We discovered that entire sections describing domestic U.S. intelligence facilities were deliberately removed from two published documents, while equivalent foreign facilities remained visible. The evidence exists in an unexpected place - the PDF metadata of documents published by The Intercept in 2016, and by The Intercept and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in a 2017 collaborative investigation. To our knowledge, this is the first time this information has been revealed publicly. The removed sections reveal the operational designations and cover name structure for domestic U.S. NRO Mission Ground Stations.

Using PDF analysis tools, we found hidden text embedded in the metadata versioning of two documents published alongside investigative stories about NSA satellite surveillance facilities. These metadata artifacts prove that earlier versions of the documents contained detailed descriptions of domestic U.S. ground stations that were systematically scrubbed before publication (not just redacted with black boxes, but with text completely removed).

What was published from the Snowden documents:

• Operational details for RAF Menwith Hill Station (UK)
• Operational details for Pine Gap (Australia)

What was removed from the published documents:

• Potomac Mission Ground Station (PMGS) - Washington, DC. Public cover name: “Classic Wizard Reporting and Testing Center” (CWRTC).
• Consolidated Denver Mission Ground Station (CDMGS) - Denver area. Public cover name: “Aerospace Data Facility” (ADF).

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