The Road to Area 51

[Are_grits_groceries]

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.

http://www.latimes.com/la-mag-april052009-backstory%2C0%2C786384.story

Hmmmmmmm... Truth or misdirection or both?

[and-justice-for-all]

1. I believe in UFOs...

just not the kind from outer space. I would not drive all the way to Cali just to drive around, so why would space beings come all this way and not make direct contact?

I think they are in fact military aircraft of some sort, but as much as I would like them to be Alien, I just cant come to that conclusion. UFO is a exalt cover for military experimental aircraft, dont ya think?

[zipplewrath]

2. It's about OXCART

These guys are talking about OXCART. That isn't necessarily everything that was going on there at the time. However, it is probably the basis of alot of what was coming out at that time for "UFO" sightings. I'm dubious that there is any active "misdirection" involved here because all of this is way in the past. What is telling is the process exposed here. Once sightings started, they start Project Bluebook to help cover it up. But they weren't telling folks in Bluebook what they were covering up, or even if they were. It appears misinformation was fed too Bluebook for them to use to document explanations. Once OXCART was finished, they shut down Bluebook.

[kentuck]

3. I got sidetracked on my way to California one time .....

and ended up on the road that goes thru Area 51. Anyone ever been by the Alie-Inn? But I did notice one thing unusual about the road. The heat waves off the road seem to move when your headlights hit them. I had never seen that before in the same way...

[Peace Patriot]

4. Figure this one out...

"Because OXCART had to refuel frequently, the CIA kept supplies at secret facilities around the globe. Martin often traveled to these bases for quality-control checks. He tells of preparing for a top-secret mission from Area 51 to Thule, Greenland. 'My wife took one look at me in these arctic boots and this big hooded coat, and she knew not to ask where I was going.'"

(SNIP)

"And the quintessential Area 51 conspiracy—that the Pentagon keeps captured alien spacecraft there, which they fly around in restricted airspace? Turns out that one's pretty easy to debunk. The shape of OXCART was unprece-dented, with its wide, disk-like fuselage designed to carry vast quantities of fuel. Commercial pilots cruising over Nevada at dusk would look up and see the bottom of OXCART whiz by at 2,000-plus mph. The aircraft's tita-nium body, moving as fast as a bullet, would reflect the sun's rays in a way that could make anyone think, UFO."

-------

One of the ways to expose a cover story is internal inconsistencies like this. Their flying-saucer-like 2,000 mph aircraft has to "refuel frequently," yet was shaped like it was (like a flying saucer) to accommodate "vast quantities of fuel." "Vast" quantities! Then, why did it need to "refuel frequently"?

The answer may be straightforward, and contained in details that are not provided in the article--for instance, that, even with "vast quantities of fuel" on board, it still had to re-fuel frequently to fly where it was flying--over Russia, over China. Since I don't know those details, I can't really judge how likely it is that this is some kind of cover story. But it certainly put my radar up.

I would tend toward the explanation that our government was doing or planning something truly awful against us earthlings, rather than toward the alien visitation hypothesis. However, I would put nothing past the U.S. government, as to evil schemes and massive coverups, including a coverup of the most important event in human history--alien contact--for the benefit of war profiteers.

[Javaman]

6. "Commercial pilots cruising over Nevada at dusk would look up and see the bottom of OXCART...

OXCART whiz by at 2,000-plus mph."

BS. most of Nevada is military controlled airspace. The state of Nevada is by capita one of the largest military controlled area of land in the US.

So if a commercial pilot claims he saw OXCART, it was because he was in violation of military airspace. I only know this because a very close buddy of mine worked in intel at Nellis AFB.

[Javaman]

5. I used to believe...

then I got tired of believing.

Now, I only believe when I think it's worth my time.

so...is it time to believe?

[Soylent Brice]

7. i'm mad at the aliens.

they should have either taken over us, or taken me away from here, long ago.

fuckers.