The Headquarters For Advanced Operations, PAC Base

[via Ned Hepburn]

I had lunch at Square One today, which is located across from this Scientology Building (located conveniently at L. Ron Hubbard Way & Fountain Avenue, no joke!). It’s a gigantic blue building that takes up an entire city block, with drawn white curtains in every window. Behind those white curtains are white blinds, which are also drawn. There are very few - if any - visible open windows, and when there are its still so dark in there that you can’t see a damn thing passed the first foot or so.

It’s the headquarters for Advanced Operations, which I’d imagine is higher level Scientologists, and is also thus the headquarters for Sea Org - the militaryesque arm of Scientology, where you sign a contract for your life for one billion years. It’s called the One Billion Year Contract. I’m not making this up.

There are two security guards on bikes that circle the building. You see half a dozen people or so going up or down the front steps at any given time, most of them in navy blue slacks and a navy blue polo shirt. Most of them are carrying a folder or two - perhaps a box. Inside the building is said to be all the Scientology paperwork with some workers in there morning, noon and night keeping the vast empire’s huge amounts of paperwork in order, I’d imagine. Scientology sessions can cost in the ranges of $1000 an hour. There’s a lot of paperwork to be done, I’m sure.

I want to start a Scientologist Porn magazine called “Thetan Beatin’”, but I digress.

Anyway, it’s amazing how brazen the whole thing really is. There’s 4 or 5 large seven story buildings (tall for most of Hollywood) that I can think of that cater to this Science Fiction cult. It’s literally right there infront of you, walking around. At Christmas there’s a Scientology Santa Claus on Hollywood Boulevard. There are cameras everywhere on these buildings. The big blue one that houses Sea Org is called PAC Base.

There’s nothing wrong with Scientology. Anyone should be allowed to choose whatever they feel gets them through the day, and it’s not my place to judge what they do and don’t do - because regardless of how I feel, it seems to make sense to a lot of people. However, there’s something about PAC Base that’s off putting. Perhaps it’s the military style demeanor and actions of the recruits, who don’t so much as look at you walking by as they do deconstruct you with a passing stare.

It’s just so funny how there’s all these Hollywood “I’m an individual!” types milling around, because the PAC Base is in between liberal-as-a-unicorn-fucking-a-rainbow Los Feliz to the east and the general craziness that is Hollywood Boulevard just to the west. And smack bang in the middle of it is this huge windowless building with military clad members. They even went so far as to paint the whole building sky blue, seemingly for it to blend in more. But it sticks out like a sore thumb here.