The Anonymous Whistleblower ('Iowan #4')
A former Church History Department archivist who spoke to a committee investigator in 2003, on the condition that we never publish their name.
What we can say
The committee has met, in person, with a former senior archivist of the LDS Church History Department on three occasions between 2003 and 2017. The archivist has authorised us to publish the following summary of what they told us, and nothing further:
“I worked in that building for nineteen years. I know what I saw. I know what is in the sub-basement. I cannot tell you what is in the sub-basement. I signed a non-disclosure agreement that is enforceable under both ecclesiastical and civil law. I will say this: the building is larger than it appears on any city plan. There is a sub-basement. There are seven rooms in the sub-basement. Six of the rooms are full of file boxes. The seventh room is behind a steel door. The seventh room is locked at all times. The seventh room has a separate ventilation system.”
Why this matters
The committee does not contend that the seventh room contains a functioning nuclear device. We contend that the seventh room exists, that the Church has known about it for at least sixty years, and that the Church has gone to extraordinary lengths to keep the building’s true footprint off the public record.
The archivist has not been in contact with us since 2017.
Our commitment
We will not name this person. We will not publish any image that could identify them. We will not describe their vehicle, their route to our meeting, or any identifying feature of their home or workplace. The committee considers this commitment absolute and non-negotiable.