Americans have suddenly classified data about the Sun, reminiscent of similar actions taken just before the pandemic.

The Sun has reached its peak activity. Powerful flares and magnetic storms occur almost daily. Meanwhile, humanity is left without timely information on what is truly happening with the Sun. NASA experienced a mysterious flood that destroyed its servers. NASA claims that information from satellites is still being received, but it will not be published. This situation recalls another mysterious incident: in 2018, exactly one year before the pandemic, the FBI raided the Sacramento Peak Observatory in New Mexico, after which solar servers "went down" worldwide. At that time, the Sun was also undergoing an interesting period of activity.

Conspiracy theorists online believe that authorities are hiding something happening on the star in the sky. Is it true?

MYSTERIOUS PIPE, 4 INCHES

This incident was clearly not rushed to be reported. It is still unclear when exactly it occurred. Initially, there were confident claims that it happened on December 3, but later they let slip that it was about a week earlier.

At one point, current images of the Sun taken from satellites simply vanished from the internet. There was no one to ask about the reason, so numerous enthusiasts monitoring the day star speculated.

And then NASA released a sparse press release. At the Data Processing Center of the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory, a 4-inch pipe burst. A puddle of "several inches" (approximately 5-10 centimeters) of water formed on the floor.

It seems ordinary; nevertheless, the servers that store data from the satellites are out of order. NASA "does not know" when they will resume operations, but it will definitely be next year. The damage is assessed as "serious." What exactly they are doing, drying things out, replacing servers—zero details.

Hmm, indeed mysterious.

WHAT WE LOST

The now-flooded room was receiving data in real-time from two satellites: the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS).

The Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) was launched in 2010, and the satellite orbits at an altitude of 36,000 kilometers (to be precise, it hovers over one point—this is a geostationary orbit, but relative to the Sun, it "orbits"). This compact device is literally packed with equipment. A magnetic tomographer studies the fields on the solar disk. A special device records ultraviolet anomalies. Finally, a dedicated camera provides images of both the disk itself and the solar atmosphere—the corona. The stunning images of the Sun that are shared online come from this source (and now they are gone).

IRIS, launched in 2013, is a more specialized satellite. It operates at a lower altitude, just over 600 km, and captures images in ultraviolet. This spectral range is critically important, allowing for advance detection of an incoming flare and detailed study of it. Although images from IRIS are shared less frequently, specialists say they are of unprecedented detail, showing the smallest features of active regions.

AFTER NOVEMBER 22 – ZERO DATA

The data center affected by the burst pipe processes 42 terabytes of information monthly. Back in 2010, when the program started, this seemed like a colossal figure; now it doesn't seem so, but the key point is not how much information, but what kind of information. Invaluable.

Data from the satellites continues to arrive, NASA reassures. Part has been directed to a backup center in New Mexico. But all this is not being processed; it is just accumulating.

NASA has stopped selling space weather information to its commercial clients. Consumers, from space agencies to sailors and medical professionals, order updates from NASA about what is happening on and around the Sun. They will have to wait.

The flow of information ceased even before the official date of the "flood," which can easily be verified by visiting the mission website. Currently, it displays information about the Sun from November 22, along with a notice that due to the flood on November 26 (ah, so it wasn't actually December 3), there will be no updates for now.

What was the Sun doing from November 22 to November 26? An innocent question, but why not ask it? You won't get an answer anyway.

If the satellites are operational; if data is arriving at the backup site in New Mexico; if "neither current nor historical information will be lost"—a quote from the release—then why is nothing being published?

Perhaps the answer lies in the word "New Mexico." What is this place?

Nasa has classified data on solar activity

Photo: EAST NEWS.

FBI CATCHES A JANITOR

Although NASA speaks vaguely—saying that there is some backup data reception point in this state—it seems to refer to the Sacramento Peak Observatory located in this state. An unusual story is connected to it.

In the early morning of September 6, 2018, FBI helicopters hovered over the sleepy astronomers' settlement, and people in black descended to the ground via ropes, just like in the movies. Employees, dressed as they were, were evacuated, and the area was cordoned off. After that—on the surface—nothing happened. One blogger even climbed over the fence, and before he was apprehended, he managed to notice that plainclothes security guards were patrolling between the telescope buildings, and that was it.

The observatory was not a secret facility. Tours were regularly conducted there. It was a remote area, that's true. Rarely did tourists visit. Nonetheless, lectures and workshops were held, clearly not a lair of Dr. Evil.

It is clear that the observatory's website, which provided current data on space weather, immediately went down, but strangely, following that, the websites of several dozen solar observatories around the world also crashed.

The "arrest" of the telescopes lasted about two months, and during those two months, the world existed without any information on what was happening with the Sun. Just like now.

Finally, the FBI removed its personnel without explanation, the astronomers returned, and much later, the director of Sacramento Peak published a laughable version: supposedly a janitor had been looking at inappropriate images on the work computer at night. That's why the FBI reacted.

Despite the fact that "Komsomolskaya Pravda" (and many global media) investigated the incident from all angles, nothing substantial was learned.

IS THE SUN COOLING DOWN?

Indeed, the fall of 2018 was a very unusual time.

Right now, the Sun is at its peak activity. Back then, for months, there were no sunspots at all. Rumors circulated that the day star had actually cooled down—somewhere inside itself.

Nuclear reactions at the Sun's core produce light and heat, but it takes a very long time for the energy to reach the surface to be emitted, estimated to be up to a million years. The Sun may be a million years old, perhaps its core is cold, and we are unaware.

Neutrinos, a byproduct of nuclear reactions, would allow us to judge this. Almost not interacting with matter, neutrinos penetrate the Sun's mass instantly. And, by the way, the neutrino flux is indeed noticeably lower than expected.

All of this was discussed at the end of 2018, and people thought: the military knows that a colossal disaster is coming. But the public is not informed. The observatory intended to disclose everything, which is why it suffered. But years have passed. The Sun has successfully entered a peak activity phase, one that has not been seen in decades. And it seems the problem is over.

However, it is not over, apparently. Back then—the FBI raid. Now, they have worked more subtly, a pipe. What are they hiding?

SIGNS OF APOCALYPSE

Version one: something bad is happening on the Sun. Signs of "badness" can be seen in the open data, and that is why they are being blocked. In 2018, astronomers were not prepared to play secrecy, and the FBI had to stage a show. This time, there are no willing participants to go against the system, hence—just a pipe, just a flood.

This version seems obvious, but it has many flaws. What could possibly be happening on the Sun that needs to be hidden? Is it cooling down? Ready to explode? Suppose we have classified this information. What’s the point