The series began its documentation in Clearwater, Fla., where the church has used a front organization to purchase, as its East Coast headquarters, the city's then 50-year-old, 272-room landmark, the majestic Fort Harrison Hotel, for $2.3 million in cash money.

In the early months, the church even posted guards dressed in black at virtually every turn -- each armed with Mace and a billy club.

As Clearwater's mayor, Gabe Casares, told me at the time, "My city has been invaded by aliens involved in psycho-terrorism.

"They can sue me to hell and back," he said. "I don't know of any religion that sanctions lying, cheating, and intimidation as part of its doctrinal tenets, (and so) I question them being recognized as a religion.

"And why would an organization that professes to be a religious organization based on love and trust require so many guards?

"It's an armed camp."

In the lead-up to the series, and in the wake of its publication, a number of strange things happened, and that's besides the church attempting to get a court injunction to stop publication, as well as the resulting lawsuits which had the church predictably suing the Sun for libel, and me suing the church for invasion of privacy.

The extensive Scientology file in the Sun's library suddenly went missing from its lock up, and so too did the Scientology file and Scientology-related documents at the Sun's law firm, Goodmans.