[Von Due]

Originally Posted by razark

It's really more of the "We need access to all these different wires, and all the wires run through this building" ploy. Why bother to run a bunch of cables out to the middle of nowhere, build a NSA facility to tap into those wires, then run the cables back to where they started and patch back into the system?
Instead, just build the NSA facility where all the wires are.


There's nothing mysterious about it. If you're going to build a port, would you put it on the coast, or would you dig a channel and put it 100 miles inland? NASA could have built a flight test center anywhere., but made more sense for them to do it at Edwards AFB, where there's a large dry lakebed and existing facilities, rather than leveling a mountain. If you want to listen to a bunch of phone calls, go to where the wires are rather than bringing the wires somewhere else.

^This and you wouldn't want to put up a huge sign next to the entrance saying "Spook Station. Guided tours Mon-Fri 0800-1500". Then again, perhaps you would