Transcript

KRQE Report on Trementina Scientology Vault
11-21-2005 (10PM)

Video available online at:
http://www.krqe.com/video/expanded.asp?ID=3350

(Anchors) A very secret, well-guarded vault sits in the mountains of Northern New Mexico.

One that very few people know about.

It's a vault that is sacred to the "Church" of Scientology.

So, what's in that vault, and why is it such a secret?

News 13's Kim Vallez finds out.

(Reporter Vallez) John Travolta. Leah Remini. Kathryn Bell. Kirstie Alley. Jenna Elfman. These are reportedly the most famous faces of Scientology. Well, aside from Tom Cruise of course.

(Oprah Show Excerpt: Oprah asks Tom, "Have you ever felt this way before?" as crowd screams, while Tom Cruise jumps on the couch)

Who could forget this jumping on the couch incident on Oprah?

Cruise, so in love with Katie Holmes, something he attributes to Scientology.

(Tom Cruise: "There's things in my life, Scientology and tools that I've spoken of before, that I apply to my life")

The first major religion to be created in the 20th Century. The man behind it, the author who brought the world Battlefield Earth and other sci-fi thrillers. L. Ron Hubbard taught his followers that man has lived through many past lives and is immortal. And to be happy, a person must deal with bad spirits and memories of past traumas.

All those teachings are being preserved, and stashed, right here in New Mexico.

"This thing is built into the face of a rock."

Few people have been inside.

(Reporter Vallez) "The compound is very secluded and hidden. To get to it you have to drive nearly an hour out of Las Vegas, through miles and miles of barren pasture land.

You then drive through some mountain areas, and then several miles of winding, dusty dirt road. At the end of the County Road sits 40 private acres. And visitors say, several miles beyond this, sits a massive, lavish compound.

And this vault. It may look like a house, but if you look closely, you see the secret it conceals. (Visual: House, 3-story, sits against hillside, and graphic traces an exterior wall behind it, which is the face of the vault).

(Police Spokesman Gallegos) The actual vault area is built up into the side of the mountain.

Las Vegas (New Mexico) Police Chief Tim Gallegos, is one of very few non-Scientologists to go inside. He toured the vault 12 years ago.

(Gallegos) If I remember correctly, it was about 300 feet deep, at that time.

The things he saw, haven't faded from his memory.

(Gallegos) They have a CD. They're using some special paper that they're actually printing this on. It's got special ink and its supposed to last forever. They were titanium plates and some other things.

All this, Gallegos said, is used to preserve the teachings and writings of L. Ron Hubbard. The paper, similar to that used for money. And, the titanium plates, they were actually inscribed and etched

(Gallegos) yes, like etched. Exactly. And they had a process of doing it.

The boxes they are stored in -- also Titanium.

(Gallegos) They were a little bit larger than, maybe, a case of paper. A box of paper. And all of these things were put in there. And they had special screws and a special way of actually sealing the box. They had these things lined up. I want to say, they are probably four or five feet tall, and I don't remember how many containers actually fit on three shelves of these mobile racks, that they were wheeling them in.

(Les Montoya) Very unique. It's very unique.

San Miguel County Manager Les Montoya has not been allowed in the vault, but has visited the compound twice. And he's learned the story behind it.

(Montoya) We asked the question, how, why was the facility located in San Miguel County and they said they went through a series of questions and concerns regarding the future of the Earth basically, and they're saying look, of maps throughout the world, this was one area that met all their requirements. And so they set up shop there.

One interesting thing that can't be seen from a ground tour, is this symbol (Visual: Double Interlocked Circles with Diamond Centers, the CST logo) within the trees, which Sky Ranger videotaped from the air. It's a symbol that can be seen all the way from space. We haven't been able to determine what the symbol means to believers, but we do know it's a registered trademark of the "Church" of Spiritual Technology -- A branch of Scientology which actually owns the New Mexico property. (Visual: Satellite Photo of CST Creston property). This very same symbol shows up on a property in California.

Did you know that this compound even existed here?

(Interviewee) No.

If you ask around in Las Vegas (New Mexico), very few people even know of this secret vault. When they find out..

(Interviewee) Wow...

Did you know this existed?

(Interviewee) No I did not. Now I do.

Those who do know, have their own theories.

My opinion right now is that it is individuals that have a strong belief in what Mr. Hubbard pressed on, and they're willing to put a lot of energy and effort and resources into preserving what his belief was.

(Gallegos) Being a police officer, of course, right away you're suspicious. Because, the first question is, why are they here, why are they spending so much money here and what are they doing. But, with that being said, I didn't see anything that would lead me to believe, that they were doing anything but what they said they were doing.

Most people do agree, this small hidden New Mexico town, seems an unlikely place for a Science Fiction like religion of the future.

(Gallegos) I would say it's like putting this country guy in the middle of a fancy dinner in California someplace.

We were denied permission to visit the vault when we put our story together. However, "Church" representatives offered us today a chance to go inside, if we agreed to cancel tonight's story. We declined.

(Anchor) Thank you Kim. And we want to apologize for that interruption at the top of Kim's story. The cable broadcasting network for some reason chose that exact moment to do a systemwide emergency broadcast. What you missed is some of the faces, the famous faces attached to Scientology, John Travolta, Leah Remini. Kirstie Alley. Jenna Elfman. And Tom Cruise, of course.

We're told there are about 200 to 250 Scientologists living here in New Mexico. Most of them are not affiliated with the remote mountain compound, but rather with the "Church", here in Albuquerque.

(Visual: Poll results) Today's KRQE question asked, if you consider Scientology a religion. 7% of those voting said yes, 90% said no, and 3% aren't sure. (end)

(This isn't a perfect transcript, but should be enough to inform readers of the gist of this news coverage).

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