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Second Trump administration begins with confusion on acting NASA leadership
Updated Jan. 21, 2025 7 a.m.
The second Trump administration started with soaring rhetoric about sending humans to Mars but confusion about who was leading NASA on an acting basis.
President Donald Trump, in his inaugural address shortly after being sworn in as the 47th president Jan. 20, mentioned human missions to Mars as part of the “manifest destiny” he envisioned for the United States.
“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars,” he said, to applause from the audience in the Capitol Rotunda for the inauguration.
He did not elaborate or set a specific goal, although the comments echoed language from last fall’s campaign.
While Trump reiterated that support for human missions to Mars, there was confusion about who is temporarily in charge of the agency with the resignation at the end of the Biden administration of Bill Nelson as administrator and Pam Melroy as deputy administrator.
As Trump spoke, NASA updated its website to list Jim Free as acting administrator. Free is the associate administrator and highest-ranking civil servant at the agency.
The website also listed several other reshufflings, with Cathy Koerner, the associate administrator for exploration systems development, taking Free’s job as acting administrator on an acting basis.
Lori Glaze, Koerner’s deputy, moved into the role of acting associate administrator for exploration systems development.
Free was widely expected to be acting administrator.
In presidential transitions in the recent past, the associate administrator has served as acting administrator for periods ranging from a few months to, in Trump’s first term, more than a year until the White House nominated and the Senate confirmed a new administrator.
However, in a statement shortly after the inauguration, the White House announced that Janet Petro would serve as acting administrator.
Petro is the director of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, having led the center since mid-2021 after more than a decade as deputy center director.
While associate administrators have traditionally filled in as acting administrator, there is no requirement that they do so, and presidents have the ability to appoint other officials to lead the agency on an acting basis.
It was not clear what caused the conflicting public statements.
“The Trump Administration has named Janet Petro the acting administrator of NASA, effective Monday,” a NASA spokesperson said in a statement late Jan. 20, but did not provide additional details.
As of early Jan. 21, at least one NASA website still listed Free as acting administrator.
Whoever is acting administrator may serve in that role for only a short time. The White House also formally nominated Jan. 20 Jared Isaacman to be NASA administrator.
Trump announced Dec. 4 that he would nominate Isaacman, the billionaire founder of payment processing company Shift4 and a private astronaut who flew on two SpaceX Crew Dragon missions, but could not formally nominate him until after he took office.
Isaacman’s nomination will be taken up by the Senate Commerce Committee, which has not yet announced a date for a confirmation hearing for him.
https://spacenews.com/second-trump-administration-begins-with-confusion-on-acting-nasa-leadership/
https://www.nasa.gov/about/
https://spacenews.com/trumps-second-term-the-space-priorities-and-players/
Drones, snipers and razor wire - tight security around Donald Trump inauguration
Monday 20 January 2025 16:12, UK
Drones, snipers, razor wire fencing and 25,000 personnel are among the security measures being deployed for Donald Trump's inauguration.
Hundreds of thousands of people have descended on Washington DC for the swearing-in ceremony.
The inauguration is designated as a "national special security event" which allows for extra funding and coordination between agencies, including the Secret Service, Homeland Security and US Capitol and DC Police.
More than 25,000 military and law enforcement personnel will be deployed around the city, including the National Guard.
Around 30 miles of anti-scale fencing - including some with razor wire - has also been installed around the White House area and the Capitol itself.
William McCool, special agent in charge of the Secret Service Washington Field Office, told reporters about the scale of their operation and what people will see on the ground.
"They will see tactical teams. They'll see CDU (Counter Drones Unit) units. They'll see officers and agents on rooftops.
They'll see checkpoints. They'll see road closures and concrete barriers."
During a news conference on 13 January, he also addressed the potential for violent protests.
"We're prepared for any of that. One of the precautions we've taken is the security fence around the Capitol complex.
And we're hopeful that'll keep any the protests from getting too close to the Capitol." "We have adequate resources… to quell any disturbances," he added.
Some changes have been required since the inauguration itself will now take place inside the US Capitol Rotunda building instead of outside, because of freezing temperatures - ranging from minus 7 to minus 1C (20-30F)
Over the weekend nearly 4,000 police officers were sworn-in, or deputised, to temporarily allow them to enforce order in Washington DC.
They have been drafted in from other US states to help secure the inauguration.
head of the inauguration, the White House said it was working closely with Donald Trump's transition team to guard against any possible attacks.
