What is NSGA Galeta Island?
The NSGA Galeta Island Operations Site was a large radio antennae run by the United States Government (Specifically the Naval Security Group) to monitor and intercept the electronic communications of North and South America.
I stumbled on the Galeta Island Site while I was visiting Panama (the country of my birth) this summer. My parents had worked at a Marine Lab on the same island, and while visiting this Lab, I happened to notice the other US facility on the island. My host and I drove to the NSGA site and I took some great pictures from the outside. Then, after showing our passports, we were allowed inside the main gate. Once inside, I took a few more pictures of what appeared to be a fuel tank and a close-up of the towers that surround the complex.
 The Buildings at Galeta Island. The main building is the tallest.
A storage shed is in the foreground. |
After driving around the building, our vehicle was surrounded by armed members of a rental security force that currently protects the base. They asked us to come inside the building so we could "sign their guestbook". So we entered the building. Because I don't speak spanish as fluently as my host (I took French in High School) I was led into a security office (the first door to the left inside the entrance). In the room was a desk and in the desk was a satellite image of the island, showing the NSGA site. Hmm...
After signing our names, social security numbers, and home addresses, we were allowed to leave.
A few days later, I was able to get online and did an Altavista search for "Galeta Island Base" and found Ground Truth: Galeta Island, which said that the Galeta facility had a nominal range of 150-5000 km. Now, 5000 km is equal to 3333.33 miles, which is a pretty long distance. So I took a world map and drew, allowing for the distance changes due to lattitude, a 3,300-mile circle around Panama. Notice anything interesting about what's within the nominal range? The Carribean, and most of North and South America.
Pictures of Galeta Island, Panama
