NASA's STS-80 Mission UFO atmospheric entry and hovering footage (November 19, 1996)

We consider NASA footage to be the gold standard when it comes to UFO's. It comes directly from the source, untampered with. Most of the infamous STS footage was recorded throughout the late 90's and early 2000's by a guy named Jeff Challender who was an ex-TV station camera operator in California. Jeff managed to record literally hundreds of hours of direct feed footage from the Shuttle missions and the ISS via NASA Select TV, later on he would pour over the footage and pull out anything anomalous. One particularly bizarre piece of footage came from the STS-80 mission in November of 1996. The mission was the longest Shuttle mission ever flown at 17 days, 15 hours, and 53 minutes. In this footage we can clearly see multiple objects entering and leaving the upper atmosphere, but the clearest of all objects enters the picture around 3:35 in the clip. It's coming from space and enters the upper atmosphere at about 3:55 with what looks to be a very bright plasma field around it. At this point the object actually decelerates and holds a stationary position within the upper atmosphere. We see other smaller objects tracking directly above this larger object, in low earth orbit. At 4:42 another object can be seen moving just beneath the tops of the thunderstorm clouds. At the 5:00 mark yet another object enters the atmosphere with the same plasma field around it. Obviously, there's a lot going on in this video and the camera operator seems to be just as interested in this activity as we are. This footage will remain one of the most important pieces of NASA footage ever revealed to the public.

One of the most thought-provoking pieces of video out there on this subject.

In February 1995 the American TV show 'Hard Copy' broadcast a videotape showing an unidentified object flying over a North American military test range. Further footage was shown the following December on the 'Sightings' TV show. The videotape had apparently been filmed by a high-tech Air Force surveillance camera at an undisclosed location within the Nellis Air Force Base Bombing and Gunnery Range Complex in Nevada, often referred to as the Nellis Test Range. Some of our readers may be familiar with this footage and some may not. It's sort of the "Winnebago Man" of UFO videos. Everyone out there has seen it at one point or another, and everyone unanimously agrees that it's completely bizarre. The fact that it is actual military footage and it's been verified and vetted by multiple researchers puts this in a class by itself. The videotape is said to have been smuggled out by a contractor who had previously operated radar tracking stations on the Nellis range. Copies of the videotape were sold to Paramount Studios (producers of 'Hard Copy' and 'Sightings') by a former Air Force employee, although apparently he had not witnessed the object himself.

Two sections of videotape showing the UFO have come to light. The first section was filmed from a location known as S-30, according to the camera's data display. This shows the object initially as an indistinct 'blob' flying in front of a distant mountain range, before it turns and heads towards the camera location. The camera operator struggles to keep the object within shot as it approaches, and it soon becomes clear that it's a morphing object with four distinctive 'lobes' and a dark region at the front. As it nears, it turns to face the tracking station for several seconds, as if performing some kind of surveillance, before it turns away and departs. This footage is of special importance because the voices of the camera operators at the tracking station can be heard on the noisy soundtrack. Their bewilderment at the unexpected appearance of the UFO is clearly audible. "What the hell is it?" one of them says; "Where'd it come from?" asks the other. For in-depth analysis of this footage, take a look at Martin J. Powell's excellent breakdown here.

NASA UFOs STS-80 "Smoking Gun"

clip UNCUT.

We consider NASA footage to be the gold standard when it comes to UFO's. It comes directly from the source, untampered with. Most of the infamous STS footage was recorded throughout the late 90's and early 2000's by a guy named Jeff Challender who was an ex-TV station camera operator in California. Jeff managed to record literally hundreds of hours of direct feed footage from the Shuttle missions and the ISS via NASA Select TV, later on he would pour over the footage and pull out anything anomalous. One particularly bizarre piece of footage came from the STS-80 mission in November of 1996. The mission was the longest Shuttle mission ever flown at 17 days, 15 hours, and 53 minutes. In this footage we can clearly see multiple objects entering and leaving the upper atmosphere, but the clearest of all objects enters the picture around 3:35 in the clip. It's coming from space and enters the upper atmosphere at about 3:55 with what looks to be a very bright plasma field around it. At this point the object actually decelerates and holds a stationary position within the upper atmosphere. We see other smaller objects tracking directly above this larger object, in low earth orbit. At 4:42 another object can be seen moving just beneath the tops of the thunderstorm clouds. At the 5:00 mark yet another object enters the atmosphere with the same plasma field around it. Obviously, there's a lot going on in this video and the camera operator seems to be just as interested in this activity as we are. This footage will remain one of the most important pieces of NASA footage ever revealed to the public.

