美國達格威生物實驗室 The US Top-Secret Bio-weapons Lab

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最近，美國生物實驗室再度引起大家的好奇，生物實驗室的作用是什麼？今天一起走進達格威實驗室，這裡曾經是絕對的軍事禁區。達格威實驗室是一座龐大的軍事基地，主要擔負各種化學、生物、放射性、進階爆炸武器的生産、殺傷、防護、試驗等相關工作。

In 1968, about 6,000 sheep died near this government facility.

1968年，這處政府機構附近有大約6000隻綿羊死亡。

They were poisoned by a chemical weapon named VX. The US hasn't been known to actively use VX in combat.

它們是被一種名為VX的化學武器毒死的。外界并不知道美國在戰争中會主動使用VX。

In fact, it's begun destroying its stockpile of chemical munitions as part of a UN treaty.

事實上，作為一份聯合國條約的部分内容，美國已開始着手銷毀其化學彈藥庫存。

But it's just one of many strange and secretive experiments that happened within these walls.

但這隻是隐藏在這些牆壁後衆多奇怪而神秘的實驗之一。

Experiments on sheep, mosquitoes, and even civilians.

這裡有針對綿羊，蚊子，甚至平民進行的實驗。

About 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City is the US government's top-secret bioweapons lab.

美國政府的絕密生物武器實驗室位于鹽湖城西南約85英裡處。

It's called the Dugway Proving Ground.

它就是達格威試驗場。

The 77-year-old facility covers about 800,000 acres.

這處有着77年曆史的機構占地約80萬英畝。

That's just a little larger than the entire state of Rhode Island.

比整個羅德島州稍微大一點。

And it tests some of the deadliest chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive hazards on Earth.

它對地球上最緻命的一些化學、生物、放射性和爆炸性危險品進行測試。

Less famous than Area 51, Dugway dates all the way back to 1942.

達格威的知名度不及51區，但它的曆史可以一直追溯到1942年。

Right in the middle of World War II. The decisive battle of war has begun.

當時正處在第二次世界大戰期間。決戰已經打響。

The government needed a large area to test powerful weapons, eventually settling on this stretch of land in the Utah desert.

政府需要一個空曠的區域來測試威力巨大的武器，最終選址在猶他沙漠中的這塊區域。

Back then, the site was used to test everything from chemical sprays and flamethrowers to various antidotes and protective equipment, and even fire-bombing.

當時，這個地方被用來測試各種各樣的東西，從化學噴霧和火焰噴射器到各種解毒劑和防護裝置，甚至是燃燒彈。

After World War II, Dugway mostly shut down.

二戰後，達格威大部分的設施都關閉了。

Until the Korean War began in 1950.

直到1950年北韓戰争爆發。

That's when the proving ground turned into what it is today: a permanent military base.

就從那時起，試驗場變成了今天的樣子：一個永久性的軍事基地。

In Dugway's first few decades, the base worked mostly on offensive weaponry: biological and chemical munitions designed to directly attack enemies.

在達格威建立的最初幾十年裡，該基地主要研究攻擊性武器:用于直接攻擊敵人的生物和化學武器。

Sampling devices, positioned throughout the test area, yield valuable information to chemical core researchers.

取樣裝置遍布整個測試區，為核心化學研究員提供有價值的資訊。

The 1950s, for example, saw the launch of Operation Big Itch, an experiment that was testing weaponized fleas.

例如，在20世紀50年代啟動了“巨癢行動”，這是一個把跳蚤武器化的實驗。

The fleas weren't infected with any type of disease or agent, but experimenters were working with thousands of them.

這些跳蚤沒有感染任何類型的疾病或病原體，但實驗人員對數千隻跳蚤進行了研究。

And the fleas were dropped in cluster bombs, to gauge if they would survive the fall from an airplane.

并且将這些跳蚤放入集束炸彈中，以測試把它們從飛機上扔下去後能否存活。

And this was only part one.

而這隻是實驗的第一部分。

Dugway launched a second experiment, called Project Bellwether, in the 1960s.

達格威在20世紀60年代啟動了名為“領頭羊計劃”的第二次實驗。

Only this time, mosquitoes were injected with inert diseases, inert bacteria, and inert viruses.

僅僅這次實驗中，蚊子被注射了惰性疾病、惰性細菌和惰性病毒。

But get this.

但請注意這點。

Those mosquitoes were released upon several groups of human volunteers.

這些蚊子被放到幾組人類志願者身上。

Who were bitten again and again during the trials.

他們在試驗中被叮咬了一次又一次。

And there are records dating back to the late 1950s, which describe experiments that used infected mosquitoes.

還有一些記錄可以追溯到20世紀50年代末，描述了使用受感染的蚊子進行的實驗。

And those are just two experiments known to the public.

而隻有這兩次實驗是對外界公開的。

Exactly what goes on at Dugway is, well, pretty unclear.