Security officials said they were not aware of any specific, coordinated threats but are worried about lone wolves, such as the New Orleans attacker.
"That threat of the lone actor remains the biggest justification for us being at this heightened state of alert," US Capitol police chief Thomas Manger said at a recent security briefing.
Temperatures have also forced organisers to scrap a planned parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, it will now take place at the 20,000-seat Capital One Arena in downtown Washington.
The last time the ceremony was held indoors was Ronald Reagan's second inauguration when it was minus 14C (7F).
Roger Stone, a political consultant and close ally of Trump, told the Associated Press that he preferred the inauguration being held indoors for security reasons, not bad weather.
"I'm happy it's going inside. We have had, undeniably, two assassination attempts on him. I speak only for myself here, but I think he's much safer under these circumstances," Mr Stone said.
Those queuing for Donald Trump's rally on Sunday at the Capital One Arena in Washington DC were relaxed about the increased security, especially considering previous attempts on the president-elect's life.
"I think that the environment we live in… unfortunately, you have to do it," said a Trump supporter.
"Anyone with bad intentions only has to get right once," he told Sky's US partner NBC.
Meanwhile, another man said: "After a couple of death threats and two attempts, you know, it's good they got them [security] out there."
Earlier in January, US law enforcement and intelligence agencies raised concerns about copycat vehicle-ramming attacks mimicking the New Year's Day crash in which a US army veteran drove a truck into a group of people.
Mr Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania in July 2024 and in September a man was charged with trying to assassinate him on his Florida golf course.
https://news.sky.com/story/drones-snipers-and-razor-wire-tight-security-around-donald-trump-inauguration-13292861
Europe to develop geostationary quantum encryption payload
January 21, 2025
European satellite maker Thales Alenia Space and Spanish operator Hispasat have secured government funding to develop a geostationary payload that uses quantum technology to distribute encryption keys.
The companies said Jan. 21 that the two-year project, initiated by Spain and backed by 104 million euros ($108 million) of European COVID-19 recovery funds, paves the way for the first quantum key distribution (QKD) platform operating from geostationary orbit (GEO).
The QKD-GEO mission builds on efforts in low Earth orbit (LEO) to make communications more secure by using the behavior of subatomic particles, including the SES-led Eagle-1 project, initially set to launch last year but now targeting late 2025 or early 2026.
QKD leverages the quantum properties of photons to create encryption keys that cannot be intercepted without altering their state.
Any eavesdropping attempt disturbs the photons’ quantum state, rendering the keys unusable.
Although terrestrial fiber-optic networks can distribute quantum keys, their range and speed are limited.
Current fiber-optic technology cannot support quantum communications over distances beyond a few hundred kilometers due to signal loss, Thales Alenia Space and Hispasat noted in a joint news release.
Satellites can overcome these limitations because signals experience far less attenuation in free space.
A single geostationary satellite at 36,786 kilometers can also enable continuous communication between continents without requiring complex signal-tracking systems, the companies added. In contrast, QKD systems in LEO would require multiple satellites and frequent handovers to maintain coverage.
Hispasat CEO Miguel Panduro said the “establishment of encryption keys through a quantum protocol is going to represent a paradigm shift in the secure communications of the future, where space and satellites will be configured as the ideal infrastructure for their transmission over long distances.”
Hispasat led a group in 2022, which included Thales Alenia Space, to study the feasibility of this mission.
The QKD-GEO contract also includes the development of the payload’s associated ground segment.
A Thales Alenia Space spokesperson said the current plan is to host the QKD payload on a Hispasat satellite.
https://spacenews.com/europe-to-develop-geostationary-quantum-encryption-payload/
New Jersey drone mystery to be uncovered: Donald Trump has 'Susie' looking into it
Updated 11:35 a.m. ET Jan. 21, 2025
On day one in office, President Donald Trump said he is looking into the drone mystery that has been plaguing New Jersey since November and prompted temporary flight restrictions over 57 of its municipalities.
While signing executive orders at the White House on Monday, Trump was asked by a reporter, "Is there anything we should be worried about with the New Jersey drones?" He responded with a punt to his chief of staff — Susie Wiles.
“I would like to find out what it is and tell the people. In fact, I'd like to do that," said Trump. He then redirected to Wiles, "Could we find out what that was, Susie? Why don't we find out immediately?”
Trump went on to speculate to reporters "I can't imagine it's an enemy or there would have been… people would have gotten blown up already… maybe they were testing things.
