

Officially, the Special Collection Service doesn't exist (2012) - rdl
http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/226723/inside-the-secret-world-of-americas-super-sophisticated-eavesdropping-spies

======
D9u
I no longer believe a word spoken by any government shill, based solely upon
the preponderance of the evidence.

Ergo, their credibility doesn't exist.

What was it that "Dubya" mangled when he said it? _" You can fool me once...
But ya can't get fooled again..."_

[http://youtu.be/eKgPY1adc0A](http://youtu.be/eKgPY1adc0A)

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dfc
Everyone always says (including me) that NSA existed for a long time--
including the giant building at Ft. Meade--but it was never publicly
acknowledged until many decades later. I went looking for a solid reference
tonight and could not find one. I found a lot of sources repeating the same
line but nothing saying "In XXXX the WH publicly acknowledged the existence of
NSA for the first time since its formation in the 50s."

~~~
makomk
I doubt there was ever an actual, official point where they formally
acknowledged its existence - that'd draw far too much attention.

~~~
dfc
Well they acknowledge NSA now so it seems that there must have been a point in
the past when they acknowledged it for the first time. Furthermore as another
commenter points out NRO was not acknowledged until 1991 even though NRO was
mentioned in public documents in the 1970s.

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peterwwillis
If you go down Powdermill Road in Beltsville, you find yourself driving
through incredibly spooky open fields and past "FEDERAL PROPERTY" signs on
nondescript, unmarked buildings with huge numbers and no names. There's even a
fire hydrant in the middle of some kind of field. Some buildings were marked
USDA (a gate to APHIS leads to a bunch of buildings behind thick forest), but
it seemed incredibly creepy.

[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.033795,-...](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.033795,-76.844838&spn=0.005667,0.010654&hnear=Beltsville,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&gl=us&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.033798,-76.844706&panoid=hOsNbb4cHDou31lLMR5qIA&cbp=12,17.02,,0,0)

Other weird links: here's the StreetView car passing some kind of weird truck
with cables and tanks on it:
[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.030349,-...](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.030349,-76.838737&spn=0.000708,0.001332&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Beltsville,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&gl=us&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=39.030268,-76.838654&panoid=NhTKMGjKFY0Lbx1HLRFGgw&cbp=12,20,,0,13.46)

Turn around to find the "Area Under Video Surveillance" sign (surveillance?
for a corn field, a barn and a forest?)
[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.030268,-...](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.030268,-76.838654&spn=0.000708,0.001332&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Beltsville,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&gl=us&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=39.030195,-76.838578&panoid=EpLN5KXDCitgEBEZ5A74ng&cbp=12,261.81,,1,12.37)

Zoom out, and there's one large barn on the map view.
[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.02984,-7...](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.02984,-76.839047&spn=0.001417,0.002663&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Beltsville,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&gl=us&t=m&z=19)

There are a lot of gates. A lot.
[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.033753,-...](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.033753,-76.848432&spn=0.005667,0.010654&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Beltsville,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&gl=us&t=m&z=17&layer=c&cbll=39.03375,-76.848504&panoid=TGFU2CxwaEDk9HZmu_AHNg&cbp=12,1.81,,1,6.64)

Whatever this facility is, there are lots of gates and fences and lots of
trees blocking view. The weird sprawling government fields could just be some
kind of FDA testbeds (there's more nearby, I forget what road) but it's
just... creepy.
[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.037453,-...](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=beltsville,+md&ll=39.037453,-76.837692&spn=0.011334,0.021307&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&hnear=Beltsville,+Prince+George%27s,+Maryland&gl=us&t=m&z=16)

(Ironically close to Snowden Pond)

~~~
pzb
The Google map view clearly tells you that it is the Secret Service training
center. Lots has been written about it; it is where they do training for
protection details.
[http://www.secretservice.gov/about_rtc.shtml](http://www.secretservice.gov/about_rtc.shtml)

The truck in the picture is a vacuum truck. Nothing odd about it, I see them
in pretty much every city. They unclog pipes and remove material from dig
sites.

~~~
peterwwillis
Oh. Guess it was just unintentionally creepy then. I never saw SS mentioned on
the map. Also sort of random, there is an SCS Lake below Beaver Dam rd.

