If you remember from the program, a picture was flashed as the "abandoned Rachel." This was a major mistake on the part of the Discovery Channel. To the left, I took a photo of the abandoned Rachel to tell you what it really is.
On this page: Alive, Well, and Expanding | Further Evidence that Area 51 has not Moved
By: Norio Hayakawa
Norio Hayakawa and his ONE-MAN BAND
GroomWatch
There is no substance whatsoever to the absurd rumor that Area 51 and its operations were abandoned and were relocated elsewhere, such as to the Green River missile complex in Utah.
This rumor originated in a poorly-researched article that first appeared in the June 1997 issue ofPopular Mechanics. No doubt the article was greatly "appreciated" by Nellis Air Force Base, particularly by those at the "remote operating base" at Groom Lake, Nevada.
The folks at Nellis AFB probably rolled on floor laughing over the article, which was riddled with factual errors. The Popular Mechanics piece also must have brought much delight to then-Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall. It can only be hoped that this type of misinformed article did not successfully curtail the public's interest in and rightful scrutiny of Area 51, particularly in regards to those issues relative to the alleged infractions of environmental statutes at the site.
The article, written by Jim Wilson, science editor of Popular Mechanics, inferred that the Air Force had abandoned top-secret testing at its once most secret test site. Then Wilson came to the hasty conclusion that "we know why and we know where they moved to (i.e., Utah)." Nothing is farther from the truth than this overly generalized inference. Jim Wilson, despite his probable sincerity and good intentions, obviously missed the big picture.
To begin with, he obviously took a wrong turn on "Groom Lake dirt road" and went to a location that had very little to do with Area 51. It was obvious from the photo that what he did was go south on the "Mail Box dirt road" from Highway 375, crossed the "Groom Lake dirt road" and went south until he encountered an old, poorly maintained wind fence. Wilson apparently believed that he had arrived at the back gate of Area 51, when in reality he had arrived at the northeastern boundary of Range 61. Based on what he saw there, Wilson decided that nothing was happening at Area 51, rashly stating that "the 'cammo dudes' are no longer patrolling the perimeter of Area 51" and further stating that "what we found was a securely locked wind fence that appears to have been undisturbed for months."
Wilson commented that even though he had arrived at the back door to Area 51, there was "no guard post". Yet there never was a guard post at that location, ever! He also stated in the article that the "warning signs flanking the gate aren't very threatening either." Perhaps he didn't realize that there never existed any "threatening" warning signs at that location except for a sign that says "NO TRESPASSING: Nellis Bombing Range." The location Wilson was at is not Area 51 -- it is merely the northeastern boundary of Range 61. From this, Wilson drew the stunning conclusion that Area 51 has been shut down!
I suggest next time that he go to the right location, towards the real Guard Shack area (west all the way on Groom Lake Road) where he may really encounter the "cammo dudes," white Jeep Cherokees and perhaps a Blackhawk chopper or two to welcome him, if he dare stray into the Guard Shack area. He would also see "threatening" warning signs along the dirt road that clearly state: "LETHAL FORCE WILL BE USED."
In fact, according to several reliable sources, the intensity of the activity at Groom Lake has not decreased at all. There may be more going on now at Groom Lake than ever before. In October of 1997, I observed the Groom Lake facility from high atop Tikaboo Peak and verified with my own eyes that the facility is definitely still in operation there. A couple of new water tanks seem to have been added recently behind the big hangar area. Also, upon comparison with a high-resolution panoramic photo that I acquired (allegedly taken several months after the closure of both the Freedom Ridge and White Sides), I have no doubt that there is new construction underway, particularly along the southwest slope next to Groom Lake. (I had observed the Groom Lake facility a number of times before from both the White Sides hill and the Freedom Ridge before those hills became off-limits to the public).
Also, at 7:30 on the night before I climbed Tikaboo Peak in October 1997, I happened to be standing with my companions at the exact spot where Jim Wilson had stood at the northeastern boundary of Range 61. As we were looking in the direction of Groom Lake, we were startled by a sudden illumination of the sky towards Groom Lake and witnessed three or four reddish balls of light that appeared and then disappeared momentarily, after which the sky over that area returned to total darkness.