在達格威到底發生了什麼無人知曉。

And that's not by accident.

這并非偶然。

The area is intensely guarded.

該區域戒備森嚴。

Everything that comes in and out is carefully monitored,

所有進出的物品都被仔細盤查，

guards are on constant patrol and actively armed, and the perimeter is lined with tall, barbed-wire fencing.

全副武裝的警衛們不間斷巡邏，周圍還築有很高的帶刺鐵絲圍欄。

There are even signs that authorize "deadly force" when necessary.

甚至有迹象表明，在必要時被授權使用“緻命武器”。

Since the 1940s, officials say operations have shifted from offensive to defensive tactics.

官員們表示，自20世紀40年代以來，軍事行動已經從進攻戰術轉變為防守戰術。

Case in point, most of the current known work prepares agents to defend against potential biological and chemical attacks.

舉個例子，目前大多數已知的工作都是準備用藥劑來抵禦潛在的生物和化學攻擊。

For example, a multitude of training programs are held on-site for the armed forces.

例如，在現場為武裝部隊開設大量的訓練科目。

Here's one in which Army Reserve soldiers are tasked with checking the radiation levels of artillery rounds.

其中，陸軍預備役士兵的任務是檢查炮彈的輻射水準。

And here's another where soldiers were tasked with identifying substances in a simulated chemical lab.

而另一隊士兵的任務是在模拟的化學實驗室裡識别物質成分。

Dugway's main operations include the "BRAUCH" training facility, constructed from various shipping containers.

達格威主要運作的是包括由各種集裝箱建造而成“BRAUCH”教育訓練設施。

It simulates underground environments for military training.

它模拟地下環境中進行的軍事訓練。

There are also various buildings and rooms that serve specific purposes.

還有用于特地目的的各種建築物和房間。

Like the decontamination testing chamber, the wind-tunnel testing room, and the material test facility.

如去污試驗室、風洞試驗室以及材料測試場等。

But perhaps the most interesting room of all is this: the Smartman Laboratory facility, which houses the Smartman dummy, a model that's used to simulate human contact with chemical agents, including the infamous VX nerve agent.

但最有趣的房間也許是這個:智人實驗室設施，這裡面裝配了智人的人形模型，用于模拟人類與化學制劑的接觸，包括臭名昭著的VX神經毒劑。

Specifically, the Smartman helps the lab develop more effective individual protection respiratory equipment, essentially gas masks and the like.

具體來說，智人幫助實驗室開發更有效的個人防護呼吸裝置，主要是防毒面具等。

A variety of chemists, chemical analysts, and technicians work on-site.

在現場工作的是各種化學家、化學分析師和技術人員。

And the use of airtight chambers and gas masks is not only common but mandatory.

使用密閉室和防毒面具不僅很常見，而且是強制性的。

Despite all of this dangerous experimentation, the work done at Dugway hasn't always been properly contained.

盡管進行的都是危險實驗，但達格威的安防工作并不是萬無一失。

Remember that sheep incident?

還記得綿羊事件嗎?

That marked the start of a worrisome track record.

它開啟了一個令人不安的備忘錄。

It happened when overhead planes spewed out the nerve agent into the wind, accidentally sending it into nearby farmland in Skull Valley.

事故發生時，空中的飛機将神經毒劑噴射到風中，結果被意外吹入了斯卡爾瓦利附近的農田。

Within the next couple of days, farmers found thousands of sheep dead in their fields.

在接下來的幾天裡，農民們發現上千隻羊死在田地裡。

The Army compensated the farmers and lent them bulldozers to bury the sheep.

軍方對農民進行了補償，并借給他們推土機來掩埋死羊。

But the accident sparked a whole debate on the use of chemical weapons in warfare.

但這次事故引發了一場關于在戰争中使用化學武器的争論。

Adding on to these questionable practices,

除了這些可疑的做法外，

a 1994 Senate hearing on veterans' health-focused specifically on Dugway veterans and civilians.

1994年，參議院就榮民健康問題舉行的聽證會還對達格威的榮民和平民給與了特别關注。

A report found that people at Dugway were exposed to biological and chemical simulants believed to be safe at the time but that the Army had later stopped using many of them because "they realized they were not as safe as previously believed."

一份報告發現，達格威的人員接觸了當時被認為是安全的生物和化學模拟物，但後來其中大部分遭到了陸軍的棄用，因為“他們意識到，它們并不像之前認為的那樣安全。”

One veteran, who was accidentally sprayed in the face with the chemical DMMP in 1984, found himself wheezing and coughing the next day, symptoms that ended up lasting several weeks.

1984年，一名榮民不小心把名為DMMP的化學物質噴到臉上，第二天就發現自己開始氣喘和咳嗽，症狀持續了數周。

Despite this, he was given only cough medicine and antibiotics by the Dugway Army Hospital.

