Some shady finagling of temperature data in Australia has scientists digging for answers. After initially recording a temperature of 13 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 Celsius) on July 2 in the city of Goulburn, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) tweaked and eventually erased the documentation, which was witnessed by meteorologist Lance Pidgeon. The recording was ultimately reinstated after the Bureau was alerted. However, its justification for erasing it at all doesn’t pass the smell test.

A BOM spokeswoman claims, “The bureau’s quality ­control system, designed to filter out spurious low or high values, was set at minus 10 minimum for Goulburn, which is why the record automatically adjusted.” In other words, there is a minimum-temperature threshold, meaning an anomalously low reading, by design, can’t easily be logged. In fairness, this technique can be excused on the fact that inaccurate readings do happen. But according to The Daily Caller, the Bureau is blaming faulty equipment, and “[a] similar failure wiped out a reading of 13 degrees Fahrenheit at Thredbo Top on July 16, even though temperatures at that station have been recorded as low as 5.54 degrees Fahrenheit.” Something doesn’t add up.

The Bureau absolves itself of any data tampering, though not everyone is buying it. And there’s plenty of reason for skepticism. As Hot Air’s Jazz Shaw writes, “Why would you automatically throw out a temperature that’s too low, particularly when it’s still higher than other low temps you’ve recorded in the region previously? Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep the recorded data, verify the calibration of the sensors and then pull the data if the equipment is found to be malfunctioning?”

It doesn’t help either that the climate agency already has a tarnished history. In 2014, it allegedly manufactured global warming by modifying temperature data. This installation of revisionist history comes straight from the playbook of the world’s more prestigious scientific organization. A recent study by Dr. James P. Wallace III, Dr. Joseph S. D'Aleo and Dr. Craig D. Idso attested to the fact that the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is systemically altering historical logs with the purpose of, like BOM is allegedly doing, manufacturing global warming.

Of course, the narrative is already established: Global temperatures are rising, therefore any anomalous decrease must be erroneous. Something tells us BOM isn’t so apprehensive when temperatures recordings are anonymously high.