Secret Detention Facility in swamps of Northern Virginia

Originally posted by Jack Jouett

So we know its on USCG land near or on Fort Belvior but it is run by
someone else. It looks brand new but is at the end of an ill maintained dirt road. I could also post the laundry list of sneaky/creepy agencies that work out of Fort Belvior.

Come on people this one is actually odd.

You are correct, Maps Live Birdeyes around two years ago showed the site under construction, so it is new. It looks like it could be a part of Fort Belvoir merely accessed via the Coast Guard site. I know all about the shadowy agencies at Fort Belvoir, INSCOM, NRO, "Secret Army of Northern Virginia" CIA etc.

I think this is a site for extremely high valued targets. Telegraph Road goes into Alexandria and the U.S. Federal Courthouse for the Eastern District of Virginia is located there. The Courthouse is actually on Telegraph Road. It's where the Federal Government has the trials for high profile terrorists.

You would think that they would hold the trials in D.C. but it's harder to get a death penalty conviction in D.C. than it is in Virginia. So they hold the trials in Alexandria, which is close enough to D.C. and used to be within D.C.'s boundaries.

There is a smaller holding facility next to the courthouse in Alexandria, it's where they held John Walker Lindh, Zacarias Moussaoui, Judith Miller, etc.

Alexandria holding facility

A- this looks like no prison I've ever seen- how many prisons have you ever seen with the parking lot right next to the building, with no barriers?

B- where are the guard towers?

C- do you think spooky organizations are going to allow open source satellite imagery of their secret facilities?

D- what else is at this base? this will give you a better indicator of what the likely purpose might be. It's not particularly prudent to hold dangerous prisoners in near proximity to high value intel gathering sites.

E- if these agencies are as spooky as you imagine, why do you think they'd concern themselves about the VA vs. DC death penalty statutes? Wouldn't they just execute them quietly somewhere else, if that's truly how they operated?

A - This is a highly secured facility, that much is obvious. There are likely features which are not obvious on the sat images. Maybe that's a minefield between those two fences.

B - At each angle in the perimeter fence there are posts with camers, not all prisons have "guard towers".

C - I can show you sat images of a half dozen SCIFs in the DC area alone. Mount Weather images are readily available and that is the most important COG site next to Raven Rock and there are sat images of that too.

D - The area is accessed via the Coast Guard telecommunications facility but the site itself is probably on Fort Belvoir, which contains INSCOM, NRO among others.

E - That's just the way it is, the federal governemnt is more likely to get a conviction in a capital case in Virginia than in DC. That's why all high proflie terror cases are tried in Alexandria

[edit on 12-2-2009 by Jack Jouett]

I was stationed at the USCG base in the 80's. It is a U.S. Marshall Facility. I've been in there and spoken with Marshalls. It appeared to be a temp holding facility. I remember when Norteaga (?) came in from Panama fro trials in Alexandria, VA, they had several late night convoys coming and going to the facility.

Originally posted by Kabaum
I was stationed at the USCG base in the 80's. It is a U.S. Marshall Facility. I've been in there and spoken with Marshalls. It appeared to be a temp holding facility. I remember when Norteaga (?) came in from Panama fro trials in Alexandria, VA, they had several late night convoys coming and going to the facility.

It might be someone else you're thinking about. Noriega was flown into Miami in Jan 1990 and stood trial there. He was convicted in 1992.

reply to post by Kabaum


Not likely. There would be mention of it on the US Marshals website and elsewhere on the web. There is no mention of this place anywhere.

Sounds to me like the above-ground entrance to a High Security Underground Federal Facility (like the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services at Clarksburg, West Virginia.)

No guard towers, no windows, etc., shows that they are trying to keep people out, not in.

Great find though. It would be interesting to find out what it is exactly though.

reply to post by moreanfaster

It looks brand new but is at the end of an ill maintained dirt road.

Are we looking at the same place? I see it at the end of a well maintained area.

Originally posted by dooper
That's not a detention facility. Everything security-wise is to keep intruders out, not in.

You don't park your cars, and have your building in the middle of a detention center.

You have your buildings and carpark outside, with the detainees on the inside.

Look at it again.

It's a facility that they want to keep people out of, not inside.

Excellent eye! You are correct!

Originally posted by Jack Jouett

Originally posted by dooper
That's not a detention facility. Everything security-wise is to keep intruders out, not in.

Like I said, I'm just looking for input. The reason why I think it's a detention facility is the open air pertitions with cameras in each corner. Why the separate partitions and why cameras in an open area within the building?

If it is a detention facility then per haps it's for say 1-10 detainees. The unsual octogon shape also lends itself to the fact that it maybe a detention facility and also the double barbed wire fence. The only other place I've seen double barbed wire fencing with tracts between them like that are around the portals to the underground levels at Mount Weather.

But it does not make sense to have POV's parked inside of a high profile detention facility....would it?

It does say that it is a Telecommunication and Information Systems Command (TISCOM), a main telecommunications and navigation center for the Coast Guard.

I think it is very interesting, I'm bold to the point of stupidity though, so I would look up a phone number for the address or just start asking around on the nearest roads.

I even have one friend who probably wouldn't hesitate to drive up to the gate and ask what it is.

