Fifty years ago, an American pilot called Kenneth Arnold saw nine discs in the sky over Area 51 in Nevada, where the US military tests high-tech aircraft. The term ‘flying saucer’ was born – and with it, a whole new subculture which believes that alien life is not only somewhere out there, but also here (indeed, probably in Area 51), ready to take over the world.
Highway 93 winds through the Nevada Desert. There are no cars, no houses, no nothing, just sage brush and dust devils and a lunar landscape of grey mountains creeping into a never-ending distance. At junction 375 a signpost says “Extraterrestrial Highway“. The driver has strayed from normal space-time co-ordinates and is heading towards Rachel, the town that thinks of itself as the UFO capital of the world.
Rachel is, in fact, a very small trailer park whose significance arises from the fact that it sits on the border of Area 51. This vast mass of desert land has been central to the UFO myth since, 50 years ago, a pilot named Kenneth Arnold spotted nine discs over Mount Rainer and the term ‘Flying Saucer‘ was born.
People have never accepted that Area 51 is merely a highly classified military site devoted to testing high-tech aircraft. In 1988 it was claimed on TV that aliens lived there and, furthermore, they enjoyed eating ice-cream and listening to Tibetan Music.
A year later, an individual named, Bob Lazar presented himself and announced that, when working as a physicist on the base, he had seen several flying saucers parked in hangers. Patrol guards carrying guns, surveillance cameras and notices saying that “USE OF DEADLY FORCE IS AUTHORIZED” have done much much to fan an interesting aura of secrecy.
Consequently, Area 51 also known as Dreamland has become a mecca for the subversive, the hacker and those who have seen far too many episodes of the X-Files.
John Holmgren sells T-shirts from a trailer named Close Encounters. On his desk there is a flyer advertising “support” for “contactee groups”. On his wall there are quotes from the Bible.
“My professional belief is that in 1947, when the Roswell crash happened, they brought the saucer here because they needed to reverse-engineer it and find out how it worked. I believe that fiber optics, microchips and Velcro were developed as a result of this.”
“Velcro John?”
“Yes. When the aliens undid their space suits in New Mexico there was a ripping sound and it was discovered that they had no zips…”
John has quite a lot of other theories. He is sure that a secret cabal known as Majestic 12 live in Area 51 where they are plotting to take over the world. They will do this by forcing the population to wear a “transpondental” chip without which it will be impossible to buy anything or drive.
“The chip will be stamped into your right hand and if you don’t have a right hand, then it will be stamped on to your forehead”.
John is ready for the New World Order. “There are people with arsenals,” he says. “My father is one of them. They are just waiting for the government to screw up.
There are millions of people ready to start a war. I have got the supplies, now all I need is the Guns…”
Glen Campbell runs the Area 51 Research Center from a bright yellow trailer in Rachel. Designating himself as the token Sensible Person, he does not sell souvenirs, because they are “incompatible with serious research”, but he does, oddly, sell videos of Monty Python’s Life of Brian, as well as the viewers guide, in which he writes : “This is a guide to hunting for UFOs and not secret aircraft but I do not honestly believe you are going to see any.”
Those searching for luminosities are, however, difficult to dissuade and they are most welcome down at dirt track where Joe and Pat Travis run a Little A-Le-Inn. The sign at the door says “Welcome Earthlings” and, behind the bar, there are alien heads and alien models, some of whom are dressed in Gestapo uniforms. There is also, more unnervingly, a raffle for the Pat Westcott Medical Fund whose first prize, proudly displayed, is a MK90 semi-automatic machine-gun.
Joe Travis has a beard and a very red face and has adorned his hostelry with color photographs so that the visitor can eat an “Alien Burger” ($2.75) surrounded by pictures of the “Alien Autopsy” in which the humanoid’s green leg is shown with a bleeding wound.
“A few weeks ago, I saw a craft in the sky,” says Pat Travis. It was cigar-shaped and it had porthole windows…”
Pat and Joe understand that, in America, all experiences are marketable, and to this end, they provide a wide range of items displaying a bug-eyed, bald-headed logo.
The Shop at the Little A-Le_inn sell alien jewellry, alien t-shirts, alien fridge magnets, Roswell dolls and Area 51 ashtrays.
Some of these are supplied by Jim and Mary Greenen who spend their lives in a mobile home, traveling to UFO conferences around the country.
A Visit to Dreamland (Area 51)
by Kevin Vogt
I’m not sure when I first got the idea to go attempt to view the rumored and elusive ‘Aurora spy plane,’ but I had certainly considered it many times before setting out to do it. I still haven’t seen anything resembling the ‘Aurora,’ but I did experience something that I will not soon forget.
It was Thursday, March ll, 1993 at 1:45 p.m., and I was just finishing my last mid-term test before spring break at UNLV. Dr. Charley Pranter gave us an extra-credit question on the last page of the exam that simply asked “What will you be doing over spring break?” Why should I lie? I wrote that I was going straight from class to the northern edge of Nellis Range to an area called “Groom lake” or “Area 51” also known as “Dreamland” to try to view Americas newest top-secret Spy Plane, “Aurora!”
