The "Anonymous" Scientology Protest is an NSA/FBI Fishing Expedition

Greetings fair members and readers of AboveTopSecret.com. Over the past few weeks, we've seen an alarming event, one that initially seemed exceptionally odd to me. After much research, I am now convinced this event is a proactive joint counter intelligence operation from the NSA and FBI. What is this event you might ask? It's the sudden public pronouncements of the "Anonymous Group" to expose the Church of Scientology.

While this subject may demand an essay of epic length, in an effort to succinctly explain my proposition (which I believe to be fact), I'll make a few statements that range from fact to well-informed supposition. My reference material ranges from what is freely available online to recent private conversations among friends within the "intelligence community".


Statement One: The NSA and FBI track online connectivity
Among those who would research the tactics of groups tasked with covertly gathering intelligence, an overarching strategy is clear: all digital communications is either tracked or retained for later tracking. The misconception is that the tracking is for specific communications between "individuals of interest", nothing could be further from the truth. The tracking utilizes complex "fuzzy logic" and artificial intelligence to recognize patterns of connections in an effort to proactively identify "individuals of interest".


Statement Two: The tracking works best with the introduction of a known parameter
A similarly well-known fact among those who would research this tracking is that it is very difficult to discern reliable patterns of connectivity in the overall randomness of every day communications. Therefor, in order produce useable results, predefined parameters will be injected into the communications mix. For example, if a juicy story on vote fraud is introduced via one source, the pattern matching will record the spread of the topic, where it spreads, how it spreads, and who are the primary dispersion points. Depending on the topic, politics, scandal, extraterrestrial cover-ups, 9/11 conspiracies, or what have you, the resulting patterns of dispersal provide a treasure trove of connectivity data -- and when paths of connectivity cross topical areas or repeat-and-loop within a topic, "individuals of interest" are identified.


Statement Three: The NSA has been found "tapping into the Internet"
In fact, President Bush is seeking, no desperate, to grant immunity to the communications conglomerates who cooperated.


Statement Four: The FBI has a history of proactive counter intelligence
The past sixty years are riddled with stories of this government body injecting provocative information into the cultural mix in order to induce a reaction that will cause persons of interest to surface.


Statement Five: The group, "Anonymous", takes a public stance: Project Chanology
Can someone explain to me how a loose-knit subculture of hacker children from 4chan and IRC, formerly known for not much more than defacing MySpace pages and other nuisance hacks/pranks, suddenly takes a public stance on a socially complex issue? And part of the public stance of this "Anonymous" group involves the very un-anonymous action of public space protests.


Statement Six: The group, "Anonymous", is a target of the NSA and FBI
Regardless of the more realistic likelihood that this group is nothing more than bored 15-year olds, both of these agencies have labeled the group "cyber terrorists" and have placed a high priority on infiltration and prosecution.


Statement Seven: The cult, "Church of Scientology", is also targeted by the NSA and FBI
While the U.S. Government would never make the overt mistake of classifying the CoS as a cult, several law enforcement agencies and covert intelligence bodies have applied the distinction of "dangerous cult". Several low-level covert infiltration operations are underway. The operation running through the NSA is rumored to be called "Project Voltar" (the rationale for the name is unknown) and supposedly involves the study of recruitment tactics.


Final Statement: The Chanology Project is a covert pattern injection by the NSA and FBI
I've been able to engage three members of intelligence agencies about the "Chanology Project" purported to be initiated by the "Anonymous" group. All three unequivocally agree that the initiative has all the earmarks of a covert NSA pattern injection that follows the tactical traditions of FBI CoIntelPro. It brilliantly serves two known objectives: 1- identify connectivity patterns related to the "Anonymous" group; 2- increase public criticism of the Scientology cult without risk of discovering a government agency connection.


The dots have been laid before you and connected into a sinister "conspiracy theory" that fits known facts, follows the most widely accepted conjecture of the activities of the NSA, and is supported by a historical record of similar actions.

They should get the A-Team to help.... They are great speakers. Bound to get your attention.... An i wanna see Mr. T in some more shows lmfao.

Ok, I have to admit you might have something here, although its fuzzy itself, its something, and this is a forum for that something. I must say you have a well formulated post here, took me a hot min to read, but a good read none the less.

I am flaggin this for further read.... Dont be shy heres some questions....


Whats their beef with a groups intrests, is scientology trying to take over the usa or the world?

Even if they succeed in disprovening their beliefs to the masses, will that really stop their progress?

and last but not least a hardone... Has L Ron Hubbard come back reincarnated as a adopted child of brad pit?

