Bare-Faced Messiah (PDF) - Apologetics Index

which he believed would rid the world of drug addiction. His debut as an authority on the subject
was marked by the issue of a bulletin in which he warned about the effects of LSD and listed its
characteristics, as if after months of research. 'All the information came from one person who had
taken LSD once,' said Jim Dincalci. 'That was how he did his research.'[2]
At Hubbard's request, Dincalci put together the elements of the Purification Rundown, a regimen of
exercise, diet and vitamins designed to rid the body of toxic substances. Dincalci never thought of it
as much more than a simple plan for healthier living, but in the grand arena of the Commodore's
fantasies it was transformed into a sensational discovery, the instant solution to the international
drugs crisis, the salvation of the world's youth, a beacon of hope for drug addicts everywhere.
Strenuous attempts were made to provide scientific evidence to back up the vivifying claims made
for the Purification Rundown and Hubbard was so carried away by his own brilliance that he soon
began to dream of a suitable award for his contribution to humanity - a Nobel Prize, for example. He
issued a written order to Laurel Sullivan, his personal public relations officer, allocating 'unlimited
funds' to a project aimed at getting him a Nobel Prize and inquiries were immediately instituted to
see if there were any Scientology connections, or strings that could be pulled, with members of the
Nobel nominating committee.
Poor Mary Sue, meanwhile, was floundering in the aftermath of Operation Snow White. The real
problem was what do with Michael Meisner, who was growing restive as a fugitive and
disenchanted with the efforts of his superiors to resolve his quandary. At one point Mary Sue had
considered trying to make him the scapegoat, suggesting he had organized the burglaries in a fit of
jealous pique because his wife was doing better as a Scientologist than he was. Another
Guardian's Officer suggestion was that the authorities should be told that Meisner was trying to
blackmail the church.
After eight months on the run, moving from one secret address to another, Meisner threatened to
'blow'. He was immediately placed under guard. The fugitive had become a captive. On 20 June
1977, while being held at an apartment in Glendale, he gave his guards the slip, changed buses
twice to avoid pursuit and went into a bowling alley, from where he telephoned the FBI. He said he
wanted to give himself up.
Two days later, the Guardian's Office received a letter from Meisner, postmarked San Francisco,
saying that he was lying low for a while to think things over. This information was passed to Mary
Sue, who responded: 'I frankly would not waste Bur 1 [Bureau One, the GO investigative division]
resources looking for him, but would instead utilize resources to figure out a way to defuse him
should he turn traitor.'[3] It was too late. Meisner was already in Washington describing to
dumbfounded FBI agents the scope and success of Operation Snow White.
At six o'clock on the morning of 8 July 1977, 134 FBI agents armed with search warrants and
sledgehammers, simultaneously broke into the offices of the Church of Scientology in Washington
and Los Angeles and carted away 48,149 documents. They would reveal an astonishing
espionage system which spanned the United States and penetrated some of the highest offices in
the land.
Hubbard's reaction to the raid was true to form: he immediately assumed the Guardian's Office had
been penetrated by suppressives. It was clear to him he could now trust no one but the
messengers. He also realized that the documents seized by the FBI would inevitably implicate Mary
Sue in Operation Snow White and he was acutely aware of the need to put some distance between
himself and his wife.