AREA 51... GROOM LAKE ... DREAMLAND

Area 51 is located in Nevada, taking up the kind of acreage that a small country would be proud of, and in fact is the size of Switzerland. Until recently, according to official U.S. statements, it didn’t actually exist. Unofficially it is an operational testing range for the cutting edge technological developments of America’s armed forces.  The facilities centred around the Groom Lake area are amongst the most secretive in the world, requiring a level of security so remarkable that Area 51 has become a modern day myth in its own right.

Access to the base is by authorised personnel only, via a daily shuttle where at least 500 people arrive at the guarded terminal owned by EG&G on the northwest side of McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here they board one of a small fleet of unmarked Boeing 737-200s. Using three digit numbers prefixed by the word "Janet" as their call signs, the 73s fly off North every half hour.  There is no perimeter fence, just a vast mileage of desert in all directions inaccessible to the public.

This ‘no man’s land’ around Groom Lake is patrolled constantly by infamous camouflaged guards, (nicknamed cammo dudes) who travel in Cherokee Jeeps to monitor the borders and stop any unwanted visitors getting inside of the base. They are supported by electronic surveillance systems, including motion sensors and other monitoring equipment that is said to have the ability to pick up human sweat. Military units and air support are also present. Warning signs on the edge of Area 51 tell of heavy penalties for intruders, including the authorisation for the deadly use of force.

 

According to Bob Lazar, a free-lance physicist and engineer, its activities include reverse-engineering extra-terrestrial craft!  He first came forward with these claims in March 1989, when appearing on George Knapp’s news programme on Channel 8, based in Las Vegas.  He described his brief time at a facility known as S-4, where he worked on back-engineering exotic craft built to accommodate small beings.  Although his credibility has since been questioned by many, notably the nuclear physicist Stanton Friedman, supporting evidence indicates that Lazar did indeed work at S-4, as well as other scientific establishments who initially denied all knowledge of him.  It seems that somebody within the Government wanted to remove all evidence of Lazar working at the base, but his name can be found in one of the on-site phone books which dates back to the time that Lazar said he was working there. His academic credentials remain in doubt, although his scientific knowledge is undeniable. It seems that his free-lance working pattern makes him a lower security risk to places like Area 51, simply because he is so difficult to authenticate as a scientist.

Some of the best aerial photographs of Area 51 were taken by the Ikonos satellite, which was launched in September 1999...