spent years working with Scientology’s “tech,” and was trusted to oversee the auditing of Tom Cruise. Go here to see the first part in this series.
Last week, Claire, you introduced us to Scientology’s “security checks” — tough interrogations that all Scientologists eventually experience on their way up the “Bridge to Total Freedom.” Next on our way up the Bridge is Expanded Grade 3, which seems less menacing, but still carries some pretty steep prices. CLAIRE: Well, after this and Grade 4 we’re on to Dianetics and the state of Clear… THE BUNKER: In that case, where’s our checkbook! Continue reading Making the Grade: Scientology Prepares Us for the Future
 AS SEEN ON TV: The title image for Bryan Seymour’s report on Today Tonight The Underground Bunker has teamed up with another Australian news organization for an exclusive story about Scientology. In this case, we are pleased to have worked with Bryan Seymour of the 7 News program Today Tonight. We coordinated with Seymour to investigate the story of Manuela Oliveira, a woman who had been a rising dancer building a solid television choreography career, working on such shows as The Voice, and The X Factor, and for such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, and Paula Abdul. Three years ago, Manuela moved to Los Angeles from Australia with her boyfriend and fellow choreographer, Yannus Sufandi, as the two followed their dreams of breaking into Hollywood. Two years later, their dreams were disrupted and Manuela had abandoned her relationship with Yannus. To her family’s utter surprise, she had given up everything to join the Church of Scientology’s strict inner corps, the Sea Organization. Continue reading SCIENTOLOGY’S PRIVATE DANCER: A Story of Seduction, Intervention, and Betrayal
 It’s not every day that we get to hear directly from David Miscavige, the leader of the Church of Scientology.
When we see or hear his words, it tends to be in speeches that he gives to other Scientologists at church events. We also suspect that he often writes some of the public pronouncements that Scientology puts out under the name of its international spokeswoman, Karin Pouw. But words for public consumption under Miscavige’s own signature are very rare, and tend only to occur in court declarations. As far as we can tell, the last one he made was in 1999. And that’s why we think it’s a pretty big deal that this week, Miscavige submitted a declaration in the lawsuit filed August 16 by Monique Rathbun, a lawsuit which alleges that Miscavige and Scientology have orchestrated a four-year harassment campaign against her simply because she is married to Mark “Marty” Rathbun, who was once Miscavige’s top lieutenant before he became an outspoken critic of the church. Continue reading Scientology Leader David Miscavige Files Declaration in Texas Lawsuit
 Trementina Base’s “Vault House,” a prop that covers up the vault entrance itself. A Piece of Blue Sky , one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.THE BUNKER: Jon, new photography of the Trementina Base in New Mexico has people talking about Scientology’s vaults again. The underground vaults are built and operated by a church entity known as the Church of Spiritual Technology, or CST. Shelly Miscavige’s mysterious existence — probably at CST’s HQ in the mountains above LA — also has the press talking about CST. Continue reading The History of Scientology’s Weird Vaults — The Bizarre Battlefield Earth Connection!
 A year ago, we told you about a surprising discovery made by Paulette Cooper when she was looking through Patty Moher’s collection of Scientology materials during a gathering at Patty’s house in Connecticut — Paulette stumbled on a pamphlet put out by the church in 1969 that featured an interview with a 7-year-old Neil Gaiman.
The interview was a transcript of a 1968 BBC radio show which featured the young Gaiman, who had been kicked out of a school because of his family’s affiliation with Scientology. A year later, the church included the transcript in a political pamphlet because Scientology was under attack in Parliament, and the young Neil made such a fine example of a budding member of the organization. At the time, we hoped someone at the BBC could track down the original audio of Neil’s interview, and we asked again in June, when Neil’s new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, was published. And now, someone at the BBC has found the audio! Continue reading BBC Tracks Down Audio of 7-Year-Old Scientologist Neil Gaiman
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Jon Atack is the author of A Piece of Blue Sky, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and on Saturdays he’s helping us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet.
