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Area 51
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koala
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Joined: 12 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:54 pm    Post subject: Area 51 Reply with quote

Area 51 (currently known as Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3 and also known as Dreamland, Watertown Strip, Paradise Ranch, The Box, Groom Lake) is a remote tract of land in southern Nevada, owned by the United States Air Force, containing an airfield whose primary purpose is the secret development and testing of new military aircraft. It is famed as the subject of many UFO conspiracy theories.

Area 51 is a section of land of approximately 60 square miles (155 km²) in Lincoln County, Nevada, USA. It is part of the vast (4,687 square mile [12,139 km²]) Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The area consists largely of the wide Emigrant Valley, framed by the Groom and Papoose mountain ranges (to the North and South respectively) and the Jumbled Hills to the East. Between the two ranges lies Groom Dry Lake (37°16′05″N, 115°47′58″W), a dry alkali lake bed 3.67 miles long by 3.01 miles wide. A large air base exists on the southwest corner of the lake (37°14′N 115°48′W) with two concrete runways, one of which extends onto the lake bed, and four unpaved runways on the lake bed itself.

Geography
High-resolution satellite images have shed some light on the facility's complex runway layouts. Area 51 has two operating runways. The main runway is 14L/32R, a concrete runway constructed in the 1990s, measures 11,660 x 140 feet. The secondary, shorter runway is 14R/32L, which is 6,590 x 100 feet. It used to be longer, but the Northwest portion was decommissioned and is currently marked as not suitable for either runway or taxi operations. A third runway, 12/30, often doubles as a taxiway, and measures 5,340 x 140 feet. The dirt lakebed runways, comprising two twin airstrips, measure up to 11,270 feet (3435m.) in length, and 100 to 170 feet (30 to 52m.) in width.Area 51 shares a border with the Yucca Flats region of the Nevada Test Site (NTS), the location of many of the U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear weapons tests. The Yucca Mountain nuclear storage facility is approximately 40 miles (64km) southwest of Groom Lake.

The designation "Area 51" is somewhat contentious, appearing on older maps of the NTS but not newer ones, but the same naming scheme is used for other parts of the Nevada Test Site.

The area is connected to the internal NTS road network, with paved roads leading both to Mercury, to the northwest, and west to Yucca Flats. Leading northeast from the lake, Groom Lake Road (a wide, well-conditioned dirt road) runs through a pass in the Jumbled Hills. Groom Lake Road was formerly the track leading to mines in the Groom basin, but has been improved since their closure. Its winding course takes it past a security checkpoint, but the restricted area around the base extends further east than this (unauthorized visitors who travel west on Groom Lake Road are usually observed first by guards located on the hills surrounding the pass, still several miles from the checkpoint). After leaving the restricted area (marked by numerous warning signs stating that "photography is prohibited" and that "use of deadly force is authorized" under the terms of the 1950 McCarran Internal Security Act) Groom Lake Road descends eastward to the floor of the Tikaboo Valley, passing the dirt-road entrances to several small ranches, before joining with Nevada State Route 375, the "Extraterrestrial Highway", south of Rachel. By typing in Area 51 in Google Earth's searchbar, you can clearly

Operations at Groom Lake
Groom Lake is not a conventional airbase, and frontline units are not normally deployed there. It appears, rather, to be used during the development, test, and training phases for new aircraft. Once those aircraft have been accepted by the United States Air Force, operation of that aircraft is generally shifted to a normal air force base. Groom is reported, however, to be the permanent home for a small number of aircraft of Soviet design (obtained by various means). These are reportedly analyzed and used for training purposes.

Soviet spy satellites obtained photographs of the Groom Lake area during the height of the Cold War, but these support only modest conclusions about the base. They depict a nondescript base, airstrip, hangars, and so forth, but nothing that supports some of the wilder claims about underground facilities. Later, commercial satellite images show that the base has grown, but remains superficially unexceptional.

Senior Year/U-2 program
Groom Lake was used for bombing and artillery practice during World War II, but was then abandoned until 1955, when it was selected by Lockheed's Skunk Works team as the ideal location to test the forthcoming U-2 spy plane. The lakebed made for an ideal strip to operate the troublesome test aircraft from, and the Emigrant Valley's mountain ranges and the NTS perimeter protected the secret plane from curious eyes.

Lockheed constructed a makeshift base at Groom, little more than a few shelters and workshops and a small constellation of trailer homes in which to billet its small team. The first U-2 flew at Groom in August 1955, and U-2s under the control of the CIA began overflights of Soviet territory by mid-1956.

During this period, the NTS continued to perform a series of atmospheric nuclear explosions. U-2 operations throughout 1957 were frequently disrupted by the Plumbbob series of atomic tests, which blew up over two dozen devices at the NTS. The Plumbbob-Hood explosion on July 5 scattered fallout across Groom and forced its (temporary) evacuation.