"BUCKLE-UP"

A ROADTRIP TO AREA 51 & BEYOND

AREA 51 FACTS & SECRETS

With all the secrecy shrouding Area 51, it's time for some light to be shed. Learn more about the nicknames, entertainment, food, spy planes, and rumors surrounding this infamous site.

On August 15, 2013 the CIA finally acknowledged the existence of Area 51. After repeated freedom of information request made by George Washington University the CIA lifted the veil of secrecy on Area 51. 

On December 8, 2013 President Obama makes an off hand comment about Area 51, becoming the first President to publicly acknowledge its existence. This does not mean they are talking openly about UFOs and military secrets but it does open the door for lawsuits and additional freedom of information request from the public. 

The name ‘Area 51’ derives from its marking on 1950’s Nevada Test Site maps. Today, the official name of Area 51 is Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3, or AFFTC Det. 3 for short. For years even our own government denied its existence until Soviet pictures confirmed what many knew all along. The base did exist. The facility was originally designed for the testing of U-2 spy planes, and ultimately Stealth technology would be born there. The secret site has grown to many times its original size. The USAF took over command of Area 51, and its airspace in 1970.

• Area 51 was also referred to as Groom Lake (the name of the dry lake Area 51 was built around), Paradise Ranch (a half-serious way to entice employees to accept positions at the remote, rustic base), Watertown (the official name of the test site, given in 1956), and Dreamland (after an Edgar Allan Poe poem).
• Area 51’s nickname DREAMLAND was allegedly derived from an Edgar Allan Poe poem by the same name. It admonishes that “the traveler, traveling through it, may not-dare not openly view it; Never its mysteries are exposed, to the weak human eye unclosed.”
• The first known use of the area was the construction in 1941 of an auxiliary airfield for the West Coast Air Corps Training Center at Las Vegas Air Field. Known as Indian Springs Airfield Auxiliary No. 1, it consisted of two dirt 5000' runways.
• Under President Dwight Eisenhower the Groom Lake facility was put in the hands of the CIA for Project Aquatone, for the development of the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in April 1955.
• This mysterious fortress and its surrounding grounds are strictly off-limits. What secrets are kept inside this highly guarded facility? The rumors abound. Yes, there have been pictures of craft doing amazing maneuvers over these guarded skies and pictures and video smuggled from inside have become legend. These smuggled articles show living and dead aliens, spacecraft of futuristic design, but still the government denies these claims.
• Helen Frost, whose husband Robert died in 1988 from the fumes, filed a lawsuit against the government in 1996 but the case was dismissed by the judge because the government could neither confirm nor deny the allegations, and it was also stated that the base is exempt from any environmental laws.
• During the 70's and 80's the workers at Area 51 were exposed to jet fuel toxins like JP7. Supposedly old computer parts were also burned in trenches. The workers were ordered to go into the trenches and mix up the material and were only allowed to wear protection up to their waist.

