Mysterious Scientology vault project in Wyoming desert raising questions and ire

SWEENEY CANYON, Wyo. - The construction began last summer, stirring up dust that wafted down this desert valley and into a small community of off-the-grid homes.

As many as 20 heavy trucks a day hauling construction materials and equipment rumbled down the valley's main gravel road, passing into a gate marked with a "No Trespassing" sign. Helicopters flew in sling loads of cargo. Powerful work lights lit up the valley at night.

Public planners in southwest Wyoming's Sweetwater County — a sagebrush expanse roughly the size of Massachusetts — say the contractor hired for the project has told them it intends to build a 22,000-square-foot underground storage vault to store documents.

Whose documents exactly? Apparently, the writings of the late L. Ron Hubbard, the Church of Scientology's founder, and other church records.

But plans remain vague. County land use planner John Barton said the county also has been told the vault might hold any number of things besides documents.

"We've had everything from underground housing of sheep or hay," Barton said. "We've had cemetery discussed. We've had mining discussed."

The contractor, International Ground Support Systems of Santa Fe, N.M., also has said it plans to build a 3,500-square-foot caretaker house and an airstrip, county officials say. But they allege that IGSS has failed to apply for two required permits for work done so far.

The mysterious project has riled some neighbors, who value the solitude of their remote community, located about 150 miles east of Salt Lake City.

"I don't care if it's Church of Scientology, the Roman Catholic Church or, you know, Kraft Foods," Barton said. "We have development activity occurring — has occurred and, rumor has it, continues to occur — without required permits."
A local attorney representing IGSS, Robert Reese, said the earthwork already done is similar to improvements that would be made at any ranch. He said that's consistent with the site's agricultural zoning and past use as a cattle ranch. Therefore, he said, the contractor hasn't needed to get a permit.

"Our position is that everything that has been done so far falls well within the agricultural use and no permit is required," Reese said.

IGSS has a majority ownership stake in the 3,500-acre property along with a handful of locals who otherwise don't appear to be directly involved in the project, according to county officials.

Neither the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology — a roughly 50-year-old religion noted for its unconventional beliefs and celebrity followers — nor IGSS officials returned several phone messages seeking more information about the project.

However, an entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology has been known to build underground vaults to store Scientology documents, including near Petrolia, Calif., and Trementina, N.M. According to records from Humbolt County, Calif., IGSS received a permit in 1990 to build the Petrolia vault for the Church of Spiritual Technology, which is based in Los Angeles.

The Church of Spiritual Technology doesn't have a listed phone number.

The Church of Spiritual Technology and the Church of Scientology are linked, according to Larry Brennan, of Bow, N.H., a former Scientologist who now writes a blog about the religion.

The Church of Spiritual Technology holds Scientology's copyrights and trademarks and stores church documents in underground vaults to preserve the religion in case of nuclear war, he said.

The developer's lack of permits prompted the county to issue a stop-work order in September. When work didn't stop, the planners referred the matter to County Attorney Brett Johnson, who said he's contemplating legal action if work continues without a permit.

"There's been a lot of earth moved. It's quite clear that they're preparing to do a lot more work and we just want them to come in and get the proper permits," Johnson said.

Contemplating? CONTEMPLATING? If it was me all I'd have to hear is the word "Scientology" and I'd be more than interested in doing whatever legal work is necessary. These people are crazy, a cult that shockingly has even celebrities wrapped up in their BS. Many people have become sick and even died because of their "beliefs" - murder is on THEIR hands.

I don't trust this "vault" idea... nor do I believe that's what it actually is.
If it was, then why not just get the stupid necessary paperwork? Why remain so secretive? And why continue even if the order to stop was issued by the county?
Something is up... and it's probably not good for the rest of the world.

Sometimes in life, paranoia really does pay off.

I see conspiracy theories everywhere

Let them bury themselves. If they have a vault already, why do they need another? Oh wait, they have so many legal documents and cases that if stored in one place, the entire region would implode under the weight of all their bullsh*t.

Even though Scientology irritates me, I know they won't last too much longer since they are so exclusionary--you have to pay out your a$$ just to become the lowest member.

They're just building the set of Mission Impossible-4, leave them alone guys, leave them alone.

They are going to start the Third Impact and reconstruct the human society on the image and idea of Hubbard! Battlefield Earth is their guide! The end is nigh!

*runs to the last WW2 Anderson shelter left in North Wales*

I think Canada has more of a reputation for being "wussies" than Venezuela.

Hopefully