Heard of the Big Ears in Leuk, Canton Valais, or maybe of Edward Snowden?

Driving in the Canton Valais direction Sion, in Leuk, you will pass by a field of big white antennas, impossible to miss.

These, are the antennas of Leuk. Or, how the French say “les grandes oreilles de Loeche”, the Big Ears of Leuk. Why ears? That’s where it gets interesting.

There are different things said about what the antennas are used for and their exact use is unclear to the public. Most information will say its owned partially by the Swiss military and partially by a German run private company working with the Americans. Then again some say its where missiles are released from in case of any attack on Switzerland...

In a few words:

∞ There’s a bunch of antennas up on the mountain in Leuk, Canton Valais.

∞ A few of them are owned by the Swiss military. The Swiss use them for governmental use.

∞ Then there’s a lot more, like 50 antennas used from Signalhorn which is a private communication network provider company.

∞ Remember the scandal in 2013, the revelations of Edward Snowden involving the NSA? Tapping phones, highlighting the non-secure surveillance of your communication. Well it was that scandal which got people to speak about the actual use of these antennas. I let you do the math here.

Nowadays, it’s hard to believe anything, so it’s great that there are different theories to read about, to be able to visit the place and then form your own personal opinion.

One thing is for sure, the installation of these antennas are strikingly impressive to look at! Do you also get that extremely creepy feeling when standing in front of massive container ships? Well that’s kind of a similar feeling.

Sending you lots of love,

Enjoy!