Mystery solved: Child porn probe – not aliens – led to FBI’s closure of Sunspot observatory in 2018

SUNSPOT, New Mexico -- There is finally an answer to one of southern New Mexico's greatest mysteries in recent history.

Back in September 2018, the FBI evacuated the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, as well as a nearby United States Postal Service office.

At the time, observatory officials said that the small community was evacuated for "security reasons."

That month, even the New Mexico State University director of Sunspot told ABC-7 he could not explain why the evacuation was taking place.

The closure attracted national attention, with readers all over the internet speculating about the possibility of extraterrestrial activity. Given the observatory's proximity to Roswell, several ABC-7 viewers asked if the FBI had discovered aliens.

Two years later, that does not seem to be the case.

In July, a grand jury indicted 32-year-old Joshua Lee Cope in connection with possessing and distributing child pornography, according to court records obtained by ABC-7.

According to the Alamogordo Daily News, Cope is a former janitor at the facility.

The jury that delivered the indictment is located in Otero County, which is New Mexico's twelfth judicial district.