I think it was about a week ago.....There was 2 "Anonymous Members" on a radio show i listen to all the time...Quirks and Quarks with brent bambry on CBC radio 1......they sounded like 2 25-30 Y/O guy's who where there to totaly debunk the whole flaking thing.

they where talking about a "peaceful protest" where they where going to hand out pamphlet's.....sounds like 2 punks got paid by some guys to go debunk the the whole think....

I don't know....my speculation is the whole thing (Scientology Included)

[edit on 23-2-2008 by Infadel]

(Mod edit- please do not tryand get arond the cencors, ATS Censors

[edit on 24-2-2008 by asala]

[edit on 24-2-2008 by asala]

I have heard that the anonymous attacks on scientology were done by anonymous. Anonymous is an internet group. They have been on Fox news before. They call themselves /b/. They go on a site called 4chan.


acapella.harmony-central.com...



[edit on 24-2-2008 by Maverickhunter]

Hey mister.old.school, I like your thread. Stared and flagged!

I would also like to comment and discuss some points.

Originally posted by mister.old.school
Statement Five: The group, "Anonymous", takes a public stance: Project Chanology
Can someone explain to me how a loose-knit subculture of hacker children from 4chan and IRC, formerly known for not much more than defacing MySpace pages and other nuisance hacks/pranks, suddenly takes a public stance on a socially complex issue?

4chan and the /b/tards don't really care about the socially complex issues so much as they care to make fun and troll people.

And it's not something recent in regards to Scientology. Scientology and especially Tom Cruise in particular have been constantly picked on by /b/tards, which any avid 4chan user/reader will attest to that.

I don't dispute the fact that a lot of people who went to the protests and were even involved in the online movement/propaganda/etc care about the socially complex issues, but I believe this is a byproduct of something that just happened to caught on. Speaking against Scientology is now a meme, as the /b/tards would say.

Also, if you care (or seem to) about real issues, it helps to mobilize more people, and especially people with more 'moderate' stances comparatively to those of the hardcore /b/tards. And it also gives out the idea that your goals are admirable and noble, which helps to make everyone else - including the people that know nothing about 4chan, or /b/, or project chanology, or any of that - whenever they hear about this to look favorably on you and your campaign and even be supportive to some degree.

Statement Six: The group, "Anonymous", is a target of the NSA and FBI
Regardless of the more realistic likelihood that this group is nothing more than bored 15-year olds, both of these agencies have labeled the group "cyber terrorists" and have placed a high priority on infiltration and prosecution.

I haven't read or seen anything regarding the NSA or FBI labeling Anonymous "cyber terrorists".

I believe that came from FOX11's piece on Anonymous, which was obviously hilarious to the /b/tards due to the ridiculous mischaracterizations on it.

Statement Seven: The cult, "Church of Scientology", is also targeted by the NSA and FBI
While the U.S. Government would never make the overt mistake of classifying the CoS as a cult, several law enforcement agencies and covert intelligence bodies have applied the distinction of "dangerous cult". Several low-level covert infiltration operations are underway. The operation running through the NSA is rumored to be called "Project Voltar" (the rationale for the name is unknown) and supposedly involves the study of recruitment tactics.

And why shouldn't the FBI, NSA and other agencies take the Church of Scientology as dangerous organization? They have reasons to: Project Snow White, Operation Freakout.

Final Statement: The Chanology Project is a covert pattern injection by the NSA and FBI
[...]It brilliantly serves two known objectives: 1- identify connectivity patterns related to the "Anonymous" group; 2- increase public criticism of the Scientology cult without risk of discovering a government agency connection.

Even before Project Chanology I'm sure the NSA and/or some other agencies were closely monitoring 4chan - and its derivatives - and it's activities. Project Chanology is the confirmation these agencies got that, from their perspective, this sort of internet movements should be monitored.

We have read recently the news and threads here on ATS about the DoD roadmap to deal with the internet as if it was an enemy weapons system.

From that perspective, I'm sure they are looking at Project Chanology and thinking "What if some day they decide to start talking about the Government's wrong-doings? What if they decide to mobilize and protest against us?".

In that sense I'm positive the NSA and others are very interested and are closely monitoring the situation.

Now, I can't honestly say for sure that they were directly involved in Project Chanology, but one thing's for sure: if they were, it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

ed: spelling

[edit on 24-2-2008 by danx]

Yea I'm pretty certain Anonymous consists of goons from somethingawful and 4chan members.

Yay for social subversion.

But anyway - i was wondering if mr.old.school had any reports or other written documents to support this?

Otherwise lol @ anonymice.

reply to post by mister.old.school


That is a very interesting take on the situation. I heard about Anonymous first on the Fox news report that surfaced on youtube, and then later all of the Scientology vs. Anonymous videos started surfacing. If you type in anonymous on youtube you will find a bunch of recent videos.

