Area 51 is real!

The govt finally admitted it's existence and here are a few insider stories with many more to come.

http://www.latimes.com/features/la-mag-april052009-backstory,0,3355162.story

Umm... it really wasn't a secret that it existed. It's on aviation charts as restricted airspace, and we know exactly where those borders are. And obviously they did secret things there.

Now exactly what those secret things are, I wouldn't exactly expect the government to want to share. If they did, they wouldn't actually be secrets.

I mean... what was actually revealed here? Was it a secret that it's official name was "Area 51"? If that's the case... why does EVERYONE know that it was called Area 51?

That and a tidbit of Project OXCART, a topic that I foresee a Feature Film being made of.

The FOX News vid had one of the guys saying 'Yeah, we were probably responsible for at least 90% of the UFO sightings in the US'. He was referring to the A-12 OXCART testing; over 2000 MPH, 90,000 feet, shiny titanium shell.

you can google earth/google map directions to Area 51 as well.

Not surprising really, the F22 and B2 were flying long before they were made public. Both generated lots of UFO sightings. Heck, the SR-77 was classified for years and how many stories did we hear about their strange exhausts? At the Air Force Museum in Dayton OH they have developmental unmanned stealth planes on display. If I saw one of those suckers flying overhead at night, I would swear it was a UFO!

Any of you guys ever read that book "Above Top Secret"? That started my interest in Area 51.

OXCART. I bet that did spook a few pilots.

There are squadron patches for area 51 units as well.

If anybody scores one of these, I'll gladly trade a V22 Test & Eval, HMX-1, or Executive Flight Detachment patch...

Aircraft test and evaluation takes place there all the time, and not just for super exotic secret squirrel stuff, either. I would have liked to have spent some time at Groom Lake, but was stuck doing sea trials instead.

Forget Area 51, the cool stuff is in Chyanne Mountain, SG1 FTW

Well, since we're on the subject of Top Secret military stuff & tinfoil hats, I'll pass along a story I heard from a former coworker.

He had been stationed with the Air Force at(the now decomissioned Channute AFB in Rantoul, IL). Channute was the training site for ICBM techs BITD, including a dummy silo housed within a hangar. This is all part of their museum, which is now open to the public, FWIW.

There is another large building on base, Grissom Hall, which was the largest military building in existance, before the Pentagon was built. Grissom Hall is built in the shape of a large, almost triangular, trapezoid and has a large open courtyard in the middle. It's only 3 or 4 stories tall, but does have multiple basements, too.

Anyway, the story is this guys friend worked in electronics for the security department on bas, and as such had pretty high clearance. Supposedly, Grissom Hall went deep underground, and housed a FULLY LIVE ICBM silo/missle for training purposes, but everything was kept super hush-hush, due to treaties, etc.

Adding supposed credibility to the story, is the fact that Grissom Hall was the last building on base turned over to the public, several years after the base had closed. During that time, the building had fallen into disrepair, and the pumps had been powered off, allowing everything below the 2nd basement to flood. Compounding the issue, the entire building is full of asbestos, which pretty much prevented it from being bought & used from a cost standpoint(at one point, IIRC it was available for $16,000 or some absurdly low price for a really, really long time.

OK, you can all take off your tinfoil hats now.

Where are Areas 1-50?

That's still top secret, they are declassifying from the top down

petegossett wrote: Well, since we're on the subject of Top Secret military stuff & tinfoil hats, I'll pass along a story I heard from a former coworker. He had been stationed with the Air Force at(the now decomissioned Channute AFB in Rantoul, IL). Channute was the training site for ICBM techs BITD, including a dummy silo housed within a hangar. This is all part of their museum, which is now open to the public, FWIW. There is another large building on base, Grissom Hall, which was the largest military building in existance, before the Pentagon was built. Grissom Hall is built in the shape of a large, almost triangular, trapezoid and has a large open courtyard in the middle. It's only 3 or 4 stories tall, but does have multiple basements, too. Anyway, the story is this guys friend worked in electronics for the security department on bas, and as such had pretty high clearance. Supposedly, Grissom Hall went *deep* underground, and housed a FULLY LIVE ICBM silo/missle for training purposes, but everything was kept super hush-hush, due to treaties, etc. Adding supposed credibility to the story, is the fact that Grissom Hall was the last building on base turned over to the public, several years after the base had closed. During that time, the building had fallen into disrepair, and the pumps had been powered off, allowing everything below the 2nd basement to flood. Compounding the issue, the entire building is full of asbestos, which pretty much prevented it from being bought & used from a cost standpoint(at one point, IIRC it was available for $16,000 or some absurdly low price for a really, really long time. OK, you can all take off your tinfoil hats now.