I am unable to speculate what those reddish balls of light were -- they were definitely different from the military aircraft flares that I had seen many times near Area 51 -- but this unexplained aerial activity continued intermittently, occurring about three times during the next twenty minutes or so. Without question, there was activity of some kind that night at Groom Lake, in stark contrast to Wilson's misinformed allegation that nothing is going on at Area 51 and that nothing was going on when he was standing at the northeastern boundary of Range 61, looking towards the Groom Mountains. Wilson probably just dropped by during a slow week. And regardless, we must bear in mind that Area 51's most sensitive programs are allegedly conducted below ground level.
Primarily because of the Popular Mechanics article, the whole world seems to have gotten the impression that there is nothing going on at Area 51, and that everything had moved to the Green River Missile Launch "complex" in Utah. One of the erroneous facts that Wilson mentioned in his article was that there was an "officially named Area 6413" in Utah. There is no "officially name Area 6413" in Utah. What he obviously meant to say was Restricted Air Space 6413 in Utah. However, it is my understanding that to this date, anyone who wants to visit can get a good, close look at the Green River Missile Launch "complex" -- unlike Area 51, where the military continues its attempts to annex more land in order to push back the "NO TRESPASSING" boundary. For that reason, I highly doubt that there is anything top-secret going on at RAS 6413. The new "non-lethal" weapons programs at Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah interest me much more than the Green River Missile Launch complex. We should keep a closer watch on these "non-lethal" programs as well as the new "bacteriological warfare programs" going on at Dugway, instead of wasting time chasing windmills at the Green River complex.
It is worth noting that Wilson's Popular Mechanics stands in drastic contrast with the more substantial article that coincidentally appeared one month prior, in the May 1997 issue ofPopular Science. The article makes several mentions of Area 51, the inference being that there was still plenty going on at Groom Lake. According to reports from the Monitoring Times and other publications, some of the ongoing programs at Area 51 include a new series of B-2 bomber by Northrop/Grumman at S-2, possible newer versions of Darkstar (Tier 3 -- UAV) by Lockheed at S-4 and Tier 2+ and Tier 3+ UAVs at S-9 by Teledyne Ryan Aero.
Furthermore, following the Popular Mechanics article in June 1997, I was informed that some new components of new, small-scale VOTL produced by Lockheed had just been transferred to Groom from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. There is no doubt that new generations of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs -- remote controlled surveillance platforms, some of which may be oval shaped, etc.) are being tested at Groom Lake. New "skins" for a new generation of stealth programs are being tested as well, as noted by the May 1997 issue of Popular Science.
A new generation of "electrochromic panels" are probably being tested at the facility as well. A move towards "daytime" stealth capability (such as through the use of special sensors for transmission of image reflections of the background environment on the lower as well as upper bodies of the aircraft) may also be in the works at Area 51. I would not be surprised at all if they were working on even more exotic weapons programs, such as limited tri-dimensional holographic image maximization that could be integrated with the "electrochromic panels" and used not merely to reflect background environment on the aircraft to bring about "transparency effect," but to bring about some distorted image size of the aircraft as well.
All this, in addition to several new black, triangular aircraft (such as the alleged TR-3A Black Manta) that they may be working on, underscores the point that while there may indeed be some new programs going on in Utah and elsewhere, the allegations that Area 51 "moved" to Utah are totally unfounded.
Norio Hayakawa
Further Evidence that Area 51 has not Moved
Since, according to Jim Wilson, there are no more Cammo Dudes; you can read about the time I was harassed by the security near the border. Even though you can see the dudes every time you go to the border, this is just to further enforces the fact that once in a while they will still go after visitors on public land.
I was very disappointed by the Discovery Channel program "Inside Area 51." Because of this program, many people believe that Area 51 has moved. It would not be fair to say that the entire program was erroneous - just the end where they interview Jim Wilson. The rest of the show was excellent.
If you remember from the program, a picture was flashed as the "abandoned Rachel." This was a major mistake on the part of the Discovery Channel. To the left, I took a photo of the abandoned Rachel to tell you what it really is.
This is the junction of highway 375 with US-93. As you can see, there is nothing here except an old casino and a few parked cars. These cars are those of the worker who take the early morning bus to the Groom Lake Base every weekday morning from Alamo. Rachel is about 40 miles to the west. They were just a few miles off. I think it is obvious that the base at Area 51 has not moved. After his poorly researched article, I always think twice when I read an article by Jim Wilson. Hopefully, this is his only mistake.