(April 15) -- Area 51, the top-secret military installation in the Nevada desert, has been a magnet for conspiracy theories and a font of UFO sightings for decades. Now some people who worked at the mysterious base are speaking out.
For its April issue, the Los Angeles Times Magazine interviewed five men who worked at the facility, some of them for decades.
The men are talking now because in 2007, the CIA declassified information about a key project -- the A-12 Oxcart, a covert spy plane that was developed at Area 51. They have fascinating stories life at the base, including how the military responded to security breaches involving secret projects. But perhaps the most interesting part of the article is their response to the legends that have sprouted up about the installation.
One of the legends -- that Area 51 is connected to other secret sites by out-of-the-way railroads and underground tunnels -- is based on a nugget of truth. Thornton "T.D." Barnes, 72, who was an engineer at the facility, told the Times that he conducted his work in underground chambers.
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"Three test-cell facilities were connected by railroad, but everything else was underground," he said.
And what about the slew of UFO sightings around Area 51? The Times attributed them to the Oxcart, which had a disk-like fuselage and flew at speeds of over 2,000 mph. The plane's titanium body was highly reflective, which also may have thrown anyone who caught a glimpse of it.
Air Force Col. Hugh "Slip" Slater, 87, was commander of Area 51 in the 1960s, and 2,850 Oxcart test flights were conducted when he was there. "That's a lot of UFO sightings!" he told the magazine.
When commercial pilots would report a UFO around Area 51, "they'd be met by FBI agents who'd make them sign nondisclosure forms," Slater said.
The Air Force had an operation called Project Blue Book to log such incidents from all around the country. By the time the Oxcart program was terminated in December 1969, it had received 12,618 reported sightings, 701 of which remained classified as "unidentified."
The CIA has a searchable database of declassified Oxcart information here.
The National Archives has a selection of documents related to the project here.
Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
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Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Last edited by Existentialist1844 on Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Link to original, please.
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Fixed.Gawdzilla wrote:Link to original, please.
"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
A link to AOL mail won't really help me any.Existentialist1844 wrote:Fixed.Gawdzilla wrote:Link to original, please.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Fixed what? I don't see any links?Existentialist1844 wrote:Fixed.Gawdzilla wrote:Link to original, please.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Gawd wrote:»
And those Zumwalts are already useless, they can be taken out with an ICBM.
The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Links, please. 
The CIA has a searchable database of declassified Oxcart information here.
The National Archives has a selection of documents related to the project here.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Gawd wrote:»
And those Zumwalts are already useless, they can be taken out with an ICBM.
The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.
D.N.A.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
Thank you. And somebody unplug Exi's computer, please.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
No worries, anyone mind if I use a BGM-109 to disconnect Exi's computer from the mains?
Gawd wrote:»
And those Zumwalts are already useless, they can be taken out with an ICBM.
The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.
D.N.A.
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
I was thinking Tsar Bomba.DP wrote:No worries, anyone mind if I use a BGM-109 to disconnect Exi's computer from the mains?
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Yes, I mind!!DP wrote:No worries, anyone mind if I use a BGM-109 to disconnect Exi's computer from the mains?
"Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength."
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Re: Insiders Debunk UFO Reports at Area 51
I'll only put it in a little bit.Existentialist1844 wrote:Yes, I mind!!DP wrote:No worries, anyone mind if I use a BGM-109 to disconnect Exi's computer from the mains?Gawdzilla wrote: Thank you. And somebody unplug Exi's computer, please.
Gawd wrote:»
And those Zumwalts are already useless, they can be taken out with an ICBM.
The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened, it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned.
D.N.A.
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