Local police officer at the scene
Posted on 09/12/2018 9:54:20 PM PDT by House Atreides
UPDATE 9/12/18 4PM PST The issue may be related to Mercury (the metal, not the planet). On a tip from a science journalist friend who covers telescopes and who has been there, I verified the observatory uses a vat of liquid mercury as a float bearing for the giant solar telescope. According to an internal NSO/NMSU document, that bearing is “high-risk” during maintenance. If there was a major mercury spill, it might explain why the Feds are there, with FBI providing security. The amount of Mercury is said to be in the “tens of gallons” range, which is next to impossible to come by in the commercial market these days, and if it were weaponized, it would make a very nasty dirty bomb. Perhaps there’s some security issue with the mercury on-site.
The mysterious and sudden closure of the National Solar Observatory in New Mexico is sending alien hunters into a frenzy as the facility remains shut without explanation. The research institute in Sunspot was evacuated last Thursday along with a nearby United States Postal Service office for unexplained ‘security reasons.’
A spokesperson for the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) which manages the observatory said the evacuation was a precautionary measure due to a security issue. “It was our decision to evacuate the facility,”spokeswoman Shari Lifson added....
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(Excerpt) Read more at wattsupwiththat.com ...
Pretty close, by your numbers, a metric ton would be almost exactly 20 gallons... a metric ton is heavier than a standard ton at 2204.6#. Number I found for mercury was 113#/gal...
I know I bought a pound of it to use to get super fine gold out of black sand and it came in a little tiny bottle that would be maybe 2oz of any normal liquid... BTW it was like $40/#
Local police officer at the scene
The Michelson - Morley apparatus was built on a slab of sandstone 5 foot square by 1 foot thick which was floated in a pool of mercury. It allowed the experiment to use a huge mass for the optical table with virtually friction-less rotation of the device. The experiment was housed in a basement at the Case Western Reserve University in the mid 1880’s.
HEH! Good one!!!
The Truth is out there. I’m not saying its Aliens—But its Aliens!
Mercury can be weaponized? Who knew?
Silliest thing I ever heard.
Fascinating.
Legend, why do you think they over-hyped it? Maybe they wanted to hoard it themselves?
I played with a thermometer when little and of course I broke it and spilled the stuff everywhere and played with it. My mother acted like the earth was ending. I didn’t die but sure was scared of it my whole life.
Why do they over-hype anything?
Control? Keep people scared over minor things? Justify their salaries?
Like with fluorescent light bulbs... Million$ are made with ‘hazardous waste ‘ disposal of them, and if you break just one in a public building the ‘toxic cleanup and disposal’ will cost thousand$. and while I wouldn’t want to be trapped in a closed space with a hundred smashed fluorescent bulbs, one or two are zero danger (other than cutting yourself on the glass) , unless maybe you snort the powder like it was cocaine and you were a 80’s guest star on Miami Vice..
Wow small world... I need to get away from here for a week, would like to go back up there again soon.
Should be pretty nice around there in a month or so.
One excuse is about as good as another, but this explanation about the close proximity to a governmental testing facility makes sense. The interesting part in another article was the sudden attention to antennas and transmission towers as well as the post office, all items or places to be used for communication, shut it down so no info can get out. An excerpt of this article attached.
“There was a Blackhawk helicopter, a bunch of people around antennas and work crews on towers, but nobody would tell us anything,” Otero County Sheriff Benny House told the Alamogordo Daily News. “I don’t know why the FBI would get involved so quick and not tell us anything.”
IIRC, we were playing with the stuff in lab.
Well ok but why are the other two Solar Observatories also closed that are located elsewhere? Something they do no want us to know....
I do know there are some events going on with the Sun right now..
“By the way, any Chinese post-doctoral researchers happen to be on staff at this Observatory?”
I believe all contracting companies working on Federal projects are overrun with foreigners, especially Chinese. At least that’s what Hubby saw when contracting on Federal projects, including at an observatory. And they see nothing wrong with spying, stealing info, etc. No moral compass.
I heard that the first emperor of China slept on a feather mattress in a pool of mercury to prevent assassination. I wonder what that weighed? Unfortunately for him he also ingested it regularly in an attempt to become immortal. It didn’t work.
“And they see nothing wrong with spying, stealing info, etc. No moral compass.”
They may very well have a moral compass, it just points to their country, not ours. Like Trump says, you can’t blame them, blame us for letting them get away with it.
I’ve been there on and off for the past 30 years. A great spot for watching the sun.
As to the Mercury, yeah, it’s not a big deal, it’s been there since the scope was installed. It’s used as a bearing. As long as one respects it and wears appropriate equipment while doing maintenance, and it doesn’t get heated and turned to vapor, there is no issue.
As to any “alien” issue... it’s a flipping SOLAR observatory! As in, one can’t see squat except for the sun. The projection table casts an image about 3 feet in diameter. The fine detail shown of the sun is impressive due to the precision of the scopes drive and optical system.
So whatever is going on probably is, as the article states, a security issue and not a biohazard or stupid “alien” one.
The specific gravity of mercury is 13.62. A gallon of mercury weighs about 109 pounds or roughly 50 kg. A metric ton of mercury would be about 20 gallons.
Ingested (as opposed to aspirated) mercury is not very toxic. Mercury compounds are.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning
The FBI may have detected emails or social media chatter where the budding Copernicuses of Islamic extraction working at the lab discussed stealing a truck load of the stuff and dumping it into Lake Meade, or other nefarious schemes.
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