I do believe though, although I have no evidence and cannot dispute your claims, that "Anonymous" in its present form with regard to this topic is in fact a bunch of people who saw the videos on youtube and decided to join in the protests. And they got quite a bit- several thousand people in major cities all over the world took part in the last protest.

I tend to agree for the most part with danx. Interesting thread. Some claim that elements of power not of the 'tard and not of CoS/Regime were about from time to time up until the 10th or so.

The true anon of the Anon are anon... the kernel of this movement would seem to come from a core (some say within the UK) who have had people they care about negatively affected by the practices of the CoS. There are interlopers in many places and the /b ecosystem is no different.

Many "wannabe" media dorks claim to represent. They represent themselves and nothing more than their opinions, just like OP.

The OP cites nothing that can "stick to the anon"... for they are of the anon.

Lotta smiles being smiled elsewhere about this specific ATS thread.

Vic

[edit on 24-2-2008 by V Kaminski]

Very well thought-out and formatted thread. It's always interesting to learn something of how those agencies operate. Thanks for sharing your theory. I suspect that you are correct.

How frequently do the FBI and NSA carry out these sorts of operations? Do you know of any other examples?

I guess I agree with the OP but I don't find the premise surprising or controversial. Linguistics and Information Streams are sort of Intelligence Operations 101.

reply to post by mister.old.school


I guess it's possible that what you're saying is true.

My question for you is-SO?

I think most educated people know that scientology is indeed dangerous and if the NSA and FBI want to take them down, I say GREAT! They're finally doing something "for the people" of the United States.

One thing I have noticed is that the statements released by anonymous have one interesting component-they use voice generators and not voice disguisers which means they are fairly tech savvy and understand that disguisers can be hacked and the original voices can be pulled back out.

My opinion is that anonymous consists of a small group of leaders ages between 23-30, are huge computer techs and probably work in the IT industry. Although it's possible that they are government employees, I tend to think the DDOS attacks are too basic for a more organized, tight nit group of agents working together.

Just my opinion although the OP does post some very intriguing info so I say GOOD JOB!

Originally posted by jfj123
reply to post by mister.old.school

 

I guess it's possible that what you're saying is true.

My question for you is-SO?

The important aspect of my proposition (which is supported by the opinion of experts) is the notion that the group, "Anonymous" is the prime target of this pattern injection initiative. By following the spread of a publicly announced "Anonymous-sponsored" initiative, the NSA can;
* Measure the spread rate
* Quantify the paths in which the spread occurs
* Identify key persons in the spreading of the plans
* Cross-reference those persons with previous data mining results
* Compare the online findings with offline (voice) data
* Surveil the live protests and compare against pattern matches


As for those responding with the juvenile beginnings of "Anonymous" from the bowls of somthingawful, I'm very much aware of those roots -- this is the primary cause of my initial surprise -- a previously prankish loose-knit group is suddenly socially conscious? Unlikely. The FBI/NSA are injecting action-oriented initiatives that match previous group pranks in an effort to mine data? Likely.

Originally posted by TheComte
How frequently do the FBI and NSA carry out these sorts of operations? Do you know of any other examples?

I have been told that the items popularly known as the "Aussie Bloke Hoax" and "ET False Flag" are among the known pattern injection operations.

In both cases, a critically important outcome was achieved: elements of intelligence agencies who were unaware of pattern injection operations became concerned and deployed action/research teams.

My initial thoughts about the protest was that it was staged by the CoS itself, as kind of a hystrionic overture to the public, but your theory makes much more sense.

Having studied AI for a semester in college, I think your understanding of the tracking and data mining processes is very accurate. Excellent post.

I had very similar suspicions. They play the board on both sides and they win every time. Great post Starred and flagged.

Anonymous is just a bunch of kids and young adults from around the world. There are no "leaders", as there is no one group or persons coming up with ideas - what most people want to do is what happens. As for communications being tapped, well, most of Anonymous use anonymous proxies to communicate, and especially the Tor network, which hides where someone is. Saying it's the FBI or NSA is a bit silly, as there's no evidence to support it. If it was those guys, then why is it an international affair? Most of Anonymous isn't even from the states but from Europe and other places. You're going to have to come up with something better than hunches and paranoid delusion to make this hypothesis anything more than that.

*If* the NSA/FBI is behind this (pretty big if), they will not have to do much fishing to dredge up some pretty serious dirt on Scientology.

I have to applaud your ability to look behind the veil of the obvious to figure out the not-so-obvious.

Most threads started here only parrot and report what is obvious and out in the open, while you are a true conspiracy-theorist who does not look at what everybody else is looking but have the guts sing out of tune with the parrots on two sides of a noisy fence.