[Chaos-l] Awareness

[Jayme Hanzak]

Dear CHAOS members, 



The following is an account of an incident that happened just a few days ago. 

I send this out as information only and to make you aware. 



The gentlemand sending this to us is not a member of CHAOS or any astronomy club. 

They were just using the ramp as an observing site like we do. 



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The Chapel Hill Astronomical and Observational Society, 



My purpose for this email is to bring to the attention of and give 
warning to all those who might wish to use Farrington Point on Jordon 
Lake as a place for observing by describing an event which occurred on 
the night of August 30 . It was quite late, approaching midnight, when 
my granddaughter, her father and I were just finishing our outing with 
our telescope there. We were suddenly approached by two men who came 
from the direction of the boat ramp on the right fork road to a point 
near the large tree which sits out in the field where we were set up; 
strangely, they were on foot. This is a considerable distance, as much 
as 800 ft. I have since learned, and I was quite surprised by the fact 
that they had walked this distance. In all the times I’ve used this 
place, no one had ever approached me in this manner. One man told us 
they had just finished being out on a boat fishing and thought we must 
be members of your organization since he had received an email from 
you describing an event which was planned for this location on that 
night. All the while I noticed this man seemed to be trying to edge 
his way ever closer to me, so much that I became uncomfortable. When I 
backed away he followed and started what appeared to be an effort to 
get himself behind me. The second man was standing near my 
granddaughter and her father who were seated ten or twelve feet away 
during this time. As I continued to maneuver away from the first man 
my granddaughter’s father noticed this strange behavior and rose 
suddenly to his feet in my (our) defense. He is quite a large muscular 
man and can appear very intimidating. His presence backed the man near 
them away immediately ... . Needless to say, they both rather abruptly 
changed the manner in which they were acting, disappeared in the 
direction from where they had come, and we proceeded to load our 
equipment peacefully and leave. I should say that we never heard the 
sound of a boat or vehicle before they arrived nor after they had left 
our presence. All this could have meant nothing, or as I believe, we 
had managed to avoid a probable robbery attempt planned by these two 
men. Because they had used the name of your organization, “ CHAOS “, 
as a premise on which to approach us, I thought it important to inform 
you of our experience. Everyone please stay safe while you’re out 
there trying to enjoy a pleasant evening of astronomy. 

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As we all know, when folks see a telescope, they want a look. 

I'm just  send this out to remind all of us to be safe. 



Clear Safe Skies, 



Jayme Hanzak 
CHAOS President 

CHAOS 
P.O. Box 3001 
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0842 
http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos/ 




Jayme Hanzak 
CHAOS President 

CHAOS 
P.O. Box 3001 
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-0842 
http://www.rtpnet.org/chaos/ 
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