My house pretty much backs to this Coast Guard Station and it is not a new facility by any means (in regards to the 'under construction' post). I moved into my current house in 1994 and have lived here since. The ‘octagon’ has been here at least that long. When I was about 10, my dad and I would take our dogs on long walks back in Huntley Meadows and we would walk completely around the facility. However, at many, seemingly sporadic times throughout the year, they would have guards posted at every tower with telescoping binoculars. Because I was young, I do not remember what type of uniform they were wearing. Also I remember that whenever I would walk back there, there would always be either a full line of fully blacked out Suburban type vehicles, or a full line of beige Crown Victorias or possibly Mercurys. Anyhow, through personal experience, word or mouth, and an inside source, I know a hell of a lot about this facility.

Rumors: Because I am so close in proximity to this location, many rumors go around about this facility but it is not as much of a 'hot topic' as you would think. First; Just like the originator of this thread assumed, the base is rumored to be a high security, high profile prison. I do not know if it is, but this would be a great explanation to the the two 20 foot fences capped with razor wire, the constant presence of security and the isolation of the 'octagon' facility behind the main Coast Guard Station. Second; The 'octagon' facility is rumored to be a top secret laboratory. I do not know why, some people just say this. Third, it is rumored that Saddam Hussein was kept here prior to his trial, while the States held him in custody. Last, people in the area think that it is just part of the Coast Guard Facility like a gym. I can confirm that this is not the case.

I know people who work at this Coast Guard facility and have asked them many questions about this base. For protection purposes, assume they know nothing and I cannot say what they said directly in order to protect them. What I can do, is make a list of things that are confirmed.

The ‘octagon’ is not part of the Coast Guard facility. It is accessed through the main gate, just like any other part of the base. The vehicles that move too and from the ‘octagon’ are usually blacked out and either only hold identification up to the blacked out window, or call ahead and say how many vehicles will be in the procession and roll through the main gate without slowing. The ‘octagon’s’ computer network is not part of the Coast Guard’s network. I am not sure what clearance you need for this facility, but it is higher than a top-secret clearance. No one in the Coast Guard part of the facility knows what this is but they all have their assumptions. Everyone who sees how many cars go back to that facility, know that there is no way that the ‘octagon’ can be only above ground. One of the widely agreed upon theories at the Coast Guard Station is that the above ground part of the ‘octagon’ is only an entrance and there is a huge facility underground.

Anyhow I personally think that the ‘octagon’ is not a real threat to anyone that lives by it and it is not that big of a deal. It is probably a witness protection program and/or a high profile detention center designed to hold only a few high profile individuals. I am thinking about gathering more information on my own and from other sources so that conclusions drawn about the ‘octagon’ will be solid.

Lastly, I would like to ask if there is any interest in me taking video of the facility from the ground?

Thanks, and I hope that this information was helpful.

Egassemlanimilbus

reply to post by dooper


Agreed, definitely not a detention facility. Have you ever known a prison to have a basketball court outside it?

Basketball Court

Originally posted by CovertAmerica.com
reply to post by dooper

 

Agreed, definitely not a detention facility. Have you ever known a prison to have a basketball court outside it?

Basketball Court

The basketball court tells me one thing and one thing only. That there are personnel who spend a great deal of time at this facility, probably shifts that last several days. I've seen something similar at site CORKSCREW at the top of Lambs Knoll on South Mountain in Maryland. It's at the end of a paved road on the top of a mountain, very isolated. The signs on the fence describe it as a FAA facility however it's actually a Continuity of Government communications relay. And inside the barbed wire fence I clearly saw a portable basketball hoop.

CORKSCREW

reply to post by desertdreamer


My first impression of the open air sections near the center of the building were that they might be part of a line of sight satellite downlink. The octagonal perimeter fence would keep electronic eavesdroppers at a safe distance / may be part of a large antennae etc. They certainly have a good ground for any electronic equipment out in the middle of that swamp. I thought they made Tempest glass for windows but maybe there is a new threat standard for electronic eavesdopppers?

Originally posted by egassemlanimilbus
I moved into my current house in 1994 and have lived here since. The ‘octagon’ has been here at least that long.

That is simply not the case. I've been monitoring this site since around 2006 via maps.live, which is now Bing Maps, in 2006 the sat images were showing the construction of this site.

Here are some photos I have of the site, I took them a couple of years ago and have been sitting on them for fear of reprisal. These photos show the double fence, building and cameras, with the Federal Government NO Trespassing sign in red white and blue. It also shows the posts that are placed at each corner of the octogon. As you can see the fence has barbed wire that faces both out and in. I still think it's a detention facility.

reply to post by dooper


I dont know but it is easy to access from walking distance so I dont think its that secure. Mabey its just a meeting area for the high ranks. I dont get the open roofs ?

The larger complex of buildings is indeed the Coastguard NavCen
Here is their website with their address

DIRECTIONS TO NAVCEN IN ALEXANDRIA, VA Physical Address to be used for driving directions: 7323 Telegraph Road Alexandria, VA 20598 - 7310

link

The Octagon building behind seems to be a little bit more secret but a note on Google earth says

The US Naval Research Laboratory's smaller-scale FRD-10 CDAA prototype was constructed here