From all the speculation that I have read, Aurora is allegedly a Mach 6 to Mach 8 spy, plane using advanced technology in the design and propulsion systems. It may or may not launch from a “Mother Ship,” whose job is to get the “Aurora” to a sufficient speed and altitude to ignite the advanced pulse engines. There is also speculation that the only reason that the Air Force retired the SR-71 Blackbirds is that they have new toys to replace the old ones.
Reports claim that people in the area of Groom Lake have heard strange, loud pulsing noises that may be the sounds of the advanced engines that power Aurora. Armed with just enough information to be dangerous, I set out to find whatever was out there.
I drove north on US 93 to Highway 375 and continued on to “Groom Lake Road.” I had a current Aeronautical Sectional map of the area and used it as a reference as I made my way in my silver 1978 VW Rabbit diesel (with Texas plates) to the vicinity of Area 51. I drove down the long and straight road until I reached signs on both sides that stated restrictions to just about everything. On the other side of the signs was a four-wheel-drive vehicle with two individuals in desert camouflage uniforms. I turned around and headed back out to what I now know as Castle Rocks Road. I watched my mirrors to see if these guys were following me but could see nothing behind me. I turned South on Castle Rock Road and started looking for a place to park and watch the skies for anything unusual.
As an experienced military aircraft watcher, I thought I could distinguish known aircraft, modern or dated, from anything else that might exist. Because one of my hobbies is watching and monitoring military aircraft, I frequent Nellis Air Force Base and sit at the departure end of runway 3 or the approach end of runway 21 and monitor the local control frequencies. I listen for IFE’s (in flight emergencies) and see if I can personally see the problem on the craft as they pass overhead. B-1’S will sometimes have to shut down an engine during a Red Flag exercise, or an F16 will develop a Hydrazine leak and have to return to base and have to have an “Arrested Landing”– what a fiasco! F117- A’s, (call-signs Stealth 1 and Stealth 2) will take-off just after dark on practice missions and once the gear are retracted will assume “Stealth Mode” without lights. An hour and forty minutes later they will return to the base. Black T-38’s from Holloman AFB will fly in earlier in the day before these flights.
As I started along Castle Rock Road, I passed through a ravine and unfortunately struck a rock with the oil pan of my car. This incident seemed to have damaged my oil pan as well as my transmission. My car was, now inoperable.
I surveyed the situation and realized that I wasn’t going to drive my car out of there and I sure didn’t want to walk to Rachel or Alamo, the nearest areas of human populations. It was almost 5:15 p.m. so I decided to set out and look for the Cammo guys in the 4×4. I thought that the easiest way to find these or any other humans would be to climb to the highest point in the vicinity and look for anyone I could find.
I gathered up everything valuable from my car and set out. In my fanny pack I had: a loaded Taurus 357 magnum, my radar detector, a water bottle, candy, a compass, a Las Vegas Aeronautical Sectional, a March ’93 Popular Science, and a Mag-Light flashlight. I had warm clothes, hiking boots, ski gloves, a hat and my 20×50 binoculars.
I started hiking East-South-East right up the center of a dry arroyo since it was the smoothest path in that direction. Distances are deceiving in the open desert and my trek took longer than I anticipated. By 7:00 p.m. it was fairly dark and I was hiking without light so that I wouldn’t ruin my night vision. The moon rose to the East shortly after dark and travel became fairly easy again. I hiked on the lighter sandy soil and avoided the darker brush. After tripping over a few cacti and topping one ridge to find an even higher one to the East, I continued my trek. I was getting pretty good at avoiding Joshua trees, and at one point was avoiding what I thought to be another tree just past the saddle of a ridge when I looked up to see a pole with what looked to be an 18″ shiny mirrored globe on top at about 10′ high. I had no idea what that was doing in the middle of the desert, and wasn’t sure I wanted to find out. I continued East-South-easterly down the face of this hill and climbed to the top of the next ridge. I figured that I would eventually reach the top or run into the fence around Area 51, When I topped the final hill I realized that I had gone too far! At the top of the hill, I had a perfectly clear and unobstructed view of Groom Lake Test Facility sparkling on the desert floor. There were no more hills or ridges between me and the facility. Now, for the first time I was scared, really scared. I knew that I was well within the boundaries of the installation, How could I have been permitted to romp so easily right on to a top secret military installation that doesn’t officially exist? Now what should I do?
I sat on the top Eastward facing part of the hill at about 8:00 p.m. and tried to decide what to do. North of me about and estimated 500-600 yards away was what looked to be a small cube shaped building with a satellite dish on the southern side of it apparently facing south-southeast. There was also a tall tower with what looked to be a microwave dome pointing Easterly towards the facility. There was a light on the Southeastern corner of the building with what appeared to be a Ford Bronco parked on the Eastern side.