盡管如此，達格威陸軍醫院隻給他開了咳嗽藥和抗生素。

The Dugway Safety Office assured him that the chemical was safe.

達格威安全事務辦公室向他保證該化學品是安全的。

But by 1988, officials at Dugway had reevaluated the simulant's danger and were concerned it could cause cancer and kidney damage.

但到了1988年，達格威實驗室的官員重新評估了該模拟裝置的危險性，并擔心它會導緻癌症和腎髒損傷。

In 2011, the facility slipped up again: It went on lockdown after workers lost a vial containing the VX nerve agent.

2011年，該設施再次出現纰漏：勞工遺失了一個裝有VX神經毒劑的小瓶，之後那裡就被封鎖了。

Nobody was permitted to enter or exit the facility, not even the employees.

不允許任何人進出，甚至員工也不行。

And in 2016, the CDC and the Department of Defense launched a major investigation when a review team found that Dugway had been operating dangerously for several years without the government's knowledge.

2016年，疾控中心和國防部啟動了一項重大調查，因為一個審查小組發現，達格威在政府不知情的情況下已經危險地運作了好幾年。

USA Today reported "egregious failures" by the facility's leadership and staff.

《今日美國》報道了該機構的上司層和從業人員的“嚴重失誤”。

The reports singled out the head colonel in command at Dugway, Brig. Gen. William King.

報告中特别提到了達格威的總司令威廉·金準将。

The Army's accountability investigation recognized King as unqualified, lacking the education and training to effectively oversee biosafety procedures crucial to Dugway's operation.

陸軍的問責調查認為金十分不稱職，他在有效監督生物安全性流程方面接受的教育和教育訓練十分匮乏，而這對達格威的運作至關重要。

The report admonished him, saying he "repeatedly deflected blame" and "minimized the severity of incidents." It even says King "fails to recognize" how serious the incidents truly were.

該報告譴責他，稱他“一再推卸責任”，并“大事化小，小事化了”。它甚至說，金“沒有認識到”事件的嚴重性。

And how serious were the incidents, exactly?

事态到底有多嚴重?

Well, under King's command, the facility mistakenly shipped live anthrax to other labs.

在金的指揮下，該機構将活炭疽病毒誤送到了其它實驗室。

And not just once, but multiple times.

這種事還不止出現了一次，而是多次發生。

For over a decade.

在十多年間。

That same report revealed that workers had been regularly and deliberately manipulating data in important records.

同一份報告顯示，從業人員經常故意篡改重要記錄中的資料。

Records meant to verify that pathogens being transported elsewhere were killed and safe for researchers to handle without protective gear.

這些記錄是為了核實被運送到其它地方的病原體是否被滅殺，以及研究人員在沒有防護裝備的情況下處理這些病原體是否安全。

Still, the facility's shady past, secretive operations, and intense surveillance have captured the attention, and skepticism, of some closer observers, including several conspiracy-theorist groups.

盡管如此，該機構不光彩的過去、秘密的運作和嚴密的監控，已經引起了一些密切觀察人士的注意和懷疑，其中包括幾個陰謀論組織。

There are suggestions that the facility is the "new Area 51." And the local community has raised their own questions about the facility's operations.

有人說該機構是“新51區”。當地社群也對其運作提出了自己的質疑。

Dugway was even featured in an episode of The History Channel's "UFO Hunters," in which local residents and UFO watchers were interviewed and footage from the area was examined.

達格威甚至還出現在曆史頻道的“UFO獵人”節目，節目采訪了當地居民和UFO觀察者，并查閱了該地區的視訊資料。

It's hard not to wonder, when you live in close proximity to such a restricted landscape.

生活在這樣一個禁區附近，讓人很難不去多想。

Despite these theories, Dugway has expressed a desire to be "more transparent." And representatives have said the facility wants to be "more a part of the local community" by better-informing citizens about what exactly goes on there.

盡管有這些傳聞，達格威還是表達了希望變得“更透明”的意願。其代表表示，該機構希望通過更好地向群眾通報那裡的具體情況，進而“更好的融入當地社群”。

So far, they've delivered some on that.

到目前為止，他們已經通報了一些。

The facility has its own events page, which lists several events open to the general public and the local Utah community.

該機構有自己的要聞網頁，其中列出了對公衆和當地猶他州社群開放的幾項活動。

This year, they're hosting a trail race on the facility grounds.

今年，他們将在場地内舉辦一場越野賽。

Certainly, today's Dugway is a far cry from the 1940s Dugway, which was entirely closed off to the public.

當然，今天的達格威已與20世紀40年代的相去甚遠，當時完全與世隔絕。

But despite the shift in the level of secrecy, much of Dugway's testing remains classified, preserving the skepticism and mysteriousness surrounding the facility.

但是，盡管保密程度發生了很大變化，但達格威的大部分測試仍然屬于機密，這使得籠罩在該機構上的疑雲和神秘色彩依然揮之不去。