NOTICE: The page below has been permenently FROZEN as of January 2000. Due to resource limitations, this section of our website is no longer maintained, so some links may not work and some information may be out of date. We have retained this page for archive reference only, and we cannot vouch for its accuracy. Broken links will not be repaired, and minor errors will not be corrected. You are responsible for independently verifying any information you may find here. More Info
For more recent information about Area 51, see the new Area 51 Research Center maintained by Don Emory.
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From: campbell@ufomind.com (Glenn Campbell, Las Vegas) Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 19:32:21 -0800 |
Re: http://www.ufomind.com/area51/list/1997/jul/a22-002.shtml
Re: http://www.ufomind.com/area51/list/1997/aug/a01-006.shtml
Date: Tue, 29 Jul 1997 20:28:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Dr. X" <mndcrime@peak.org>
To: campbell@ufomind.com
Subject: EAFB 5 years ago.
A friend sent this my direction, and I thought I might add a few data
points for you.
>From Glenn Campbell:
>
>Within the past week, I had a chance encounter with a former TTR
>worker. Through my own contacts, I know that he is genuine and has
>worked both at Tonopah Test Range and Edwards AFB in a middle
>management position. His contact with me was purely coincidental. As
>
>1) The "Aurora" exists and has been operational for about five years.
>He didn't use the name "Aurora", I did. He called it only "that other
>plane" and by body language indicated that we were talking about the
>same thing. He said it was built by Lockheed Skunkworks. He said he
>knows it exists, because he watched it flight tested at Edwards
>(apparently about five years ago).
I worked at or near Edwards from 1992-1993. My job there is not
relevant to this, but it involved BMDO research. Not wanting to commute
and disliking Lancaster/Palmdale, I lived in a small town north of the
base. I was and always have been an AVID (rabid?) aviation buff. The
fact that my little apartment was on the flight path for Edwards approach
was a dream come true.
I was always on the lookout for new planes, or maybe even the legendary
"Aurora".
During my time there I had the privilege to watch the B-2 flight testing
(primarily P-6, airframe #6). I watched the C-17 fly everyday as part of
its flight testing. The X-31 played on occasion. And, of course, I
lived for those NASA SR-71 flights.
I became quite adept at identifying even the exotic flight test aircraft
by sight AND sound.
On only two occasions did I see something I could
not identify:
1. While driving home late one night from work, I noticed an
aircraft was flying low near the highway. I decided to pull over to
check it out because I didn't recognize its light configuration.
Standing on the side of the road, I watched as it circled me in a tight
arc. It was quiet, sounding much like an F-117a, but its silouette
looked larger. It had 2 rear lights- red on the right, white on the
left, and a standard red strobe towards the front. I do not know what
it was.
2. Another late night drive down the hill overlooking the lakebed, I
saw a flash of light near the flightline. A bright light streaked
towards the sky, zagging erratically like a missile trying to track. I
thought it unusual that they were live-firing missiles at Edwards, but
you never know. After a few seconds, the object was at about 8-10
thousand feet. It suddenly leveled off and joined several other
aircraft in a holding pattern. They all orbited around the base once
or twice and flew off in formation. The circling aircraft looked like
helicopters (lights), but I have NO idea what the initial aircraft was.
>I said, "Edwards? How can you fly anything secret at Edwards?"
This is quite true. I think the only way would be to fly at night.
>He said, "There is so much coming and going out of there that no one
>notices." This implies that the plane looks and sounds similar to an
>ordinary aircraft on takeoff and landing.
If it flew in daylight and made noise, I saw it. EVERYTHING. At any
noise I would run outside with my camera. At lunch I ate in my car,
watching the spiral dogfight and flighttest contrails like some aviation
drive-in movie.
Never once did I see or hear something in the daylight that I could not
identify. Nothing as exciting as the Aurora. At night the sonic
booms and low rubmles (usually B-1s) were very rare. EXTREMELY rare in
fact.
>2) There is an underground hangar at Edwards North Base. He said that
>on the surface it "looks abandonned", but there is a ramp down into a
>modern, active hangar below ground. He said he had been inside this
I have seen a ramp near North Base. I think it was used for mating the
X-1 to the bottom of a B-29. The X-1 would be towed down the ramp and
the B-29 would straddle the "pit" and they would attach the two.
The risk of having a "black hole" near the north end of the base comes
when you have to taxi past Ames-Dryden. NASA and the Air Force have a
tenous relationship at best when it comes to public photos. NASA allows
people to take outdoor fotos, as long as you "don't point your camera in
the direction of the flightline." The Air Force strictly forbids all
photography on base. But wait, NASA _IS_ on base. Now you see the
problem. So, craft landing and/or taxing past NASA (ie towards North
Base) are at the mercy of adept photographers. Of course, Dryden is
closed to the public after dark, so that is still a possibility.
I don't know if I have helped shed any light on the Edwards of five years
ago. I believe that nothing too classified flew openly
there during my stay. Most of the classified stuff at our labs
happened inside black hole buildings. I don't know what they did, and it
wasn't something you talked about.
I do believe that the progression of secret aircraft testing goes:
1. Benchtop testing inside high security facility. (anywhere)
2. Flight testing and initial integration at Groom-type facility.
3. Flight testing at Edwards, space testing at Kirtland.
Including full-scale integration and operation.
These steps all happen at decreasing levels of security. I would
consider Edwards flight testing security nonexistent, but their internal
lab security probably rivals Dreamland. The constant traffic to Area 51
and the massive infrastructure at Plant 42 make an EAFB-Nellis link
inevitable.
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From: [withheld - aviation industry source]
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 00:45:01 -0400 (EDT)
To: campbell@ufomind.com
Subject: Re: AREA 51: Underground hangars at Groom & Edwards + Aurora
>2) There is an underground hangar at Edwards North Base. He said that
>on the surface it "looks abandonned", but there is a ramp down into a
>modern, active hangar below ground. He said he had been inside this
>hangar, and seemed to indicate that it was a regular part of his job.
A reliable Edwards source says the underground hangar is an old rumor and
most likely not true. All that's at North Base now is the Red Hat squadron,
in their usual fenced-off hangar. No one else is there and there's no
activity, he says. Of course, he could be a government disinformation agent,
like you.
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From: [withheld - another aviation industry source]
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 01:22:56 -0400 (EDT)
To: campbell@ufomind.com
Subject: Re: Who Runs Area 51
The Groom Lake facility, commonly referred to in official circles as DET 3,
is most definitely run by the Air Force Flight Test Center (which is in turn
operated by Air Force Materiel Command). The DET 3 commander reports
directly to the commander of AFFTC.
I have never "followed the money," so I don't know how the budgeting works
for the facility.
Incidentally, the JANET Beechcraft 1900s run constantly out of Edwards North
Base. This is the secure compund used by the 413th Flight Test Squadron
(formerly 6513th TS) "Red Hats" who used to test Soviet aircraft.
Index: Edwards North Base
Index: Det 3, AFFTC
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Created: Aug 5, 1997