I don't know why they wouldn't have said what it was. A lot of them were flying over Bedminster which was interesting."
Previously on Jan. 9, Trump promised to issue a report on the alleged drone activity in New Jersey shortly after day one into his presidency.
In December, the FAA issued temporary flight restrictions of over parts of the Garden State for "special security reasons" after viral reports of unexplained drone sightings started the month prior.
Thousands of unexplained sightings were reported as videos and pictures flooded social media and its community forums.
These FAA restrictions are soon to expire, unless they're extended.
They restrict any unmanned aircraft from operating below 400 feet within a nautical mile of the airspace for each specified town, including Bedminster where Trump owns a home and golf club.
In his own social media posts on Truth Social last month, Trump called for immediate transparency. He wrote "Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!"
The drone mystery also prompted Trump to cancel plans to visit his Bedminster property in December, claiming there were security concerns.
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2025/01/21/donald-trump-promises-to-uncover-truth-about-mysterious-new-jersey-drone-sightings/77846082007/
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1881515405220434195
https://x.com/susiewiles/
To ensure compliance with trash laws, NYC considers deploying drones
Jan 20, 2025
New York City’s sanitation department is considering enlisting drones in its war on trash.
Sanitation department spokesperson Joshua Goodman confirmed the agency is exploring how drones could bolster enforcement of cleanliness rules such as illegal dumping, or setting out trash for pickup earlier than allowed.
If implemented, the drones would represent a new use of the technology championed by Mayor Eric Adams, despite civil liberties concerns about omnipresent eyes in the sky.
The NYPD has embraced drones, using the devices to monitor protests, discourage subway surfing and apprehend suspects more than 2,800 times in the first three quarters of 2024 alone, according to city reports.
Goodman said that drones could be useful tools for boosting quality of life in neighborhoods dealing with scofflaw dumpers, litterbugs and people who leave “ghost cars” with bogus license plates – or no plates at all – on the street.
“How does it feel when there's trash on the same street every single day? How does it feel when there's a ghost car parked on the same block every single day?” he said.
“Wouldn't it be great if there was somebody holding people accountable who are hurting your quality of life, saying to them, ‘no, you don't get away with dirtying these neighborhoods.
You don't get away with leaving your personal property in the parking lane indefinitely.’”
But the notion of expanding sanitation enforcement using drones didn’t sit well with Albert Fox Cahn, who is the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, or STOP. “ I think this plan is garbage,” Cahn said.
“ It's hard to put into words just how absurd I think it is that we're actually talking about a litterbug air force that is going to be tasked with monitoring people from the skies to swoop in if they're putting out garbage on the wrong day for pickup,” he said.
Cahn noted that until November, the sanitation department was run by Jessica Tisch, who is now NYPD commissioner. She’s earned a reputation for using cutting-edge technology to aid enforcement.
Under Tisch, the sanitation department more aggressively deployed hidden cameras to catch illegal dumpers in the act. Last year, the department issued $1.5 million in fines for illegal dumping, according to city data.
“We've seen the sanitation department turn more and more to using surveillance, particularly under the last commissioner, who went from implementing trash surveillance cameras to running the entire city's surveillance operation as NYPD commissioner,” he said.
The sanitation department would also explore whether drones could assist in snowplowing streets and performing inspections of the department's vehicles and infrastructure, according to Goodman.
Other agencies besides the NYPD have also used drones in recent years. The FDNY has used drones for years as part of firefighting work.
And the parks department is set to take over a drone fleet the NYPD used to search for drowning people and sharks at city beaches as soon as the summer of 2026.
Angel Lopez, 55, who owns the Lopez Family Deli Restaurant in Fort Greene, said he prefers the status quo, where inspectors on foot fine businesses that don’t clean sidewalks.
“Normally there is a person who gives a ticket, an inspector who comes and checks. If it’s dirty outside, you are allowed to have a ticket because you are supposed to clean it,” he said.
“With a drone, anyone can throw something outside and you don't realize it and they give you a ticket,” he said.
https://gothamist.com/news/to-ensure-compliance-with-trash-laws-nyc-considers-deploying-drones
Russian Su-25 Jet Factory in Flames After Massive Drone Strike
Jan 21, 2025 at 7:08 AM EST
Afire was reported at a factory that produces Su-25 ground attack aircraft in Russia's Smolensk region, shortly after Ukraine launched a massive drone strike on Tuesday morning.
Newsweek reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry for comment via email on Tuesday.
