OKBOMB Investigation Used Classified "KH-11 KENNEN" Spy Satellite

Images published online reveal foreign intelligence satellite used on the United States

One unusual fact that emerged from reporter J.D. Cash’s investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing was that U.S. spy satellites were utilized—perhaps for the first time ever—on a domestic target due to the bombing. Sources confirmed to Cash that the only other case they were aware of when this had occurred was the then-recent UNABOMB case, where the satellite(s) had been used to photograph UNABOMBER Theodore Kaczynski’s Montana cabin.

These details were first revealed on December 20, 2005, in the McCurtain Gazette, with a story headlined "Rarely Used Spy Satellite Monitored Elohim City," featuring a dual byline of J.D. Cash and Lt. Col. Roger G. Charles.

The Cash/Charles story explained how the United States utilized its classified “KH-11 KENNEN” foreign intelligence spy satellite on Oklahoma City during the bombing investigation, a detail gleaned from U.S. Secret Service documents that Cash and Charles had obtained:

More from the Cash/Charles story:

“America’s spy-satellite program is jointly under the control of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD). Targeting decisions are classified; however, persons familiar with the project say any domestic use of these satellites is barred by agreements between the CIA and DoD.”

Cash and Charles interviewed Dr. Jeffrey Richelson about the use of top U.S. spy satellites in this case. Richelson wrote several books on the topic, including The Wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA’s Directorate of Science and Technology, America’s Space Sentinels: DSP Satellites and National Security, and America’s Secret Eyes in Space: The US KEYHOLE Spy Satellite Program.

In 1995, Richelson described the deployment of a spy satellite for domestic intelligence gathering as “rare” and “quite remarkable,” stating, “I’ve only seen one other reference of this kind before. The FBI used one in the UNABOMBER case to photograph the suspect’s cabin in Montana. That’s the only other instance of this I’m aware of.”

Richelson concurred with Cash and Charles that employing these spy satellite resources would necessitate very high-level approval: "Approval for this type of operation would require a higher level of review than what is typically needed to begin routine surveillance of foreign intelligence targets."

Roger Charles later commented that utilizing one of NRO’s KEYHOLE spy satellites, particularly by diverting it from its designated orbit (e.g., monitoring China), would demand authorization from the highest authority—the President of the United States.

Not even the Director of the CIA or the Deputy Director of Operations, who usually approve the use of such valuable intelligence assets in prominent cases, could assign the asset to a domestic target, implying that Charles was likely correct, which raises many questions.

The Cash/Charles piece further disclosed:

“This satellite was used to monitor events at Elohim City.”

An official for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) said he was surprised to learn that federal investigators in 1995 had obtained a waiver of regulations regarding domestic spying by the agency.

Rick Oborn, the Director of Corporate Communications for NGA, said: “Domestic use of the intelligence product of one of those satellites over U.S. territory is not allowed, unless there has been a finding by a team of specialists who would have to approve any domestic use of a satellite.”

SATELLITE PHOTOS:

Is there anything of evidentiary value from a nearly-vertical shot of the Murrah building blown up?

Of course not.

One wonders why this asset was used, rather than how it was used, outside the bounds of the law. I suspect that the satellite was utilized for more than just the Murrah building—indeed, the Cash/Charles piece says it was used to observe the Elohim City compound near Muldrow, Oklahoma.

When Roger Charles asked this writer what he thought the satellite might have been looking for at Elohim City, I expressed my suspicion that they were looking for “a big yellow moving truck. The second truck.”

If this is the case, photos from that location were not included on the DVD-ROM that contained the three MFB satellite photos depicted here, though this remains a controversial use of the U.S. spy satellite.

Many years later, in 2019, Donald Trump would make headlines for sharing a photograph on Twitter of a destroyed Iranian launchpad, taken with the same KH-11 KENNEN network of satellites. The following is from NPR:

In the case of the OKC bombing, nothing of evidentiary value was seemingly recovered using these assets, unless, of course, the agency might have had surveillance coverage from prior and up to 9:02 AM in Oklahoma City. If that is the case, it becomes far more crucial to ask for this material, should it have existed, and why it was CIA spy satellites were trained on central Oklahoma that day instead of upon foreign targets.

More about the KH-11 “KENNAN” series spy satellite:

KH-11 / Kennen / Crystal

https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/kh-11.htm

See also:

Intersections in real time: the decision to build the KH-11 KENNEN reconnaissance satellite (part 1)
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, September 9, 2019

Intersections in real time: the decision to build the KH-11 KENNEN reconnaissance satellite (part 2)
by Dwayne A. Day
Monday, September 16, 2019