The A12 Oxcart

• When Area 51 was chosen as the testing site for the A-12 OXCART, a new, 8,500-foot runway had to be built. So as not to draw attention, contractors worked under cover of night.
• Flying at 2,200 mph, it took OXCART pilot 186 miles just to make a U-turn. To accommodate the plane, an additional 38,400 acres of land around the base had to be withdrawn from public access and the restricted airspace expanded to create a 440-square mile box.
• Early on, the only entertainment at Area 51 consisted of a single cement tennis court and a small bowling alley. There was no television, and radio signals only made it through the surrounding mountains in the evening.
• The Area 51 mess hall sometimes served lobsters and oysters. Once a week it was steak night.
• There is a sliver of truth to the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was staged at Area 51. Various space equipment – including land rovers and life support systems – were tested by the astronauts at the adjoining nuclear testing grounds.
• Area 51 has not been spared by the downturn in the economy, it is estimated that there are 1600 to 2000 employees working at the  military facility involving at least a dozen defense contractors as of 2013. This is down by 200-400 employees since 2012. 
• A recent poll showed that 70%+ of Americans believe that UFOs are real.
• After an increase in UFO sightings in 1952, the CIA concluded that “there is a remote possibility that they may be interplanetary aircraft,” and that it was necessary to investigate each sighting.
• 90% of reported UFO sightings could be easily debunked, while the other 10% were “a number of incredible reports from credible observers.”
• Over half of all UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s were accounted for by manned reconnaissance flights (namely the U-2) over the United States, virtually all originating from Area 51.

• The A-12 OXCART required special fuel in order to fly at such extreme speeds and heights. The fuel was made to withstand extremely high temperatures and would not ignite even if someone threw a match into a barrel full of it.
• The OXCART cruised at 2200 miles per hour, but because the plane was secret it was kept out of official speed competitions.
• The A-12 OXCART consisted of more than 90% titanium. It was the world’s first titanium plane.
• An A-12 spy plane was used when the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea to photograph the area and determine the ship's location.
• The OXCART's engines acted as vacuum cleaners, sucking up any debris left on the runway. So personnel would vacuum the runway before each test flight.
• The Air Force has acknowledged the existence of the Nellis Range Complex near the Groom Dry Lake for many years now. There are a variety of activities, some of which are classified, throughout the complex.
• The range is used for the testing of technologies and systems training for operations critical to the effectiveness of U.S. military forces and the security of the United States.
• Some specific activities and operations conducted on the Nellis Range, both past and present, remain CLASSIFIED and cannot be discussed.

The A12 - Spy Plane could travel at 2200 MPH

• Suspended upside down, a titanium A-12 spy-plane prototype is prepped for radar testing at Area 51 in the late 1950s. 
• But pushing the limits came with risks—and led to the catastrophic 1963 crash of an A-12 based out of Area 51.
• After a rash of declassification's and the acknowledgement of the existence of Area 51, details of Cold War workings at the Nevada base, are coming to light—including images of an A-12 crash and its cover-up pictured publicly for the first time in May.

• Remnants of a crashed A-12 spy plane—including two engines and the shattered rear fuselage—litter the ground near Wendover, Utah, in a 1963 picture recently declassified by the CIA and published here for the first time.
• After pilot Ken Collins had parachuted to the ground, he was stunned to be greeted by three civilians in a pickup, who offered to give him a ride to the wreckage of his plane. Instead, Collins got them to give him a ride in the opposite direction, by telling them the plane had a nuclear weapon on board—a prearranged cover story to keep the Area 51 craft a secret. 
• Nearly undetectable to radar, the A-12 could fly at 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) an hour—fast enough to cross the continental U.S. in 70 minutes. From 90,000 feet (27,400 meters), the plane's cameras could capture foot-long (0.3-meter-long) objects on the ground below. 

You won't find it on any geological or aeronautical maps and yet like a place in the Twilight Zone, flights to it leave Las Vegas' McCarran Airport every day. Some say alien aircraft are stored there and reverse-engineered to create new aircraft and weapons, or it's the site of genetic testing or other diabolical plots. Others say it's just a very secret aircraft development site. No matter, what it is, Area 51 remains shrouded in mystery.

A Fascinating timeline of Events at Area 51 from it's inception to the present. 

The closest you will get to Area 51 without getting arrested.

"BUCKLE-UP"

A ROADTRIP TO AREA 51 & BEYOND

AREA 51 FACTS & SECRETS

With all the secrecy shrouding Area 51, it's time for some light to be shed. Learn more about the nicknames, entertainment, food, spy planes, and rumors surrounding this infamous site.

On August 15, 2013 the CIA finally acknowledged the existence of Area 51. After repeated freedom of information request made by George Washington University the CIA lifted the veil of secrecy on Area 51. 