As the U-2's primary mission was to overfly the Soviet Union, it operated largely from airbases near the Soviet border, including Incirlik in Turkey and Peshawar in Pakistan.

Blackbird programs: A-12 (OXCART); YF-12A; M/D-21 (TAGBOARD); and SR-71 (SENIOR CROWN)
Even before U-2 development was complete, Lockheed began work on its successor, the CIA's OXCART project, a Mach-3 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, a later variant of which became the famed USAF SR-71 Blackbird. The Blackbird's flight characteristics and maintenance requirements forced a massive expansion of facilities and runways at Groom Lake. By the time the first A-12 Blackbird prototype flew at Groom in 1962, the main runway had been lengthened to 8500ft. (2600m), and the base boasted a complement of over 1000 personnel. It had fueling tanks, a control tower, and a baseball diamond. Security was also greatly enhanced, the small civilian mine in the Groom basin was closed, and the area surrounding the valley was made an exclusive military preserve (where interlopers were subject to "lethal force"). Groom saw the first flight of all major Blackbird variants: A-12, SR-71, its abortive YF-12A interceptor variant, and the D-21 Blackbird-based drone project.

Have Blue/Senior Trend/F-117 program
The first Have Blue prototype stealth fighter (a smaller cousin of the F-117 Nighthawk which was commonly seen and reported as a "UFO"), first flew at Groom in late 1977. Testing of a series of ultra-secret prototypes continued there until mid-1981, when testing transitioned to the initial production of F-117 stealth fighters. In addition to flight testing, Groom performed radar profiling, F-117 weapons testing, and was the location for training of the first group of frontline USAF F-117 pilots. Subsequently, active-service F-117 operations (still highly classified) moved to the nearby Tonopah Test Range, and finally to Holloman Air Force Base.

Later operations
Since the F-117 became operational in 1983, operations at Groom Lake have continued unabated. The base and its associated runway system have been expanded, and the daily flights bringing civilian commuters from Las Vegas continue. Some commentators, after examining recent satellite photos of the base, estimate it to have a live-in complement of over 1000 people, with a similar number commuting from Las Vegas. In 1995, the federal government expanded the exclusionary area around the base to include nearby mountains that had hitherto afforded the only decent overlook of the base. Subsequently, limited views of the area are available only from the summits of several distant mountains, particularly Tikaboo Peak (37°20′40″N, 115°21′32″W), around 26 miles (42 km) to the east.

Aircraft that have supposedly been tested at Groom include the Northrop Tacit Blue stealth demonstrator, various classified UAVs, a small stealthy VTOL troop-transport aircraft, a stealthy cruise missile, the rumored Aurora hypersonic spy plane, a "Stealth Blimp", a secret USAF spaceplane codenamed Blackstar, and replacements for the SR-71 and F-117A.


Area 51 commuters
Defense contractor EG&G maintains a private terminal at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. A number of unmarked aircraft operate daily shuttle services from McCarran to sites operated by EG&G in the extensive federally controlled lands in southern Nevada. These aircraft reportedly use JANET radio call signs (e.g., "JANET 6"), said to be an acronym for "Joint Air Network for Employee Transportation" or (perhaps as a joke) "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal". EG&G advertises in the Las Vegas press for experienced airline pilots, saying applicants must be eligible for government security clearance and that successful applicants can expect to always stay overnight at Las Vegas. These aircraft, painted white with red trim (the livery of now defunct Western Airlines), include six Boeing 737s and several smaller turboprops. Their tail numbers are registered to the U.S. Air Force. They are reported to shuttle to Groom, Tonopah Test Range, to other locations in the NAFR and NTS, and reportedly to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake. Observers counting departures and cars in the private EG&G parking lot at McCarran estimate several thousand people commute on JANET each day. These shuttle flights were previously operated by Key Air. Key had flown 22,000 passenger trips on 300 flights from Nellis AFB to Tonopah Test Range per month from 1982 until early 1991.

A bus runs a commuter service along Groom Lake Road, catering to a small number of employees living in several small desert communities beyond the NTS boundary (although it is not clear whether these workers are employed at Groom or at other facilities in the NTS). The bus drives down Groom Lake Road and stops at Crystal Springs, Ash Springs, and Alamo, and parks in front of the Alamo court house overnight.

The Government's position on Area 51
The U.S. government does not explicitly acknowledge the existence of the Groom Lake facility, nor does it deny it. Unlike much of the Nellis range, the area surrounding the lake is permanently off-limits both to civilians and normal military air traffic. The area is protected by radar stations, and uninvited guests are met by helicopters and armed guards. Should they accidentally stray into the exclusionary "box" surrounding Groom's airspace, even military pilots training in the NAFR are reportedly interrogated extensively by military intelligence agents.

