Expensive NASA equipment missing in North Texas

Expensive NASA equipment missing in North Texas

www.wfaa.com

DALLAS -- It’s a mystery worth millions.

Science equipment is missing, en route from Minneapolis to Palestine, Texas. The equipment is part of a NASA-funded experiment.

A truck left The University of Minnesota's School of Physics and Astronomy Friday, but never made it to Palestine.

It was last seen at truck stops in Dallas and Hutchins. The truck driver has been found, but the cargo is missing.

It is a bizarre story that NASA doesn't even want to talk about.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.nbcdfw.com

Even though the equipment is only destined for a telescope, this story is still intriguing. I've only been able to find the story on 2 local (Dallas-Fort Worth) websites, so that makes me wonder if there is more to this. There just isn't much information out there right now, even though the driver was found yesterday. One report states that NASA won't allow the researchers in Palestine, Texas (where the equipment was headed) to talk to journalists, but students at the University of Minnesota (who were working on the project) have given interviews.

Anyone out there have any ideas on what this whole thing could be about? I'm starting to get a little nervous with all of the things that have gone missing lately.

www.wfaa.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Hoax to get more funds?
Maybe North Korea really do have a space program and have been stealing all this stuff off of NASA, all the while laughing at the claims of missile development.

Wait do North Koreans laugh?..

reply to post by riddle6


I really hope they release more information about this. Particularly, I'm interested in hearing about the situation with the driver of the truck. They found him, and his truck at a nearby rest area, but no equipment. That means he was either hijacked, or took part in the the theft. But to what end? If it was a telescope that was taken, I can't imagine who, besides another state-sponsored space agency, would be able to use it. Of course, whether or not it was actually a telescope is another matter altogether. What a strange story...

Great find! S&F for you!

UPDATED: I just contacted CNN about this and demanded that they cover this incident. Of course, who knows if they'll actually cover it. But a friend working in for the MSM has told me that CNN, MSNBC, etc. consider each viewer phone call and email to be representative of 1000 people. So maybe calling and emailing them can have an impact if enough people do it! CNN's # is 404-827-1500 or cnn.com/feedback

Looks like somebody doesn't want us to see Nibiru...

Originally posted by TechUnique
Hoax to get more funds?
Maybe North Korea really do have a space program and have been stealing all this stuff off of NASA, all the while laughing at the claims of missile development.

Wait do North Koreans laugh?..

No, laughter is a capital offense in Pyongyang. Smug contempt is permitted under certain circumstances, but I don't think this would qualify.

reply to post by draco49


That's what is the weirdest thing to me. They have the driver but no equipment, and it almost seems like no information about where the equipment could be. When I saw the news report at 6, they even said that the information, especially about the driver, kept changing.

Originally posted by riddle6
reply to post by draco49

 

That's what is the weirdest thing to me. They have the driver but no equipment, and it almost seems like no information about where the equipment could be. When I saw the news report at 6, they even said that the information, especially about the driver, kept changing.

When you see something like this going on, I think it's a clear indicator that there's much more beneath the surface. People would actually be surprised what persistent calls and email to elected officials and the media can accomplish. I don't think we should let this story dissolve into the ether. I think we should be demanding that the MSM and our elected officials respond and provide coverage. If we don't act, they have no incentive to.

Some crooks are stupid. Probably heard NASA and thought big money. Not a big enough story for the MSM.

Once someone stole some radioactive generators (use to make medical tracing materials) from a driver delivering to a hospital when I worked at pharm company. Police found them later in a parking lot. Appears the crook figured out some thing labeled radioactive might not be a good item to carry around.

But there is always a conspiracy to be made also.

reply to post by roadgravel


Regardless of what actually happened, NASA is funded by the taxpayers of the United States, and when millions of dollars worth of cutting-edge equipment are mysteriously stolen en route to the final destination, we have a right to know what the hell took place. Who is this truck driver? Why did he abandon his cell phone? Why weren't the police called? Why did it take a search team to find him? Who would have benefited from capturing this equipment? The questions go on and on, and without further information the public is left with nothing but speculation; the seeds of conspiracy theories.

I read of a guy who took some real nice pictures with a telescope, camera, and transmitter on a weather balloon. His investment wasn't much so I guess NASA figured a way to up the cost to eight million bucks to do the same thing. I thought it was praised because of it's low cost.

I agree 100%. The government is to serve us and the news makes it's money of the consumer.

Some answers need to be found. Someone will research this and get them, hopefully soon. Any bets on 'national security' card?

reply to post by draco49


Also, there's a lot of work from kids at the University of Minnesota that is missing. They have to have the equipment at the station by a certain time if their work is to be a part of this telescope. I would hate for all of their hard work to go to waste, because it would take another year or so for this project to happen again.

Originally posted by rickymouse
I read of a guy who took some real nice pictures with a telescope, camera, and transmitter on a weather balloon. His investment wasn't much so I guess NASA figured a way to up the cost to eight million bucks to do the same thing.

I thought it was praised because of it's low cost.

