It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Vandalism in Arizona shuts down phone, TV, and internet service for the state

page: 1
12
<<   2 >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 10:43 PM
link   
Raises concerns about US infrastructure






Cellphone, Internet, and telephone services across half of Arizona went dark on Wednesday after vandals sliced a sensitive fiber optic cable, according to those familiar with the situation. The incident is raising concerns about the safety of U.S. infrastructure.

The outage shut down critical services across large parts of the state, preventing individuals from using their phones, bank and ATM cards, and the Internet. Critical services, such as police and state government databases, as well as banks and hospitals, also were affected as a result of the vandalism.

The services first went dead around noon MST on Wednesday, causing complete service interruptions across half the state, from Phoenix to such northern cities as Sedona, Prescott, and Cotton Wood, according to an official from CenturyLink, the Louisiana-based communications company that owns the severed line.

“There was a vandalism that took place on a fiber optic cable that basically runs from Phoenix to Northern Arizona,” said Alex Juarez, a spokesman for CenturyLink in Arizona.

We’re not sure what the intent was, but they were able to cut the fiber optic cable, possibly using a hacksaw,” Juarez explained. “It looks like a pretty straight cut.”

CenturyLink personnel responded quickly to the scene to locate where the line was cut and assess the damage. They were eventually able to repair the line and get services back up and running in the early morning hours of Thursday.

“Obviously CenturyLink takes a high concern in security. Anytime there’s an outage, it impacts customers and business. In this instance, it affected everything from banks to hospitals to state agencies, you name it,” Juarez said. “So it’s a high priority to have these lines secure. These types of instances do not happen very often.”

The cable is located in a desert area north of Phoenix, meaning it is not a site routinely accessed by passersby.

“It’s a desert area, so it’s very remote, extremely remote,” Juarez said.




The fact that the area is remote, that it's encased in metal piping, they had to go through the ground to get to the pipe, get through the pipe to get to the wires, these guys knew what they were doing and came prepared. This is another sabotage and possibly a dry run. I thought I'd get some ATS thoughts on this. I'm curious and think this might be a dry run to see about response times etc... Your thoughts?





posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 10:49 PM
link   
If some group organized well, they could knock out a lot of communications and even power throughout the country at about the same time. I can't see much more than chaos erupting from this though. People do go on guard when things like that happen.



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:01 PM
link   
Did anyone on ATS actually experience this? I live in the central Arizona corridor they're talking about, and I didn't notice a damn thing. Nor did anyone in my community. Nor did any of my friends, coworkers... pretty much everyone I know or came into contact with that day. No business I interacted with had any trouble.

And this is across multiple service providers. I don't know who uses CenturyLink and who doesn't specifically, but nobody said anything about it.

In fact, I don't think this ever even happened. This is part of the drum beat to the coming crackdown on communications, under the auspices of "protecting us from the terrorists". Or vandals, now. Vandals are terrorists. You watch.

ETA: Arizona has always been a favorite place of TPTB to test their little social manipulation projects. Some of you who have lived here for a while may remember the mysterious gas line rupture between Phoenix and Tucson that sent the state into a gas hoarding frenzy not seen since the 70's. And then of course the gas company got a big fat new contract from the state to refurbish the lines. Convenient, no? This sounds eerily familiar. Like we're being used as a petri dish for what to expect on a larger scale.
edit on 2/27/15 by NthOther because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:09 PM
link   

originally posted by: NthOther
Did anyone on ATS actually experience this? I live in the central Arizona corridor they're talking about, and I didn't notice a damn thing. Nor did anyone in my community. Nor did any of my friends, coworkers... pretty much everyone I know or came into contact with that day. No business I interacted with had any trouble.

And this is across multiple service providers. I don't know who uses CenturyLink and who doesn't specifically, but nobody said anything about it.

In fact, I don't think this ever even happened. This is part of the drum beat to the coming crackdown on communications, under the auspices of "protecting us from the terrorists". Or vandals, now. Vandals are terrorists. You watch.



I hadn't heard of it until I saw it on Daily Mail. Here's a CBS link with a picture of the severed cable. It won't let me save and upload the picture, but there's a video there as well, if you wish to see it.

CBS



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:12 PM
link   
Sounds like practice. Getting the backstory all in line. Whithout the above testimony why would anyone doubt this news?



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:13 PM
link   
This video states officials think thieves were looking for copper possibly. SMDH




posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:13 PM
link   
Probably Russian or Chinese agents. I'd suggest ISIS, but they are controlled by Obama and McCain and other insiders. Perhaps it's a dry run for taking down the whole thing and replacing it with government propaganda 24-7.



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:22 PM
link   
a reply to: Anyafaj




these guys knew what they were doing and came prepared.


That's not really saying much though. They make it fairly obvious where this stuff is buried I think, and all you would need would be a shovel, a sawzall and apparently a hacksaw. I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.

Having a hard time believing the area can't be reached by car considering there is a bulky ass truck in the video. ATV/dirt bike/any truck and probably my AWD rally mobile could easily make it if that truck they showed did.

Video stated they were unsure of the amount of people that were actually affected.

