"National Solar Observatory, Alien Hive Or Espionage Center?" Topic

Still not much known about the "raid" (according to UFO enthusiasts) on the place, or what the "security issue" was/is, as one would expect if the Feds don't mess up and actually go by the numbers:

link. (Washington Post)

link (CNN)

I have no idea which building the Feds were really raiding, and I'm sure the UFO community must be going crazy with all manner of wild theories, but i think this whole thing could be the basis for an absolutely awesome X-Files-ish scenario, don't you?

Now, if you happen to game with 15mm figures …

I think Khurasan already makes a pair that look like a Mulder and Scully (or are they just disguised Aliens?), and Rebel Minis and The Scene have lots of figures in suits and windbreakers. Some of the guys in suits could be foreign agents, if that's the route you choose to take in your game.

Khurasan and CP Models have guys in lab coats. And Rebel Minis and Khurasan make Greys of various types. I'm sure there are plenty of figures to choose from to use as "geek" types and security guards too. There might be some additional muscle in hard hats among the figures that Khurasan and Alternative Armies produces, and plenty of hazmat suit guys between Khurasan and Rebel Minis.

QUESTIONS
1) So, how would you game "the raid" on the National Solar Observatory?
2) And who/what would your Fed figures find once they enter the bowels of the facility?

Dan
YouTube link
YouTube link
YouTube link

Personal gripe. Please tell me when you link to the WaPo. They count my articles, and I'm saving them in case they ever depart opinion for actual news. Onward!

For real life, there was an evacuation and not necessarily a raid. Could be a bomb scare or a real bomb. And if I found and disarmed one bomb, I'd check the place out pretty thoroughly for a second one before I let people back in.

For gaming purposes
If it's an X-Files episode, It's one of the Conspiracy ones. After a while the episode will end, but we'll never be sure who was on which side or what they were trying to do.

If it's a Roswell episode, the observatory found something crash or alien-related but didn't realize it yet, and the Roswell kids had to scare up something to get them all out of there while they destroyed the evidence.

Hellboy/BPRD might work. They've been looking into the Abyss, and something in the Abyss looked at them, and maybe paid a visit. Big Red and his friends have evacuated the civilians while they deal with it. What they find will be determined by the power level of the party.

And if it were a Sledge Hammer episode, Sledge would already have blown up the observatory.

2) they find that the government workers are shape-shifting aliens who are using the observatory as a teleportation station.

Z

@Robert
So, do you think the Aliens might have planted a bomb? Has anyone described it as round and as if made of copper? :)

@Zee
Do you think the teleportation device comes out of the ground, like this? And does the transmission sound like lambada to human ears? :)

Dan

Seeing the aerial photo of the observatory and the Post Office it is clearly a MIB (Men In Black)situation

link

Given how much all of the officials are denying that it's extra-terrestrials, I'm pretty sure it's extraterrestrials.

Russian seizure of the place by Spetsnaz troops, seeking concrete intel and evidence of our top secret, anti-Russian orbital-space-station laser, which punched a hole in their craft a while back.

They're hopping mad about it, so raided the "observatory", in order to clear Putin of culpability.

Unfortunately, they weren't as covert as planned, and it blew up in their face, and they were caught by the Feds flying in unmarked, black helos…….

Dan,

Good thread and all the comments are good. So what rules will you use for this one?

Dave

No, they enter the elevator with the sound of a live Austin Limits concert.

It's classified …

With a name like "Sunspot", I'd go for a James Bond scenario.

Obviously, the meglomaniacal master baddie of the film has a laser strong enough to cause a "solar storm" that will disrupt all communications on Earth, letting him steal all the gold in Fort Knox, or money from the London Stock Exchange, or something equally silly.

Oh, and the post office is just a post office, but it's run by a beautiful (after she takes off her glasses and lets her hair down from its bun) Post Mistress.

An arch villain has created a super Sunspot laser to create solar flares (Thanks Roderick). What he doesn't realize is that it is so powerful that it will destroy the sun.

The aliens (probably a Vogon construction company) realize the danger and how badly the use of the Sunspot will mess up their intergalactic highway plans. They planned a raid to protect their financial interests.

The MIB showed up to stop the Vogons.