I don't think we're talking about the same thing here. This was supposedly a new type of telescope designed to help quantify the "Big Bang" and provide more data on the formation of the Universe. Given the amount of money they allege it was worth, the coordinated transportation effort, and the scientists involved, I have a feeling that this project was more than a simple weather-balloon and telescope. But alas, that's part of the problem. There's been almost zero information from NASA or the MSM about this, so we're left with the details that did get out, and our own speculation. The public deserves to be well-informed.

It's a little disheartening to see so few flags on this thread. If we don't flag it, it gets buried and eventually goes away. We need to keep this incident in the forefront. Please flag this post.

Not to take the wind out of anybody's conspiracy sails but hundreds of millions of dollars of cargo is stolen and/or redirected every year in this country. Loss prevention is an ever growing field for reasons like this. Someone may have just seen a nice shiny trailer at a truck rest stop and decided to take it for themselves. It is not hard to open a locked trailer and only slightly harder to dismount a trailer from a rig and remount it on another truck. they could have paid the driver a little money to look the other way.

NASA more than likely does not want to talk about it because with their budget and purpose under more and more scrutiny by congress they would have one heck of a time trying ask for a couple extra million dollars because they "misplaced" expensive equipment.

Besides I don't think it was any kind of secret squirrel big brother Illuminati telescope. Something like that would most likely not find it's way into an undergrads hands to begin with. I think it was more likely a very fine tuned, rare, and precision made expensive telescope that was stolen. Like stated above, NASA is publicly funded and is accountable to us, there is no reason to keep people in the dark about this. Just don't get your hopes up about the MIB stealing some secret tech..... Though that would be a great story.

reply to post by draco49


So eight million bucks to try to prove the big bang What's wrong with the Hubble telescope? This eight million dollar project is going to be on a balloon? Balloons don't have a very good lifetime. I guess it disappearing already proves how bad of an idea this was.

What is a flag?

Originally posted by NoRemorse762
Not to take the wind out of anybody's conspiracy sails but hundreds of millions of dollars of cargo is stolen and/or redirected every year in this country. Loss prevention is an ever growing field for reasons like this. Someone may have just seen a nice shiny trailer at a truck rest stop and decided to take it for themselves. It is not hard to open a locked trailer and only slightly harder to dismount a trailer from a rig and remount it on another truck. they could have paid the driver a little money to look the other way.

NASA more than likely does not want to talk about it because with their budget and purpose under more and more scrutiny by congress they would have one heck of a time trying ask for a couple extra million dollars because they "misplaced" expensive equipment.

Besides I don't think it was any kind of secret squirrel big brother Illuminati telescope. Something like that would most likely not find it's way into an undergrads hands to begin with. I think it was more likely a very fine tuned, rare, and precision made expensive telescope that was stolen. Like stated above, NASA is publicly funded and is accountable to us, there is no reason to keep people in the dark about this. Just don't get your hopes up about the MIB stealing some secret tech..... Though that would be a great story.

I think you've brought up an excellent point, and what you've said is absolutely true. However, NASA is a publicly-funded and administered agency of the United States, ultimately responsible to the taxpayers. If this was just a routine case of hijacked cargo, they should come out and say that. The problem, as I see it, is a culture of secrecy that only serves to make mountains out of molehills, and cover the asses of the people in charge. Jumping to the conclusion that it must be a conspiracy with wide implications is quite an overreach given how little we actually know of the incident. But that's the problem. They put out such a tiny amount of information that it's only natural for people to speculate and try to fill in the blanks with scenarios that "could be". If they government would just be upfront about this type of sh|t, we could do away with most of these conspiracy theoriesand focus on the true conspiracies.

reply to post by draco49


If there isn't any new information in the next few days, I'll email the journalist that broke this story for WFAA (the station where I first heard about it and quoted in the OP). It might take a few days, but I've always heard that they will email you back.

I just want to know what happened. Obviously the conspiracy part of my brain went crazy when I heard that it was something with NASA, but I understand that this could easily be a case of stolen cargo by someone wanting to make a quick dollar. The most puzzling aspect of all of this is the driver. He has supposedly already been fired, but they still don't officially know what happened? And NASA doesn't want anyone to talk to journalists? This entire thing is just really weird to me.

Originally posted by rickymouse
reply to post by draco49

 

So eight million bucks to try to prove the big bang

What's wrong with the Hubble telescope?

This eight million dollar project is going to be on a balloon? Balloons don't have a very good lifetime. I guess it disappearing already proves how bad of an idea this was.

What is a flag?

Hello... I didn't mean that this project would "prove" the big bang. I don't think anyone, myself included, can say for sure what the project was or was not specifically intended for because they haven't really let that information out. It's all been very vague. The fact that we know so little about it is what's troubling. We're given nothing but breadcrumbs. Is it any wonder that, with so little information, people try to fill in the blanks and create a story that is feasible in their construct of reality? I don't think so.

At the beginning of the thread next to the OP, you'll see a button that allows you to "Flag" the thread. Flags are a general indicator of interest in the thread (regardless of your position on the content), and is used to determine how prominently placed the thread is on the forum.

reply to post by riddle6


The cargo should be listed on E-Bay by next week