That's crazy, I've autocrossed a ton of times in Rantoul and been in one or two buildings but had no idea about that one. I honestly don't recall seeing that particular building but so much of the air base is blocked off still I believe. Not too mention it's kind of creepy and Rantoul is more or less a sh*thole with a lot of gang problems.

I think i found the oversize Jason Statham mask on that page way more entertaining.

ChesterRumble wrote: That's crazy, I've autocrossed a ton of times in Rantoul and been in one or two buildings but had no idea about that one. I honestly don't recall seeing that particular building but so much of the air base is blocked off still I believe. Not too mention it's kind of creepy and Rantoul is more or less a sh*thole with a lot of gang problems.

Oh, you drove right past it then! If you were leaving the autox course & followed the chain-link fence straight out until you got to the stopsign(which forces you to turn either left or right about 45*)that huge building in front of you that takes up most of the block is Grissom Hall.

And yeah, lotsa gangs & lotsa rednecks.

Tim Baxter wrote: Where are Areas 1-50?

They are no more. Intially the Atomic Energy Commision claimed huge tracts in Utah and Nevada desert for testing. Areas 1-50, as well as areas 52 and beyond were part of that now defunct program. The test pilots found that site and took Area 51 from the AEC.

FYI, no where in that article does it say the goverment is admitting to anything, its just a couple of old test pilots and techs talking about it.

For a really excellent book on the Groom Lake/Area 51 facility, find a copy of Dark Eagles: A History of Top Secret US Aircraft Programs by Curtis Peebles. It was published in 1995 and is a no-BS description of "black" aircraft programs from the early days up through about 1990. Lots of details about the development of the U2 (one of the first tested mostly at Groom Lake), tons on Oxcart/SR-71/A-12/YF-12, F-117, etc. Nothing on little green men, but you do get the real story of "Area 51". Satellite photos have been available for years.

Also tells a lot of the lore, like where the term "dreamland" came from. An excellent read, try interlibrary loan or maybe Abe Books. If you're not a Kelly Johnson fan already, you will be after reading this book. The guy would have been super in F1!

Let's not get into Roswell - I lived there for 20 years. I met some of the older residents who were there in 1947. With Holloman AFB just over in Alamogordo we'd see pairs of F-117s flying over every day, and boy, did they look wierd in the mid-1980s! At a local air show one year one was on display (kinda creepy to see armed guards standing around within the roped-off area posted with signs stating Deadly Force Authorized). One Korean vet was looking at the plane and said to his wife, "If I hadn't seen 'em land it yesterday I'da swore they had to bring it in on a truck. That thing can't fly."

Tim Baxter wrote: Where are Areas 1-50?

That's where they developed WD-1 through 39 and Formula 1 through 408.

jg

FYI, I just checked over at Abe Books, and the book Dark Eagles is typically selling for about $5 delivered - and that's a steal for anyone who is really interested in leading-edge design or the Lockheed Skunk Works. Two thumbs up!!

Area 51 is just smoke and mirrors to distract the general public away from their real top secret facility. Some say the Stig is the only known mammal outside the US gov't to know it's exact location.

UFO files/hunters on history chanel was saying that Wright-Patterson AFB has some massive underground complexes and is more likely the have been where "Roswel" stuff was sent off to. IIRC thats where they tested the Post WW2 saucer designs.

neon4891 wrote: UFO files/hunters on history chanel was saying that Wright-Patterson AFB has some massive underground complexes and is more likely the have been where "Roswel" stuff was sent off to. IIRC thats where they tested the Post WW2 saucer designs.

I've heard many similar stories. I went to Wright State University, about 1/2 mile from WPAFB, and worked in Fairborn, next to the base. I've heard many first-hand stories, most of which had secrets that couldn't be told.

neon4891 wrote: Forget Area 51, the cool stuff is in Chyanne Mountain, SG1 FTW

Hell yeah, my brother has clearance three levels above top secret but he won't tell me where the stargate really is.