As you approach the small town of Green Bank in West Virginia, signs warn that you are entering the “Quiet Zone,” an area where cell phones and Wi-Fi are prohibited.
It is one of the few places on Earth where people are not connected 24 hours a day and has become a Mecca for people tired of the modern world and ‘electrosensitive’ people who believe they suffer from symptoms caused by Wi-Fi and mobile phones.
The reason for the “silence” from an electronic point of view is the huge satellite dishes at Green Bank in West Virginia, among which is the largest steerable radio telescope in the world, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope.
`Anything that could interfere with the radio telescope is prohibited.
A new documentary, Small Town Universe, which premiered in New York this week, and a recent book, The Quiet Zone, explore the town and its mysteries, including local rumors of secrets buried beneath the mountain.
It is one of the few places on the planet where people are not connected 24 hours a day and has become a mecca for people tired of the modern world and ‘electrosensitive’ people who believe they suffer from symptoms caused by Wi-Fi and mobile phones.
The city’s radio telescopes prevent Wi-Fi connection
The film’s director, Katie Dellamaggiore, said she was inspired to make it after the birth of her second child, as she felt she was relying too much on her cell phone to keep in touch with her friends.
She asked her husband if there was a town without cell phones.
She said, “I did what we all do and Googled, ‘Is there a city without cell phones?'” and that’s how I discovered Green Bank, West Virginia.
‘The unique, disconnected lifestyle of the city immediately caught my attention.
‘It was even more intriguing that scientists used the Green Bank Telescope to explore some of the biggest mysteries in science, such as how the universe began and whether there is intelligent life beyond Earth.
The reason for the “silence” from an electronic point of view is the huge satellite dishes in Green Bank, West Virginia.
Locals have adapted to the lack of Wi-Fi and mobile phones
Wi-Fi and cell phones are prohibited in the small town
“The residents of this small Appalachian town are not connected in the most modern of ways, but over time, I observed a deeper connection they shared, united by the pursuit of scientific knowledge.”
He said that while making the film he learned to rely less on his cell phone and now enjoys boredom as “me time.”
The telescopes are located in a four-mile valley surrounded by 4,800-foot mountains that create a natural barrier and isolate the “noise” of the world.
Operating any electrical equipment that causes interference to telescopes is illegal and is punishable by a state fine usually around $50 per violation.
The area near the telescope (including the town of Green Bank, population 250) is the most strictly regulated area of the Quiet Zone.
Stores cover their exteriors with conductive lead paint so they can use wireless inventory scanners.
The telescopes, at the Green Bank Observatory, founded in 1956, were pioneers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).
Dr. Frank Drake, founder of SETI, began searching for aliens with the Green Bank Telescope.
In 1959, the Observatory’s ‘Ozma’ project began searching for radio emissions ‘created by intelligent beings on other planets.’
There are other radio “quiet zones” around the world, but Green Bank is a lively community of 250 people: locals refer to themselves as “mountain people,” while those outside are “plainsiders.” ” or “come here.”
Going to Walmart is a 100 mile round trip over some of the highest peaks in the area.
Within the broader Quiet Zone (a 13,000-square-mile area surrounding Green Bank), some electronic devices are tolerated, but within Green Bank itself, Wi-Fi and cell phones, and air conditioning units and Microwave ovens must be protected.
One employee’s Tesla had to have its autonomous driving disabled, and local authorities banned a plan to install automatic flushing toilets.
A local agent searches for homes that break the rules
The Sugar Grove site near Green Bank
Initially commissioned by local man Wesley Sizemore, the job of enforcing “silence” now falls to several employees; Sizemore had previously targeted problem items such as non-working electric blankets, often offering free repairs or a replacement.
But there is a secret in the Quiet Zone… and rumors of other secrets even more deeply buried.
In a nearby mountain hollow, the U.S. military planned to build its own radio antenna: a dish 600 feet wide and 66 stories high, built to listen for Soviet radio signals bouncing off the moon.
Work on the initial project stopped in 1962, but the Sugar Grove site reopened in 1969 as a global center for Navy radio communications.
Stephen Kurczy, author of The Quiet Zone, told DailyMail.com: ‘The public reason for the 13,000-square-mile National Radio Quiet Zone around Green Bank is that this city is home to the country’s first federal radio astronomy observatory.
‘But there is also a less public reason for a Quiet Zone, which I was surprised to learn about.
“Not far from Green Bank, in the West Virginia town of Sugar Grove, there is a top-secret National Security Agency (NSA) listening post with its own collection of about a dozen radio antennas.”
Kurczy believes the center is used to actively monitor millions of private phone calls and emails.
‘The Quiet Zone protects both Green Bank and Sugar Grove. “Just as Green Bank requires radio silence in order for its telescopes to ‘listen’ to the sounds of deep space, Sugar Grove needs silence in order to hear communications from the outside world,” Kurczy said.
Local rumors have suggested that there is a secret network of nuclear bunkers beneath the telescope.
Kurczy with his son Manny inside the Quiet Zone (Image: Stephen Kurczy)
The Quiet Zone is also home to the once-secret Greenbrier bunker, built to house Congress in the event of a nuclear war.
Locals talk of rumors about something “buried in the mountain,” from missile silos to CIA sites to captured aliens.
Kurczy said: “In the 1970s, hippies and back-to-landers also ‘discovered’ the area, and hundreds of them arrived.
‘Among them was hippie clown doctor Patch Adams (he’s a certified doctor who literally dresses like a clown all the time), played by Robin Williams in the hit movie “Patch Adams.”
‘The Adams organization is still there, along with many of the hippies who made this area their home.
Seedier groups were also attracted to the remote, isolated, mountainous and largely unspoilt environment, where large tracts of land could still be found cheaply.
One was an anti-capitalist sex cult known as Zendik Arts Farm. Another was an infamous white supremacist group called the National Alliance.
But over the decades, the area has become a haven for people who believe they are affected by electromagnetic radiation, Kurczy said.
Sue Howard lives in the area because of her debilitating symptoms.
In the film, Dellamaggiore interviews the “electrosensitive” Sue Howard, a 56-year-old woman.
Dellamaggiore said: ‘After years of enduring undiagnosed pain, headaches and heart palpitations, he began to notice a correlation between his symptoms and wireless technology in his home.
‘Sue suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), a syndrome that, despite lacking enough scientific data to be recognized by the medical field, causes enough pain that Sue spends most of her time isolated in a radiofrequency-protected room .
‘He had practically given up hope when he read about Green Bank and the other electrosensitive people moving there.
“Ironically, Green Bank’s high-tech telescope offers Sue the opportunity to escape modern technology and discover a new way to feel in community with her neighbors.”
But the peace and serenity of Green Bank could be threatened, as the locals demand access to more technology, while the “electrosensitive” outsiders work to limit it.
Kurczy said: ‘People who have EHS say they are harmed by WiFi, microwaves, lights, smartphones… most modern technology. But many locals would love to have a little more modern technology.
‘Should the Quiet Zone become less silent for the sake of modern conveniences? Or should I stay super quiet for the sake of electrosensitives and astronomers?
“This tension has sometimes led to hostilities. An electrosensitive person once found a dead groundhog stuffed in his mailbox, a not-so-subtle sign that he was bothering the locals.
Dellamaggiore said that in the eight years it took to make the film, it has become increasingly difficult to enforce the rules, particularly around Wi-Fi in homes.
She said: ‘While I understand the desire for access to common technology, it is disheartening to think that one of the last intentional quiet zones will soon become a thing of the past. We should strive to preserve this unique place on Earth.’