After a period of internet speculation that aliens and UFOs might have reached Earth, it has finally been revealed that a New Mexico solar observatory was being used to obtain child pornography.
An unnamed janitor who works at the Sunspot Solar Observatory, which was briefly shuttered, is suspected of using the facility’s WiFi connection to download and distribute child pornography, KOAT-TV reported.
The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), responsible for managing the observatory in Sacramento Peak, said it was cooperating with the FBI.
Drone footage captured over Sunspot NM Solar Observatory shows it completely deserted. pic.twitter.com/xI3QGVOtcd
— Project Bluebeam (@ProjectBIuebeam) September 15, 2018
According to an FBI search warrant, in July, an agent working for the New Mexico Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force traced a cluster of IP addresses with connections to child pornography to the observatory.
The facility’s chief observer told federal agents on Aug. 21 that he found a laptop “plugged in and running” in offices that were otherwise empty or unused. The documents he found on the computer were “not good,” he said.
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After agents seized the laptop, the janitor reportedly claimed he was “missing some cleaning supplies” and asked if anyone had been in the office where he kept the laptop. The staffer then allegedly claimed there was a serial killer in the area who could “enter the facility and execute someone.”
The janitor also complained about the observatory’s lax security, saying it would be only a matter of time before the facility “got hit.” At that point, the FBI decided to close the observatory indefinitely because the chief observer was concerned about staff safety.
While authorities have been given the legal go-ahead to search the janitor’s home, it does not appear he has been charged with any crimes yet.