ECHELON: The Secret Global Surveillance Network

Until Edward Snowden revealed the extensive global surveillance carried out by the US security agency, the NSA (National Security Agency) and other government spying agencies, ECHELON was just a name or rather a codename whose meaning was unclear to the public.

Designed and coordinated by NSA, ECHELON is a system used to capture and virtually analyze every phone call, email, fax, internet downloads, and telex message sent anywhere in the world.

Monitored transmissions are said to include up to 3 billion communications on a daily basis. These are transmissions of both public and private organizations.

The system is operated by the NSA in conjunction with the General Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) of New Zealand, the Australian Defense Security Directorate (DSD), and the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) of Canada. All these organizations are bound together under a secret agreement whose terms, conditions, and texts remain a closely hidden secret even today.

ECHELON Targets

ECHELON was primarily designed for non-military targets, unlike most electronic spy systems developed during the Cold War.

These targets include organizations, governments, businesses, and individuals in virtually every country around the world. The surveillance basically affects anyone communicating between and sometimes within countries anywhere in the world.

How Does ECHELON Operate?

The ECHELON system does not operate like other government spying agencies. It’s not designed to snoop on a particular email or fax message.

Rather, this system gathers huge volumes of data indiscriminately through an extensive system of radio antennae and particular satellites that closely monitor satellite communications. There are also sniffer devices that gather internet communications derived from data packets.

The system then filters out important information by use of computers (the computers identify and extract messages of interest to the organizations from a huge volume of information).

To make the filtering process easy, the system is designed to automatically identify messages/information containing pre-programmed keywords. These keywords contain target names, localities, subject, including others.

Various interception facilities have been established all around the world to eavesdrop into all international telecommunications networks. By linking all these facilities, ECHELON provides the involved organizations with the ability to tap into virtually any communication network around the globe.

According to various reports, ECHELON helped the US government learn of the plans to bomb the World Trade Center a few months before it actually happened. It’s not known how much information was intercepted by intelligence gatherers but since it was not prevented, we could assume the details were either unclear or insufficient.

Although the system has possibly stopped many attacks, the invasion of privacy has not been taken lightly by private organizations and the general public.

A Primer on Federal Republics

Some of the world’s largest and most powerful countries operate under federal republics. To constitute a federal republic, a country must be subdivided into states which elect leaders to represent the populace. The aim of a republic is to make political decisions based in the public opinion to ensure prosperity for all. In some ways, a Federal Republic can be idealized as a system in which parts move independently to decide the national future. Countries governed by such republics include

India

The most populous democracy on Earth, India is governed by an elected bicameral parliament, comprised of an upper and lower house. India’s government is separated into an Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branch under a national constitution, and is headed by a President.

Switzerland

The Swiss government operates as a representative direct democracy that accounts for the will of its cantons (semi-sovereign states), the municipality, and the federation. In Switzerland, the people have the power to propose changes to the constitution and legislature through a popular vote.

The United States

A constitutional republic, the U.S. is governed by a Judiciary, Legislative, and Executive branch. The legislative branch is further divided into two houses that are collectively known as Congress. A Supreme Court presides over the constitutionality of the legislature.

Brazil

Brazil is divided into 26 states and one unified Federal District. The Brazilian President serves as both head of state and a federal leader. Brazil’s National Congress contains the Federal Senate, elected by a majority, and the Chamber of Deputies, elected by proportional representation. The judicial branch of the Brazilian government includes a Federal judiciary and two national superior courts.

Russia

Russia is considered a semi-presidential republic. The President is head of state, and the Prime Minister is head of government. The Legislative branch is commanded by a Federal Assembly and Federation Council, while the President and the Supreme Court control the Executive and Judicial branches, respectively.

Federal republics can be advantageous for their willingness to give power to the people. They are often politically and economically stable because their branches don’t allow for power to coalesce in a single sector. Still, the division of countries into states can breed opposition, and regularly return higher levels of voter negligence and government corruption.

The simultaneously divided and unified nature of federal republics acts as a stabilizing force. Useful to large, heavily populated countries, they allow for unity among what could otherwise be disparate parts. Depending on the method of appointing political figures, though, the degree of public representation may vary.

Area 51

Area 51 refers to a given U.S. military base, which supports the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. Popularly, it is believed to be a hideout for Alien activity. Located at 83 miles north of Las Vegas. It is a 6x10 mile block of land situated on the southern shore of Groom Lake.

Since its inception citizens have claimed to view UFO sightings and heard strange, rumbling noises. The government denies the existence of Area 51. Rather, it emphasizes the area used to serve as a site for military bombings.

A little bit of history

During World War II the Groom Lake was used for bombing and artillery practice but was abandoned until April 1955, when Lockheed's Skunk Works team selected the location as an ideal testing grounds for the forthcoming U-2 spy plane.

What's in there

One runway of the base is closed, but it contains other seven runways. The final runway 14R/32L, with a total length of 7,100 m is the longest without any stop-way. The other tracks are two asphalt runways which have a length of 3,700 m and 1,600 m respectively. The other runways are four and are located on the salt lake.

Since the paranormal occurrences at this location, it has become the subject of curiosity. Many documents and articles have been written about the place. People in hope to turn the rumors true flock outside the complex hoping to capture some strange activity in their camera lens.

Mysteries

The USGS topographic map shows a long-disused Groom Mine, and the base doesn't appear on public U.S. government map. The area is restricted to both civilians and general military air traffic. Radar stations guard the area, and any illegal activity is instantly noticed and apprehended with stringent laws. Unauthorized personnel from the army are expelled if caught strolling in the restricted surroundings of Groom's airspace.

Conspiracy theories.

Area 51 has become the focus of UFO and conspiracy theories. These theories include:

• The storage, examination, and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft with its occupants at Roswell.
• Manufacturing of aircraft based on alien technology.
• Joint undertakings with extraterrestrials.
• The development of exotic energy weapons for weather control.
• The development of time travel and teleportation technology.
• The development of unique propulsion systems related to the Aurora Program.
• Activities associated with the Majestic 12 organisation often referred as one world government.

These conspiracy theories have catapulted Area 51 as a famous, paranormal activity site in popular culture, specifically in the area of science fiction. Many films and television programs focus on capturing the fictitious theories marked by the government.