Perimeter security is provided by uniformed private security guards, called "camo dudes," working for EG&G's security subcontractor Wackenhut, who patrol in desert camouflage Jeep Cherokee and Hum-Vee vehicles, and more recently, champagne-colored Ford F-150 pickups and gray Chevy 2500 4X4 pickups. Although the guards are armed with M16s, no violent encounters with Area 51 observers have been reported; instead, the "camo dudes" generally follow visitors near the perimeter and radio for the Lincoln County sheriff. Deadly force is authorized if violators who attempt to breach the secured area fail to heed warnings to halt. Fines of around $600 seem to be the norm, although some visitors and journalists report receiving follow-up visits from FBI agents. Some observers have been detained on public land for pointing camera equipment at the base. Surveillance is also conducted using buried motion sensors and by HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters.


A montage of available USGS satellite photography showing southern Nevada. The NTS and the surrounding lands are visible; the NAFR and neighboring land has been removedThe base does not appear on public U.S. government maps; the USGS topological map for the area only shows the long-disused Groom Mine, and the civil aviation chart for Nevada shows a large restricted area, but defines it as part of the Nellis restricted airspace. Similarly the National Atlas page showing federal lands in Nevada does not distinguish between the Groom block and other parts of the Nellis range. Although officially declassified, the original film taken by U.S. Corona spy satellite in the 1960s has been altered prior to declassification; in answer to freedom of information queries, the government responds that these exposures (which map to Groom and the entire NAFR) appear to have been destroyed (Corona image). Terra satellite images (which were publicly available) were removed from webservers (including Microsoft's "Terraserver") in 2004 (Terraserver image), and from the monochrome 1 m resolution USGS datadump made publicly available. NASA Landsat 7 images are still available (these are used in the NASA World Wind). Non-U.S. images, including high-resolution photographs from Russian satellites and the commercial IKONOS system, are also easily available (and abound on the Internet). Perhaps the best, most detailed images widely available to the public exist on Google Earth, which shows in considerable detail the runway marking, base facilities, planes, and vehicles.


Extraterrestrial Highway signNevada's state government, recognizing the folklore surrounding the base might afford the otherwise neglected area some tourism potential, officially renamed the section of Nevada State Route 375 near Rachel "The Extraterrestrial Highway", and posted fancifully illustrated signs along its length.

Although federal property within the base is exempt from state and local taxes, facilities owned by private contractors are not. One researcher has reported that the base only declares a taxable value of $2 million to the Lincoln County tax assessor, who is unable to enter the area to perform an assessment.

Environmental lawsuit
In 1994, five unnamed civilian contractors and the widows of contractors Walter Kasza and Robert Frost sued the USAF and the Environmental Protection Agency. Their suit, in which they were represented by George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, alleged they had been present when large quantities of unknown chemicals had been burned in open pits and trenches at Groom. Biopsies taken from the complainants were analyzed by Rutgers University biochemists, who found high levels of dioxin, dibenzofuran, and trichloroethylene in their body fat. The complainants alleged they had sustained skin, liver, and respiratory injuries due to their work at Groom, and that this had contributed to the deaths of Frost and Kasza. The suit sought compensation for the injuries they had sustained, claiming the USAF had illegally handled toxic materials, and that the EPA had failed in its duty to enforce the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (which governs handling of dangerous materials). They also sought detailed information about the chemicals to which they alleged they had been exposed, hoping this would help the medical treatment of those still living. Congressman Lee H. Hamilton, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told 60 Minutes reporter Leslie Stahl "The Air Force is classifying all information about Area 51 in order to protect themselves from a lawsuit."

Citing the State Secrets Privilege, the government petitioned trial judge U.S. District Judge Philip Pro (sitting in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in Las Vegas) to disallow disclosure of classified documents or examination of witnesses on secret matters, alleging this would expose classified information and threaten national security. When Judge Pro rejected the government's argument, President Bill Clinton issued a Presidential Determination, exempting what it called, "The Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada" from environmental disclosure laws. Consequently, Pro dismissed the suit due to lack of evidence. Turley appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, on the grounds that the government was abusing its power to classify material. Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E. Widnall filed a brief which stated that disclosures of the materials present in the air and water near Groom, "Can reveal military operational capabilities or the nature and scope of classified operations." The Ninth Circuit rejected Turley's appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear it, putting an end to the complainants' case.

The President continues to annually issue a determination continuing the Groom exception. This, and similarly tacit wording used in other government communications, is the only formal recognition the U.S. Government has ever given that Groom Lake is more than simply another part of the Nellis complex.

