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Massive stolen telescope back with Oregon family; deputies seek thief

The family inspected the damage and said Big Blue is salvageable. It will require repairs before it can be used again.

YAMHILL COUNTY, Ore. — A giant, blue telescope worth about $15,000 is back in the hands of its rightful owners after being stolen last week from an Oregon couple.

Forrest Babcock and his wife Janet Zuelke live in Carlton, a town in Yamhill County. Someone stole the trailer containing their special telescope and several others on March 11 from rural Washington County.

On Wednesday, a passerby spotted the trailer backed into a tree and abandoned on Southwest Peavine Road near the 3.5 mile marker, east of Gopher Valley Road. Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Sam Elliott responded to the call.

"I knew before I even got up there," Elliott said.

Elliott discovered the giant telescope aptly nicknamed "Big Blue" still inside. Other items were missing, including a smaller Unitron telescope.

The family inspected the damage Thursday and said Big Blue is salvageable. It will require repairs before it can be used again.

Zuelke got the news of the trailer's recovery a night before the family could pick it up at a tow yard.

"We were like a couple of little kids who woke up on Christmas morning," she described.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the couple took the telescope on the road to wineries, empty lots and schools, giving kids and adults in rural Oregon a window to outer space.

Babcock has a passion for telescopes and astronomy.

"I worked on that telescope for 48 years," he said.

Big Blue is the centerpiece of a bigger dream to build the Carlton Observatory, a science center focused on astronomy. With the telescope back, fundraising and development efforts can continue.

"The opportunities that would have been lost from the impact and inspiration that this telescope represented ... You can't put a price on that," Zuelke said.

RELATED: 'I worked on that telescope for 48 years': Massive, custom-built telescope stolen in Washington County

The owners describe Big Blue as an ambassador for their efforts to provide science education.

"People who look through this telescope think of it as almost their own," Zuelke said. "And if you ever looked through and saw the rings of Saturn for the first time, it's a visceral feeling ... It affects you. You remember it."

She said thousands of people reached out from around the Pacific Northwest when the telescope was stolen, asking for updates and ways to help.

"The amount of interest is pretty amazing," Sgt. Elliott said. "Just a reminder that we're all working together on the same mission." 

"We're over the moon, if you will," Zuelke laughed.

The Yamhill County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate fingerprints and other evidence left behind at the stolen trailer. Anyone in the area who saw someone with it is asked to call 503-434-7506.

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