On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we hit the land down under and talk about the joint US/Australia secret base known as Pine Gap. It is considered the Area 51 of Australia. It is involved in everything from Cold War spying to modern big data mining and UFO sightings. Edward Snowden said it was the backbone of American information gathering for most of the planet, and it seems he was right about that one. From Europe to Asia and Russia to Africa and all of the Pacific, this base listens and snoops on everything from satellites to cell phones.

Pine Gap started as a way for the US to track Soviet ballistic tests in the 1960s. Construction started on this innocuous base in 1966 and completed in the early 70s. It lies about 11 miles outside of the city of Alice Springs, a large population center. The staff is comprised of half Americans (many are CIA) and half Australians. As technology and the global threats changed, so too did the charge and charter for Pine Gap. Eventually, it went from Soviet missiles to spy satellites, and now it is a major global drone hub for the US as well a monitoring station for project Echelon.

Many Australians opposed this base because it has been the spearhead of many drone strikes that have killed civilians. Others worry that it is allowing the Aussie and Yankee government to spy on the population of Australia. There were even famous “Peace Pilgrims” who snuck past perimeter fences to protest with song. Like you do.

But the strangest things is, as always, the UFOS. Reports of strange sightings in the 70s and 80s gave Pine Gap a strange mystique. What went down? Well, on two separate occasions, some hunters and then some police officers reported a massive camouflaged hanger  door opening near Pine Gap and strange disks and “bathtub” like craft silently floating out and hovering above Pine Gap before streaking off at unthinkable speeds.

Multiple witnesses (including some who may have worked at the facility) reported strange craft that were shining beams of light onto the grounds and then getting beams of light reflected off of their hulls, until they started to spin at rapid speeds and zipped off into the night sky. There is even a tale that involves witnesses in an aircraft being approached by kind of lame Australian Men in Black. So, whether you are interested in more terrestrial spying or ET flying, this episode is for you.