1974 Skylab photography
In January of 2006, aviation journalist Dwayne Day published an article in online aerospace magazine The Space Review titled "Astronauts and Area 51: the Skylab Incident." The article was based around a recently declassified memo written in 1974 to CIA director William Colby by an unknown CIA official. The memo reported that astronauts on board Skylab 4 had, as part of larger program, inadvertently photographed a location of which the memo said "There were specific instructions not to do this. was the only location which had such an instruction." Although the name of the location was obscured, the context led Day to believe that the subject was Groom Lake.

The memo details debate between federal agencies regarding whether the images should (or indeed could) be classified, with Department of Defense agencies arguing that it should, and NASA and the State Department arguing against classification. The memo itself questions whether it was legal for images obtained by an unclassified program to be retroactively classified.

Remarks on the memo, handwritten apparently by DCI (Director of Central Intelligence) Colby himself, read:

He did raise it - said State Dept. people felt strongly. But he inclined leave decision to me (DCI) - I confessed some question over need to protect since:
USSR has it from own sats
What really does it reveal?
If exposed, don't we just say classified USAF work is done there?
The declassified documents do not disclose the outcome of the discussions regarding the Skylab imagery, but they were not placed in the National Archive at Sioux Falls, South Dakota along with the rest of the Skylab 4 photographs.

UFO and other conspiracy theories concerning Area 51
Its secretive nature and undoubted connection to classified aircraft research, together with reports of unusual phenomena, have led Area 51 to become a centerpiece of modern UFO and conspiracy theory. Some of the unconventional activities claimed to be underway at Area 51 include:

The storage, examination, and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft (including material supposedly recovered at Roswell), the study of their occupants (living and dead), and the manufacture of aircraft based on alien technology.
Meetings or joint undertakings with extraterrestrials.
The development of exotic energy weapons (for SDI applications or otherwise) or means of weather control.
The development of time travel technology.
Activities related to a supposed shadowy one world government.
Many of the theories concern underground facilities at Groom or at nearby Papoose Lake, and include claims of a transcontinental underground railroad system, a disappearing airstrip (nicknamed the "Cheshire Airstrip", after Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat) which briefly appears when water is sprayed onto its camouflaged asphalt, and engineering based on alien technology. In 1989, Bob Lazar claimed that he had worked at a facility at Papoose Lake (which he called S-4) on such a U.S. Government flying saucer.

One major theory is that Area 51 is a place which simulates the environment of the moon. In 2000-2001, Fox Television broadcast a show about Apollo moon landing hoax accusations, in which it was suggested that the whole moon landing in 1969 was a hoax and was filmed in parts of Area 51.


A screenshot of Victor's alien interrogation video.Others, however, claim that during the mid 1990s, the most secret work previously done at Groom was quietly moved to other facilities, including Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, and that the continued secrecy around Groom is largely a successful attempt at misdirection.

In July 1996, a man named Victor came forward and said on Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM radio show that he had a videotape of an alien interrogation. He said that he copied the tape and smuggled the copy out of Area 51. The video showed the head of an alien in a dark room, possibly using telepathy to communicate with military personnel and scientists.
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scar123



Joined: 17 Nov 2006
Posts: 32

PostPosted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow long story. Wink
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thecactus



Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 3196
Location: Northern Ireland

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yeah the alien interview was brilliant - i have it on dvd

you never mentioned s4 and bob lazar Shocked
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thecactus



Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 3196
Location: Northern Ireland

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

oops just realised you did briefly Shocked
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Agentscott



Joined: 08 Feb 2011
Posts: 1042
Location: Essex

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow Koala,
You sure did your homework here.
Keep up the good work.

If you love reserching all the lies floating around out there try The rendelsham incident, it's an incident where UFO's were seen over a couple of days by military personel at another not so secret base. One UFO landed in the surrounding woods.

This case is often refered to as "Englands Roswell" and is truly facinating.
If you want a quick run down on it heres a link to my favorite UFO site, this guy doesn't mess around he just gathers evidence.
Heres a link...
http://www.richplanet.net/detail.php?dbindex=41
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thecactus



Joined: 07 Mar 2011
Posts: 3196
Location: Northern Ireland

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 3:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Agentscott, If you love reserching all the lies floating around out there try The rendelsham incident

what do you mean researching all the lies?

many people believe rendelsham was for real


Shocked
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Agentscott



Joined: 08 Feb 2011
Posts: 1042
Location: Essex

PostPosted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry cactus, bad wording on my part, I ment all the lies and cover ups about the whole scene that have been feed to us.

It's real and did happen.
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D B Sweeney



Joined: 27 Aug 2010
Posts: 2842
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland

PostPosted: Sun Mar 13, 2011 5:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I saw the Alien shortly after the interview, I think he was on Xtraterrestrial Factor or it could have been Area 51's got talent Very Happy

DB
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thecactus



Joined: 07 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

D B Sweeney, or it could have been a mirror Laughing

only joking Wink
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