The drone barrage is reported to have targeted the Smolensk Aviation Plant, which produces the Soviet-designed Su-25 ground attack aircraft, as well as Kh-55 and Kh-59 missiles.
These are used by Russia's military to strike Ukraine in the ongoing war.
Throughout the conflict, Ukraine has sought to strike facilities in Russia that play a role in facilitating the country's war efforts.
These targets include airfields, military plants, ammunition depots and warehouses, and oil hubs and refineries.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said the attack struck the Smolensk Aviation Plant.
He highlighted its links to Russia's Defense Ministry, saying that it supplies parts for Russian aircraft.
The ASTRA Telegram channel, a project run by independent Russian journalists, said a fire broke out at the aircraft plant after Ukraine's drone attack.
It published footage that purportedly shows the blaze. Newsweek couldn't independently verify when or where the video was filmed.
Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram on Tuesday:
"The Smolensk Aviation Plant was attacked. It is involved in the production and modernization of military aircraft, in particular the Su-25 attack aircraft.
"It also provides overhaul and maintenance of aviation equipment, which allows the Russian Federation to maintain the combat capability of outdated aircraft models," Kovalenko added.
"This plant is closely connected with other businesses of the Russian defense industrial base, supplying components or involved in collaboration to create modern aircraft systems.
Every strike on such a plant would destroy Russia's ability to maintain its own aviation in a combat-ready state."
Vasily Anokhin, governor of Smolensk, said on Telegram on Tuesday:
"The Air Defense Forces of the Russian Defense Ministry have thwarted an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out an attack using unmanned aerial vehicles on objects in the Smolensk region.
According to preliminary information from the regional Ministry of Health, there are no casualties.
"Roof fires were noted on the ground and on the roofs of individual buildings as a result of falling drone debris. Windows of residential buildings were also damaged. Emergency services are working at the scene of the incidents."
Kyiv will continue to target military sites on Russian soil. Ukraine and Russia are both pushing to make battlefield gains ahead of potential peace talks that could be brokered during U.S. President Donald Trump's second term in the White House.
https://www.newsweek.com/russian-su-25-jet-factory-fire-drone-attack-2018207
https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1881481405127090512
Drone Alert Near Russian Nuclear Missile Base
January 21, 2025
Residents of the Yasnensky urban district and the closed administrative town of Komarovsky in Russia's Orenburg region were ordered to evacuate to shelters early on January 21 due to warnings of a potential drone attack.
Local authorities urged people to seek safety in basements or interior rooms without windows or doors.
“Do not panic! Please stay in shelters until the air threat is lifted,” Tatyana Silantyeva, head of Yasnensky’s municipal district, announced on Telegram.
Later, Orenburg Governor Denis Pasler announced that no drones were detected in the region but stressed the importance of a "preemptive response" to the perceived threat.
He added that normal operations have resumed.
According to the Moscow Times, Komarovsky houses military unit 68545, home to the 13th Orenburg Red Banner Missile Division, part of the Strategic Missile Forces' 31st Missile Army.
The division operates RS-20V Voevoda intercontinental ballistic missile systems.
The alert comes after heightened drone activity across Russia.
On the night of January 21, Russian air defense reportedly shot down 55 Ukrainian drones, including 22 over the Bryansk region, 12 over Rostov, 10 over Smolensk, six over Voronezh, four over Saratov, and one over Kursk.
https://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/world/drone-alert-near-russian-nuclear-missile-base/ar-AA1xAaXf
https://t.me/ruorsk/57098
Drone footage shows mystery 40-foot rubbish mountain blocking UK road
Tuesday 21 January 2025 11:09 EST
This is the staggering 40-foot mountain of waste fly-tippers left on a two-lane road on the outskirts of Lichfield.
The massive pile, estimated to be 10 feet high, was discovered early Tuesday morning on Watery Lane in the Curborough area, cutting off access to homes and businesses, including the Curborough Countryside Centre.
Authorities believe a lorry was used to dump the waste on Monday. Lichfield Council has launched an appeal for information and is working with the Environment Agency.
The council has urged anyone with information, including details about the individuals or the origin of the waste, to contact them.
https://www.the-independent.com/tv/news/flytipping-lichfield-rubbish-watery-lane-b2683449.html
Trumpsk
Paralysed man learns to fly virtual drone with mind using breakthrough brain implant
Tuesday 21 January 2025 05:40 EST
A breakthrough brain implant has enabled a 69-year-old man with paralysis to fly a virtual drone using just his mind.