On December 8, 2013 President Obama makes an off hand comment about Area 51, becoming the first President to publicly acknowledge its existence. This does not mean they are talking openly about UFOs and military secrets but it does open the door for lawsuits and additional freedom of information request from the public. 

The name ‘Area 51’ derives from its marking on 1950’s Nevada Test Site maps. Today, the official name of Area 51 is Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3, or AFFTC Det. 3 for short. For years even our own government denied its existence until Soviet pictures confirmed what many knew all along. The base did exist. The facility was originally designed for the testing of U-2 spy planes, and ultimately Stealth technology would be born there. The secret site has grown to many times its original size. The USAF took over command of Area 51, and its airspace in 1970.

• Area 51 was also referred to as Groom Lake (the name of the dry lake Area 51 was built around), Paradise Ranch (a half-serious way to entice employees to accept positions at the remote, rustic base), Watertown (the official name of the test site, given in 1956), and Dreamland (after an Edgar Allan Poe poem).
• Area 51’s nickname DREAMLAND was allegedly derived from an Edgar Allan Poe poem by the same name. It admonishes that “the traveler, traveling through it, may not-dare not openly view it; Never its mysteries are exposed, to the weak human eye unclosed.”
• The first known use of the area was the construction in 1941 of an auxiliary airfield for the West Coast Air Corps Training Center at Las Vegas Air Field. Known as Indian Springs Airfield Auxiliary No. 1, it consisted of two dirt 5000' runways.
• Under President Dwight Eisenhower the Groom Lake facility was put in the hands of the CIA for Project Aquatone, for the development of the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in April 1955.
• This mysterious fortress and its surrounding grounds are strictly off-limits. What secrets are kept inside this highly guarded facility? The rumors abound. Yes, there have been pictures of craft doing amazing maneuvers over these guarded skies and pictures and video smuggled from inside have become legend. These smuggled articles show living and dead aliens, spacecraft of futuristic design, but still the government denies these claims.
• Helen Frost, whose husband Robert died in 1988 from the fumes, filed a lawsuit against the government in 1996 but the case was dismissed by the judge because the government could neither confirm nor deny the allegations, and it was also stated that the base is exempt from any environmental laws.
• During the 70's and 80's the workers at Area 51 were exposed to jet fuel toxins like JP7. Supposedly old computer parts were also burned in trenches. The workers were ordered to go into the trenches and mix up the material and were only allowed to wear protection up to their waist.

The A12 Oxcart

• When Area 51 was chosen as the testing site for the A-12 OXCART, a new, 8,500-foot runway had to be built. So as not to draw attention, contractors worked under cover of night.
• Flying at 2,200 mph, it took OXCART pilot 186 miles just to make a U-turn. To accommodate the plane, an additional 38,400 acres of land around the base had to be withdrawn from public access and the restricted airspace expanded to create a 440-square mile box.
• Early on, the only entertainment at Area 51 consisted of a single cement tennis court and a small bowling alley. There was no television, and radio signals only made it through the surrounding mountains in the evening.
• The Area 51 mess hall sometimes served lobsters and oysters. Once a week it was steak night.
• There is a sliver of truth to the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was staged at Area 51. Various space equipment – including land rovers and life support systems – were tested by the astronauts at the adjoining nuclear testing grounds.
• Area 51 has not been spared by the downturn in the economy, it is estimated that there are 1600 to 2000 employees working at the  military facility involving at least a dozen defense contractors as of 2013. This is down by 200-400 employees since 2012. 
• A recent poll showed that 70%+ of Americans believe that UFOs are real.
• After an increase in UFO sightings in 1952, the CIA concluded that “there is a remote possibility that they may be interplanetary aircraft,” and that it was necessary to investigate each sighting.
• 90% of reported UFO sightings could be easily debunked, while the other 10% were “a number of incredible reports from credible observers.”
• Over half of all UFO reports from the late 1950s through the 1960s were accounted for by manned reconnaissance flights (namely the U-2) over the United States, virtually all originating from Area 51.

