If you are looking for evidence that can swiftly debunk conspiracy theories that our government or the lizard people control the weather, allow us to introduce you to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California — the west coast launch site for both SpaceX and United Launch Alliance. The base covers about 9,600 acres of land and was established in 1941 during WWII as Camp Cooke, and used by the U.S Army for tank, infantry, and artillery training. It was turned over to the U.S Air Force and renamed in 1957. At some point, and when remains unclear, the site was cursed with a dense fog of supernatural proportions.

To cover SpaceX's NROL-85 mission, which eventually launched on Sunday morning, April 17th, we dispatched photographer Tom Cross to Vandenberg. He arrived early Friday morning, then again Saturday, then ultimately on Easter Sunday to cover a launch that was scrubbed twice because of uncooperative weather. The payload is a clandestine satellite for the National Reconnaissance Organization (NRO).

We aimed to capture both the launch and the landing of the Falcon 9, with the booster touching down at the launch site. We also set up a few remote cameras at the launch pad for some closer shots. All of those cameras failed to capture something usable due to weather and of course, the infamous wall of fog.

Spaceflight photographer and producer Michael Baylor also attended the launch and tweeted that his gear was soaked. "Five cameras sitting in thick fog with wind blowing it into the lenses. Hopefully, it dries out ok. No content worth sharing," Baylor said. Tom Cross reported that "when the Falcon 9 ascended into the marine layer, all that was visible was an orange glow."

Before NROL-85 we've had considerable success in shooting Vandenberg, especially with our coverage of NASA's Sentinel-6A launch in which we captured liftoff and landing of the Falcon 9 against the clearest day we've ever seen at this facility.

The fog at Vandenberg, appearing during the facility's most noteworthy moments, comes up like a firewall to block the entire launch (and landing) and burn all your company's launch coverage budget. It happens so often that every mission comes with a caveat that you may not see liftoff at all. Just ask the Canadians who launched their Radarsat constellation mission in July 2019 in the dense fog in which the Falcon 9 went unseen during liftoff until emerging above the clouds. Or NASA, who launched the Mars InSight lander atop ULA's Atlas V rocket in May 2018 surrounded by a thick, moody marine layer. Always a bummer when a flagship mission with a built-up global audience tuning in for some fireworks gets a rain-soaked grey feed.

The fog can also be a pain for small companies and startups that are launching with SpaceX and are counting on the public relations and marketing boost that comes along with being a SpaceX customer. The company's missions are almost always national news, and oftentimes result in the production of viral content and trending hashtags. All of which are accompanied by stunning imagery and heart-stopping video of launches and landings. The fog can prevent just about all of that. And while this may seem like propaganda from 'big Florida' and their spaceport assets, we promise that it is not. Florida has their own weather problems.

A local newspaper, The Lompoc Record, asked Technical Sgt. Kevin Scadden, a flight range weather forecaster for the base and he responded, “This marine layer is a normal part of our life on the central coast, especially during the summer. In the simplest terms, we have a huge source of moisture right on our coast, and that water is cold. Together, the cold water with the cold air make fog. The high air pressure over the Pacific during the summer keeps the winds from getting convective, or turbulent, making for a quite tranquil space. Basically, the weather is at peace, and when things are peaceful, moisture tends to settle.”

The secretive NRO probably doesn't mind the lack of visibility in this case. The agency's launches are a bit different due to national security concerns. In the case of Sunday's NROL-85 mission, SpaceX was not allowed to show any footage of the rocket’s upper stage or the deployment and ended the webcast after the booster landed back at Vandenberg.

The NRO claims that they are “the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites.” meaning they operate satellites for Navy, Air force, CIA, and NSA. The NRO was made public via a New York Times article published in January of 1985 titled America's Super Secret Eyes in Space in which reporter James Bamford attends the launch of an NRO payload from Kennedy Space Center using the Discovery Space Shuttle.

"For the first time in the history of the American space program, all communication with the astronauts will be hidden in complex codes intelligible only with special unscrambling equipment," Bamford wrote. "The fiery liftoff of Discovery, tentatively scheduled for Jan. 23, will mark the beginning of a new intelligence era. Added to the shuttle's list of customers will be the most secret organization in the American intelligence community, the National Reconnaissance Office."