The surgical implant could help detect and decode the fingers that the paralysed person intended to move, allowing him to control the flight of a quadcopter in a specially designed video game.
Millions of people across the globe live with severe physical impairments and training using such brain implants is increasingly being recognised as a potential solution for restoring movement.
However, current examples of the technology struggle to decode complex movements paralysed people intend to perform such as those of individual fingers.
If these specific movements could be restored with therapy, they could slowly learn to perform activities like typing or playing musical instruments.
In the latest study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, scientists developed a brain implant to enable the participant’s own request to fly a drone.
Researchers implanted the device in the person’s left precentral gyrus brain region responsible for hand movement control.
The device continuously records the electrical activity of nerve cells in the brain, especially patterns linked to complex physical movements.
Researchers recorded the nerve cell activity pattern of the participant as he observed a virtual hand performing various movements.
Scientists then used artificial intelligence algorithms to identify the brain signals specifically linked to specific finger movements.
These signals could guide the AI system to accurately predict finger movements intended by the participant.
Using this information, researchers enabled the participant to control three distinct finger groups, including two-dimensional thumb movements, in a virtual hand.
Researchers say this level of movement precision and freedom had not been previously possible.
Scientists extended the application of virtual finger control into a quadcopter video game.
Finger movements decoded by the brain implant were programmed to control the speed and direction of an in-game quadcopter.
The implant allowed the man to pilot the drone through multiple obstacles, even passing through randomly appearing rings in the game.
“This approach to use fine motor control for iBCI-controlled video games can meet unmet needs of people with paralysis,” scientists wrote.
“The participant expressed or demonstrated a sense of enablement, recreation, and social connectedness that addresses many of the unmet needs of people with paralysis,” they said.
This latest advance could lead to better implants helping paralysed people move on-screen cursors, paving the way for more advanced online functions like emailing, surging through social media posts, or streaming shows.
https://www.the-independent.com/tech/brain-implant-paralysed-man-drone-b2683334.html
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/zodiac-killer-theory-19991296.php
https://x.com/sfchronicle/status/1878682914210107858
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nljujw/im_kevin_fagan_chronicle_reporter_expert_on/
Who was the Zodiac Killer? I covered the case for decades; here are my final thoughts
Jan 8, 2025
My first brush with the Zodiac Killer saga came in May 1996, in the form of a thick beige envelope plopped on my desk by the newsroom mail staff.
Having just covered the Unabomber’s reign of mail-bomb terror for nearly a year, including traveling to Montana for his arrest the month before, I was wary of big packages from people I didn’t know.
But this one seemed harmless. So I opened it. Inside was a thick, handwritten book attempting to prove that Unabomber Ted Kaczynski was also the Zodiac.
That was about as believable as saying my granny was the Zodiac. One mailed bombs, the other stabbed and shot people.
The personality profiles were radically divergent. But I made a couple of calls to cops and FBI agents to get some cautious quotes about them looking into the concept, and batted out a short story basically knocking down the theory.
That’s when the floodgate of tips started pouring in.
They came by the hundreds, saying “Z,” as sleuths call him, was their father, their brother, Charlie Manson, the weird guy down the road, a group of cops, some dude in Scotland, and more.
Nobody had covered the Zodiac beat since the Chronicle’s Duffy Jennings in the 1970s. “Hmm,” my editor at the time said. “That’s a lot of tips you’ve got. I guess you’re on the Zodiac beat now.”
The torrent has never stopped.
It’s been 28 years, and as I retire this week from the newspaper, I’ll leave behind two brimming boxes and thousands of electronic files I’ve collected from people who have either named suspects they believe are the Zodiac or say they’ve cracked the spooky ciphers the killer sent to the Chronicle and others in letters bragging about his awful handiwork.
The Zodiac was only a sliver of my job — I actually specialized in homelessness, along with crime and, well, most of the things a reporter who’s been doing this gig for more than 40 years gets around to.
But the Zodiac? It brought the most mail, emails and phone calls.
Some tipsters not only identify a suspect but swear the person confessed to them. Others say their guy resembles the sketch police put out back in the day (which looks like most strait-laced men from the 1960s).
Others say they found weapons, diaries or other evidence that proves their case. Some tipsters are former law enforcement officers, others bang out books on their research, others cobble up their ideas in letters or emails between work shifts.
It is literally endless.
And this is a case that is more than a half-century old — the only law enforcement-confirmed attacks he pulled off came in 1968 and 1969, leaving five dead and two men wounded.