• The A-12 OXCART required special fuel in order to fly at such extreme speeds and heights. The fuel was made to withstand extremely high temperatures and would not ignite even if someone threw a match into a barrel full of it.
• The OXCART cruised at 2200 miles per hour, but because the plane was secret it was kept out of official speed competitions.
• The A-12 OXCART consisted of more than 90% titanium. It was the world’s first titanium plane.
• An A-12 spy plane was used when the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea to photograph the area and determine the ship's location.
• The OXCART's engines acted as vacuum cleaners, sucking up any debris left on the runway. So personnel would vacuum the runway before each test flight.
• The Air Force has acknowledged the existence of the Nellis Range Complex near the Groom Dry Lake for many years now. There are a variety of activities, some of which are classified, throughout the complex.
• The range is used for the testing of technologies and systems training for operations critical to the effectiveness of U.S. military forces and the security of the United States.
• Some specific activities and operations conducted on the Nellis Range, both past and present, remain CLASSIFIED and cannot be discussed.

The A12 - Spy Plane could travel at 2200 MPH

• Suspended upside down, a titanium A-12 spy-plane prototype is prepped for radar testing at Area 51 in the late 1950s. 
• But pushing the limits came with risks—and led to the catastrophic 1963 crash of an A-12 based out of Area 51.
• After a rash of declassification's and the acknowledgement of the existence of Area 51, details of Cold War workings at the Nevada base, are coming to light—including images of an A-12 crash and its cover-up pictured publicly for the first time in May.

• Remnants of a crashed A-12 spy plane—including two engines and the shattered rear fuselage—litter the ground near Wendover, Utah, in a 1963 picture recently declassified by the CIA and published here for the first time.
• After pilot Ken Collins had parachuted to the ground, he was stunned to be greeted by three civilians in a pickup, who offered to give him a ride to the wreckage of his plane. Instead, Collins got them to give him a ride in the opposite direction, by telling them the plane had a nuclear weapon on board—a prearranged cover story to keep the Area 51 craft a secret. 
• Nearly undetectable to radar, the A-12 could fly at 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) an hour—fast enough to cross the continental U.S. in 70 minutes. From 90,000 feet (27,400 meters), the plane's cameras could capture foot-long (0.3-meter-long) objects on the ground below. 

You won't find it on any geological or aeronautical maps and yet like a place in the Twilight Zone, flights to it leave Las Vegas' McCarran Airport every day. Some say alien aircraft are stored there and reverse-engineered to create new aircraft and weapons, or it's the site of genetic testing or other diabolical plots. Others say it's just a very secret aircraft development site. No matter, what it is, Area 51 remains shrouded in mystery.

A Fascinating timeline of Events at Area 51 from it's inception to the present. 

The closest you will get to Area 51 without getting arrested.

“Buckle Up to Area 51 & Beyond and other Top Secret Places”

AREA 51 NEW BOOK COMING SOON!

 “Buckle Up to Area 51 & Beyond and other Top Secret Places”

This book is an anomaly. This is a guide NOT TO UFOs themselves but to the many practical matters concerning the HUNT for AERIAL OBJECTS in the vicinity of Area 51 and other TOP SECRET FACILITIES in the area. It is a guide to see and observe some of our great new experimental aircraft including some of the newest UAVs  and many more hidden adventures of Nevada and BEYOND!

Preparation:

• Get a full tank of gas.  The drive is super easy, full of beautiful empty scenery, and has hundreds of miles without gasoline.  The entire trip took us about one and a quarter tanks of gas, the majority of which was spent on the way there because it’s mostly a gentle steady climb up.  There is a gas station where you can fill back up on the return trip in Alamo.
• Read up on the theories and sights around Area 51.  The major Area 51 attractions are only sights and fences, so any trip out is only as exciting as what you know about the myths behind the mountains.  Of course you’re probably familiar with the Alien Theories, but there is  a lot more to the history of the place.  Having been there and read what I read before I went, I can now say that even if there aren’t aliens there, the government is definitely covering huge secrets up in this area.

