The Road to Area 51

[n2doc]

APRIL 2009
Annie Jacobsen

Area 51. It's the most famous military institution in the world that doesn't officially exist. If it did, it would be found about 100 miles outside Las Vegas in Nevada's high desert, tucked between an Air Force base and an abandoned nuclear testing ground.

Then again, maybe not-- the U.S. government refuses to say. You can't drive anywhere close to it, and until recently, the airspace overhead was restricted--all the way to outer space. Any mention of Area 51 gets redacted from official documents, even those that have been declassified for decades.

It has become the holy grail for conspiracy theorists, with UFOlogists positing that the Pentagon reverse engineers flying saucers and keeps extraterrestrial beings stored in freezers. Urban legend has it that Area 51 is connected by underground tunnels and trains to other secret facilities around the country. In 2001, Katie Couric told Today Show audiences that 7 percent of Americans doubt the moon landing happened--that it was staged in the Nevada desert. Millions of X-Files fans believe the truth may be "out there," but more likely it's concealed inside Area 51's Strangelove-esque hangars--buildings that, though confirmed by Google Earth, the government refuses to acknowledge.

The problem is the myths of Area 51 are hard to dispute if no one can speak on the record about what actually happened there. Well, now, for the first time, someone is ready to talk--in fact, five men are, and their stories rival the most outrageous of rumors. Colonel Hugh "Slip" Slater, 87, was commander of the Area 51 base in the 1960s. Edward Lovick, 90, featured in "What Plane?" in LA's March issue, spent three decades radar testing some of the world's most famous aircraft (including the U-2, the A-12 OXCART and the F-117). Kenneth Collins, 80, a CIA experimental test pilot, was given the silver star. Thornton "T.D." Barnes, 72, was an Area 51 special-projects engineer. And Harry Martin, 77, was one of the men in charge of the base's half-million-gallon monthly supply of spy-plane fuels. Here are a few of their best stories--for the record:

On May 24, 1963, Collins flew out of Area 51's restricted airspace in a top-secret spy plane code-named OXCART, built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation. He was flying over Utah when the aircraft pitched, flipped and headed toward a crash. He ejected into a field of weeds.
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http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2009/04/road-to-area-51.html

[AndyA]

1. Well, I've been to Area 51. At least, on the road going to it.

It was years ago, it was a bright, hot, sunny day...but then aren't they all in the Nevada desert in July? We got the feeling we'd made a wrong turn or something, because the road was strangely quiet. Just as we'd decided to turn around, down the road a ways we could see another car heading toward us. We slowed down, hoping to flag them down to ask for directions.

As the car got closer, we pulled to a stop, and motioned for the other driver to slow down. They didn't.

And weren't we surprised to see when the other car--a black BMW convertible--passed by...none other than Ann Coulter behind the wheel! Little black cocktail dress, Adam's apple, and all!!!

Well, color me stunned. But as she raced by, she kept looking behind her, as if to see if she were being followed. Just a few seconds after she passed, from out of nowhere, came a flying saucer! A laser beam came down from the object and stalled Ann's car out, dead in the road.

As the saucer got closer, it began to lower itself toward the ground. About 20 feet up, a door on the bottom of the saucer opened and a bunch of boxes, suit cases, and the like were slowly lowered to the ground in a beam of light. As the goods touched the ground, the beam disappeared, and the door closed.

As the craft began to pull away from Earth, a loud voice was emitted from it. It said, "You forgot to take your shit. We never want to see it or the likes of you again. Don't try to make contact, we will not respond."

As the saucer sped away, the voice said, "And wash that dress, it's beginning to smell!"

:rofl:

:sarcasm:

[eppur_se_muova]

2. "A-12 OXCART" later morphed into the YF-12, M-21, and SR-71.

A-12 was the CIA's version.

[Heywood J]

3. Isn't that where they were developing weapons

to microwave the eyes and testicles of protesters?

[Odin2005]

4. Mu understanding is that the secrecy of Groom Lake AFB has to do with nuclear and...

...related stuff that probably wasn't totally legal or environmentally sound, hence the secrecy.