Except for his last victim, a taxi driver in San Francisco, the Zodiac shot or stabbed couples in lover’s lane settings in Napa and Solano counties, then mailed his infuriating letters to newspapers proclaiming that he was collecting “slaves” for his afterlife, and taunting the cops to find him.
Fear billowed through the Bay Area until the early 1970s, when confirmed letters finally ceased and other monstrosities came along to grab the public’s attention.
The Zodiac — and police are certain it’s a “he,” given the profile characteristics and the overwhelming scarcity of female serial killers — is America’s Jack the Ripper, and I am convinced the avalanche of theories and interest in the case won’t end until official investigators nail down a suspect with absolute certainty.
Amateur investigators can’t have the definitive last word. It has to be the official ones, meaning the FBI or police departments in San Francisco, Solano and Napa counties, where he left his victims.
The Zodiac’s reign of terror is a true-life legal issue, not some TV movie or novel. Law enforcement and the courts are the deciders on these things. It’s over when they say it’s over.
The problem is that investigators only ever named one man, Arthur Leigh Allen of Vallejo, as a suspect before DNA and other technologies entered the detectives’ toolkit.
Allen died of heart disease in 1992, and while there were scads of witness accounts and evidence linking Allen to the case, police couldn’t lace it all together before his death. So no arrest.
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DNA and fingerprints used to solve cold cases now are too scant for the “Z” killings, despite breathless assertions in some quarters of the media over the years, and this leaves the investigation details open to interpretation even though dozens of films, articles and books have fingered Allen.
Those include a recent Netflix series that featured my fine colleagues Robert Graysmith and Rita Williams.
Some people got irritated that I didn’t write about their theories, but the newspaper is a filter, not a spillway.
I couldn’t name suspects who were likely innocent — even if they were dead — and I depended to a large degree on what my sources in law enforcement said.
And so far, despite all the tips, the only rock-solid, law enforcement-verified scoop that has emerged in this mystery in the past three decades came in 2021.
That’s when I broke the story about how a code-breaking team from the United States, Australia and Belgium cracked the Zodiac’s vexing “340” cipher.
The FBI confirmed the solution to me, we published, and within minutes the story was picked up around the world. That’s how explosive the interest remains.
And the answer to the cipher? Just more taunts and craziness: “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me,” the Zodiac wrote.
“I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice (sic) all the sooner because now I have enough slaves to work for me.”
The word “crazy” is considered improper in polite journalism. But this stuff from Z is crazy. And did that cipher solution satisfy the sleuth world?
Not really. I still get scads of emails and packages from people who scoff at it and offer their own version.
Our library shows I have written 57 stories about the Zodiac since that first clip in May 1996, along with doing spots in TV and film documentaries.
It is indeed a fascinating case, with more twists, theories, guesses, personalities, tragedies and scary, unanswered questions than most. And I should know.
I have written about more murders than I can count in what has been a long career — the Night Stalker, the kidnap and killing of Polly Klaas, the massacres at Columbine High and in Las Vegas, the 9/11 terror attacks, the unsolved Doodler killings of 1974-75 — and I’ve witnessed seven executions.
When I was a very young police reporter, it was thrilling in the way that true crime thrills moviegoers and readers; you feel awful for the victims, of course, but there is an exhilarating challenge in chasing clues and tying up mysteries.
But as I got older, the thrill wore off.
For many years now, it’s just been achingly sad.
There are actual people involved in these tragedies — real deceased people leaving behind grieving friends and family, real relatives and friends associated with the killers, and the killers themselves who were innocent babies at one time and somewhere along the way got warped.
Murder is anything but infotainment, but that’s how a lot of people regard it unless and until they’re forced to grapple with the genuine horror.
People ask me all the time who I think is the Zodiac Killer. Well, I’m not the guy to ask. The cops are.
The Chronicle long ago turned over all the letters and other solid evidence from the verified 1968-69 killings to the San Francisco Police Department, so all I have in that regard is those thousands of tips in files.
Someday, perhaps DNA technology will advance enough to nail down an identity, or something solid will pop up that finally convinces officials that the mystery is solved. But know this: I won’t be at the Chronicle to report it.
I am happily retiring Jan. 8 from the paper, and as I leave, I leave behind my files.
The overwhelming majority of the amateur sleuths who have reached out to me were polite, sincere and intelligent.
But I have also been stalked, threatened and badgered for not anointing some tips as the absolute truth — and I’m done.
So if you have new tips, please send them to the paper. Not to me.
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