The Russians conducted their own raid. (thanks Thresher01).
The Chinese also conducted a raid, looking for evidence of Russian tampering with US elections (they want to know how to do it, too).

Army Special Forces showed up to stop the Russians and Chinese.

The Post Office mobilized their USPOSF (United States Post Office Special Forces) to prevent anyone from tampering with the mail.

And the Area 51 Fan Club showed up to get proof of aliens visiting Earth.

Whew! We're gonna need a bigger table!

Dave

What rules? I haven't got a clue yet. But it'll be the first question I ask after sorting out the scenarios, figures and terrain issues.

Or, then again, I might be going about this backwards. :)

Dan

Or we are not thinking this all the way through, maybe it's not really an observatory at all but a secret government lab!

And they have a alien virus in there like in "the Andromeda Strain"

link

link

I'd either go with the sci fi version of 5 core, or the old starship marines (which is a great corridor based game).

Given that they evacuated the post office, too (which is a good half-mile away), my money is on some ugly flavor of bomb threat.

Some good, man-to-man/alien, skirmishy set, for the rules.

Chinese/North Korean agents looking to blame it on the Russians, or more likely, vice versa, in order to get the USA to take out the opposition.

FUBAR if larger forces get involved.

Perhaps someone has stumbled on the "real" HQ for SHADO…….

link

Perhaps someone was using the telescopes and other equipment to spy on the testing of our new stealth bomber, or orbital/sub-orbital recon bird.

I think that, as different spokespeople get involved, the story is only going to get "weirder" as time passes. It's inevitable, because one will use a word or a tone that the other one won't, and vise versa.

All this means is that the UFO enthusiasts are going to be talking about captured aliens and all sorts of fun stuff about the place, for a long time to come. :)

Might as well game it, right? :)

Dan

@Thresher: The only way that would make sense is if someone has a station up there between the Earth and the Sun and the station actually traversed the Sun.

That's a Solar Observatory, you need a special sun filter to not light things on fire with a telescope. That filter blocks out so much light that you can't see much else.

Maybe it was reprogrammed to follow something else and not the sun. :)

Dan

I like where your going with that Dan!

It's a telescope, Right? Designed specially to observe the sun, correct? Well, the Sun is still there! So what would be a security risk?

Agree, someone reprogrammed it and saw something they weren't suppose too!

AURA, which manages the telescope site, had been working with law enforcement in an investigation of possible criminal activity on the mountain

Yeah that screams cover-up!

AURA decided to evacuate the roughly dozen people who live and work at the site. They have since decided that there is no risk

Sure they say!?

Due to the logistics of keeping everyone safe at the remote facility

So let me get this straight you have 12 people, criminal activity, security risk and everyone involved is evacuated and the facility is locked down for over a week, things that make you go Hummm.

You can see from Dan's aerial photo there is way more facilities for housing and all for just 12 people!

Yup, it's aliens

I wonder how many of those people aren't going to be coming back to work when/if the place ever reopens. :)

Dan

Hmm … I guess that a spy or two* didn't feel like cooperating. I hope they enjoy their prison cell and the the new label they have been given for life::

link

Seriously, how many of those "child porn" raids require black unmarked helicopters patrolling overhead and an entire facility of that type and size evacuated for that long and under so much secrecy?

Methinks they be spies, selling info to foreign powers. And, of course, the spy thing is a way better gaming scenario than their current "official" story.

Either way, I hope the guilty parties never see the light of day ever again.

Dan
* Or perhaps they are aliens. After all, it is New Mexico, and Roswell is close by. :)

To be fair, they never said the janitor they were investigating was human…

Maybe alien/human hybrids

The evacuation came after that person became increasingly agitated, prompting concerns about the safety of staff at the observatory, the publication reports.

Hey Guys! I have this great idea! lets not arrest this guy lets evacuate the whole facility and all the surrounding buildings as well, because we all know how very dangerous janitors are!

I truly was thinking that they may have found some Armed Pot Growers in the area and cleared the area until they weeded out the situation.

New photo from Mars … !!?!?!

Ha Ha HA…..

At least the PR wasn't as bad this time compared to the fiasco when they raided Pauly Shore's Biodome… ;-)