I don't think we have the ability to hear human conversations anywhere. We can tap into a wireless or wireline phone conversation anywhere, but we can't hear voices on the ground yet. Al Qaeda has learned to stay out of sight of satellites and not talk on any kind of telephone or radio. They communicate by courier with hand-written messages. That's a tough nut to crack.
I've assumed it was as you wrote.
But I wonder. I don't have enough puzzle pieces to say otherwise with any certainty at all. But I wonder. There have been bits and pieces--faint this's and that's that have intimated otherwise. And sometimes I wonder.
I have friends working in your State on the pipeline. 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off. I think one commutes to Prudehoe from Anchorage.
BTW, have you seen any interesting exotic craft in Alaska?