I agree it is worrying, our grid is far more vulnerable than I think most people realize, and probably more vulnerable than even most of us here realize, but this doesn't smack of a dry run terrorist attack. It sounds like a few dumb youngsters that wanted a little fame. Watch them post pics to Facebook.

I certainly think there need to be more redundancies because I almost guarantee there will be copycats in the future, and we might as well fix the problem before we HAVE to fix the problem.

Let me add to that. Watch it have been some crazy ass bank heist or something.

I still think bored idiots, and I really doubt the stealing copper angle in a video that was posted.
edit on 2720150220151 by Domo1 because: (no reason given)



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:55 PM
link   
a reply to: Domo1




our grid is far more vulnerable than I think most people realize, and probably more vulnerable than even most of us here realize,


I work in the powerline industry . Sometimes power lines go through what some would call inaccessible territory , but someone built them right . You could take down a tower with a hacksaw if you had enough blades and the time and patience . The system is potentially very fragile .



posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:58 PM
link   
Arizona is a test target of the Federal Obama Administration.

Lots of Janet Napolitano jealousy to settle.




posted on Feb, 27 2015 @ 11:58 PM
link   
This is just a buzzfeed link, so it's not exactly journalism at its best, but it was reported on social media that a bright pink "aurora" was seen over Tucson. Apparently, military there was quick to claim it as a rocket launch. Maybe just a coincidence, but who knows.

www.buzzfeed.com...



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 12:27 AM
link   
These are way more fragile than anyone knows. when they have to cross a stream, they often go over a bridge or other structure that is in place. At that point, so much is accessible.

Who in their right mind would use a hacksaw. 18v angle grinders are much faster and you can charge them on the go from your ATV 12v system.

Infrastructure is a sitting duck and there is very little you can do about it.

P



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 12:30 AM
link   

originally posted by: Atsbhct
This is just a buzzfeed link, so it's not exactly journalism at its best, but it was reported on social media that a bright pink "aurora" was seen over Tucson. Apparently, military there was quick to claim it as a rocket launch. Maybe just a coincidence, but who knows.

Ah, that's just the gas from the sewage treatment plant that makes Tucson smell like the bathrooms at Sun Devil Stadium, like there's a faulty pipeline running straight from Tempe or something. Happens all the time, really.




posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 12:39 AM
link   
a reply to: NthOther

Well it affected my cable. It's definitely real.



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 12:46 AM
link   
a reply to: pheonix358




Who in their right mind would use a hacksaw.


No one would use a hacksaw , what i was trying to point out is the ease with which the grid can be taken down . You gotta admit 20 dollars worth of hacksaw and blades is pretty much accessible by anyone . Hell all towers that i have seen are bolted together so perhaps a shifter from the boot will do .



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 01:11 AM
link   

originally posted by: RainbowSkye

Well it affected my cable. It's definitely real.

If anything happened, it certainly doesn't warrant the sensational headlines. The entire state of Arizona did not lose communications, nor did any significant part of it, contrary to what they would have us believe.

The story, if true to any degree, is most definitely being hyped and milked for all it's worth to advance the control agenda. That much is certain.

But your cable could have gone out for any number of unrelated reasons. Frankly, you should be happy your cable went out. It's bad you, as evidenced by the propaganda we're currently discussing.



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 01:57 AM
link   
a reply to: NthOther

Hey man! Don't knock on cable just because 90% of it is bad

The 10% is really really good!



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 02:17 AM
link   
a reply to: Anyafaj

So, this sort of outage could indeed be a dry run for SOMETHING, but I think it would be unwise to obsess over the worst case scenario in this matter. The reason I say that, is that ordinarily the sort of people who give a damn about placing communications blackouts over an area, are looking to get in to a place, and get out again with no one being the wiser. That suggests theft or robbery to me, more than it does some sort of terror related offence.



posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 02:24 AM
link   

originally posted by: Atsbhct
This is just a buzzfeed link, so it's not exactly journalism at its best, but it was reported on social media that a bright pink "aurora" was seen over Tucson. Apparently, military there was quick to claim it as a rocket launch. Maybe just a coincidence, but who knows.

www.buzzfeed.com...




That was Nimoy being shot into space one last time. You did say, "Live Long and Prosper" didn't you? No? C'mon! Ok, fine. At least you yelled, "Kaaaaaaahn!!!!!""







posted on Feb, 28 2015 @ 02:30 AM
link   

originally posted by: TrueBrit
a reply to: Anyafaj

So, this sort of outage could indeed be a dry run for SOMETHING, but I think it would be unwise to obsess over the worst case scenario in this matter. The reason I say that, is that ordinarily the sort of people who give a damn about placing communications blackouts over an area, are looking to get in to a place, and get out again with no one being the wiser. That suggests theft or robbery to me, more than it does some sort of terror related offence.





After thinking about it some, that was one of my thoughts as well. Especially since it mentioned the cops lost specific communications as well. So then the question becomes, who did they want to target, and why? I guess now we wait for reports to come in about what might have been stolen during this time period, IF they even divulge it.
edit on 2/28/2015 by Anyafaj because: (no reason given)




top topics



 
12
<<   2 >>

log in

join