[3] According to MIRA astronomer Arthur Babcock, during the early 1970s, as "the glory days of space exploration were winding down", the scientists wanted a place where they could do long range research without the "demanding cycle of academia" and constant publishing.

They knew that mountain ranges "along the west coast of a continent", where the air was smooth from the ocean, "resulted in small sharp star images".

Over the next couple of years, the Case students completed their doctorates, moved to Monterey County, and took part-time jobs in the area, in order to make a down payment on 80 acres (32 ha) in Cachagua Valley, near the Carmel foothills.

[3] Bruce Weaver recounts that the formation of the Friends of MIRA happened in September 1978 "when 80 people assembled in Ansel Adams' house.

"[2] The influence of Bok and the nearness of Lick Observatory allowed MIRA to "receive a $76,000 grant from the Research Corporation ... to build a telescope around the 36-inch mirror".

[8] The 5-year mission of MIRA in its beginning was to do a "spectral and photometric study of the brightest 125,000 stars in the northern sky", which was meant to "yield the data base for a generation of astronomers".

[9] Using a tool attached to their research telescope, MIRA has discovered in 2022 that the star Beta Crucis is fourteen times larger than the Sun and about eleven million years old.

Its research observatory is in the remote Los Padres National Forest, roughly half-way between the unincorporated settlement of Jamesburg and the Tassajara Zen monastery.

[11] The MIRA research observatory is the Bernard M. Oliver Observing Station, and is located on Chews Ridge in the Los Padres National Forest at 36°18′20″N 121°34′00″W / 36.30556°N 121.56667°W / 36.30556; -121.56667.

Chews Ridge was chosen for its cool weather and "steady airflow off the cold Pacific Ocean" giving astronomers "clear nights and sharp images".

The Chews Ridge area is littered with gun shells, so the designers felt it was important that the building be bullet-proof, and have angled windows to prevent a direct view of the inside.

[3] The observatory houses a computer-controlled 36 inch Cassegrain telescope equipped with Spectrographs,[12] one of two copies of the world's most precise astronomical polarimeter, HIPPI-2,[13] and direct cameras.