Observatory Quotes

“If you are a sea level adapted human, then your health is at risk by working at the biologically toxic Mauna Kea Observatories.”
― Steven Magee

“Summit Brain’ was a term that Mauna Kea Observatory management teams would use to describe the forgetfulness and confusion that would develop in their workers when at very high altitudes.”
― Steven Magee

“I expect the name ‘Steven Magee’ will become associated with the reform of the corrupt aspects of professional astronomy.”
― Steven Magee

“There was no monitoring of astronomy staff for central sleep apnea, even when we would sleep at high altitude.”
― Steven Magee

“When I worked the day shift at the Mauna Kea Observatories in Hawaii, a registered nurse came to visit and commented that my breathing during sleep was irregular. I had no idea what altitude induced central sleep apnea was at that time and ignored the comment. Many years later I was diagnosed with a variety of sleep disorders.”
― Steven Magee

“Keeping a human in a state of altitude induced central sleep apnea for many years should be expected to bring on a wide range of adverse health conditions.”
― Steven Magee

“For some sleep apnea patients that use CPAP machines, they develop the more severe Complex Sleep Apnea during long term treatment.”
― Steven Magee

“Does keeping a high altitude worker in a state of central sleep apnea for many years eventually develop into positional sleep apnea?”
― Steven Magee

“I made the mistake of taking a past girlfriend up to Kitt Peak National Observatory to fill the instrument cryostat with liquid nitrogen. It was one of the largest cryostats at the facility and took a long time to fill. The entire time there was a huge plume of cold nitrogen gas coming out of it, visible for several feet. After we were finished, she started complaining of feeling sick to the point that she thought she was going to vomit. It lasted for several hours. A few years later she started showing signs and symptoms of fatigue and depression and was being medically treated for it. I always felt guilty that I exposed her to the nitrogen gas, as I had no idea how toxic it was because I had never been sent on an OSHA approved cryogenic liquid training course.”
― Steven Magee

“I gave a tour to a large group of young students and their teacher at the W. M. Keck Observatory. No one had oxygen administration equipment on. A few hours later I got a phone call stating that one of them had forgotten their backpack. ‘Summit Brain’ I thought. I located the backpack and was able to return it to them, as they were staying near to where I lived. I always wondered what their long term health outcomes were after experiencing ‘Summit Brain’.”
― Steven Magee

“I took my parents and past girlfriend up to the very high altitude summit of Mauna Kea to visit the W. M. Keck Observatory. The plan was to spend a few hours at the summit, but after half an hour the females became sickly and we had to leave.”
― Steven Magee

“I have taken many people up to the very high altitude summit of Mauna Kea to visit the W. M. Keck Observatory. It is not something I would do today due to my extensive knowledge of High Altitude Diseases.”
― Steven Magee

“By the time I left Kitt Peak National Observatory, I had formed the opinion there was a cover-up culture there.”
― Steven Magee

“Kitt Peak National Observatory was infested with rodents. There were so many that rodent traps were in daily use there.”
― Steven Magee

“The collapse of the Aricebo Observatory was a good example of what happens to poorly maintained industrial facilities.”
― Steven Magee

“Aricibo Observatory was the ‘Titanic’ of professional astronomy.”
― Steven Magee

“Developing the diagnosis and treatment of High Altitude Observatory Disease became my priority in my late forties as my health was drastically failing.”
― Steven Magee

“I am the master of High Altitude Observatory Diseases.”
― Steven Magee

“It was clear that my long term survival was based on a thorough understanding of High Altitude Observatory Diseases.”
― Steven Magee

“It was through misfortune that I became the world’s leading expert on High Altitude Observatory Diseases.”
― Steven Magee

“It was through professional astronomy corruption that I became the world’s leading expert on High Altitude Observatory Diseases.”
― Steven Magee

“The second decade in high altitude professional astronomy is a very risky time for the biological functioning of a summit observatory worker.”
― Steven Magee

“I have a mind and body that is riddled with the long term effects of High Altitude Observatory Diseases, and that is a problem for professional astronomy.”
― Steven Magee

“High in the sky and low in the O.”
― Steven Magee

“The only workplace that prevented a health and safety visit from occurring during my career was professional astronomy. They were adamant that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) were not going to be allowed to visit the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, USA. They were successful in canceling the scheduled OSHA visit and the result was I became much sicker as time progressed while working there. Part of that sickness was suspected mercury poisoning.”
― Steven Magee, Magee’s Disease

“No training was given on what the pulse oximeter meter readings meant at the W. M. Keck Observatory atop Mauna Kea and how it can impact human health in the long term.”
― Steven Magee, Hypoxia, Mental Illness & Chronic Fatigue

“The biological science went against high altitude professional astronomy over a century ago.”
― Steven Magee

“You need attitude to research altitude!”
― Steven Magee

“It is time to end the willful incompetence regarding altitude sickness and shift work disorder in professional astronomy.”
― Steven Magee

“I was the manager of the world's largest telescopes.”
― Steven Magee