What to Bring:

• Cash or Card – The A’Le’Inn accepts credit cards but they also sell $1 items that we paid for with cash.
• Camera – You’ll definitely want to take pictures, at the very least to prove you did find things on your trip.  Warning- There are signs on the Back Gate that say you cannot take pictures, use caution.  Also, every site I read and all the locals we spoke with were very clear that you cannot photograph the guards or the ‘Camo Dudes’.  The Camo Dudes will get fired if their picture gets out and the guards might EMP your car or arrest you.  As we drove up, the guard at the gate walked into a building – so it’s clear they don’t want to be photographed and simply get out of the way, but be careful.
• Gas – Make sure you leave Las Vegas with a full tank, and you’ll probably have to refill on the way back.

The Route and Sights:

(For Google Map directions search: HC61 Box 45 1 Old Mill Rd Rachel, NV 89001.

• Leaving Las Vegas get on the I-15 North and head out of town for about 25 miles.
• Exit exit 64 for US-93 N/Great Basin Hwy. You’ll take a Left at the end of the off-ramp and head straight out into the desert.
• Stay on US-93N for 80 – 90 miles.  Towards the end of this leg of the trip, you’ll pass through Alamo and Ash Springs.  These small towns are the last place to get gas before you head out in the desert.  Total you’ll be traveling between 90 – 140 miles before you get back to a gas station, we did it all on the same tank of gas, but judge your vehicle.
• Just past the Shell, Turn left at US-93 N/Great Basin Hwy.  When we were there, this is a abandoned cinder block building at the turn.
• As you turn onto US-93N, you’ll spot a fork in the road, you’re going to be turning Left.
• Turn left at NV-318 N/NV-375 N/State Hwy 375 (aka Extraterrestrial Highway)
• The rest of the trip will be based around driving down NV – 375 N.  The only thing to be on the lookout for is the free range cattle, especially at night.

Sight #1 – Extraterrestrial Highway Sign

Turning from US-93 onto State Hwy 375, you see the first Extraterrestrial Highway Sign.  The Highway was given it’s name in conjunction with the release of “Independence Day”, and there is plenty of room to pull off and take pictures before you head on.

Sight #2 – Tourist Stop – Alien Research Center

About a mile from the Extraterrestrial Highway Sign, there is a small roadside attraction named the Alien Research Center.  The museum and gift shop are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  It wasn’t open when we drove by, but we did stop for pictures by the giant alien statue. This is as touristy as the entire trip gets, if you can’t get Area 51 memorabilia here, A’Le’Inn has some further down the road.

Sight #3 – The Black Mailbox & The Front Gate



Between mile marker 30 and 29 is a square white mailbox (it was formerly painted black, which gave it the name the Black Mailbox).  For a long time it was thought that this was the mailbox for Area 51 – it’s not.  However, this mailbox is a demarcation of the road that heads down to the Front Gate of Area 51.  There was too much snow on the day we went to drive down the road, but everything I read left me with a few tips.

• The unmarked road just past the Black Mailbox is way more bumpy then the other road down to the Front Gate, which spurs off HWY 375 just after you crested the previous hill.
• The Front Gate is only a giant sign that says keep out – the Back Gate is way cooler.
• You are more likely to come across ‘Camo Dudes‘ heading to the front gate.  (They are private contractors not there to hurt you, just to make sure you don’t try to do anything crazy.)
• It’s about a 20 mile drive down to the Front Gate.

Sight #4 – A’Le’Inn

This restaurant/bar/gift shop is as close as Rachel gets to a tourist stop.  It’s a bit of a must-stop for true alien enthusiasts, and many of the locals are easy to talk to about what they’ve seen in the night skies.  At the very least, they have postcards which can be mailed from Rachel (though they don’t always have stamps).  In addition, A’Le’Inn sells the most comprehensive book on Area 51 and the surrounding area.  We tried the “World Famous Alien Burger”, tasty.  Also, further conjunction with the release of “Independence Day”, there is a time capsule buried next to the restaurant that will be opened in 2050.

Sight #5 – The Back Gate


The dirt road to the Back Gate spurs off HWY 375 between mile marker 12 and 11.  It is the only road within the mile markers, and there is a stop sign for traffic coming from that road.  The best way I can think to describe where this road is, as you come off the hill before the road, you’ll be able to see the few houses that make up Rachel, Nevada, it’s almost immediately on your left.  If you’re leaving Rachel, it will be the first road on your right.  If you pass it and hit the A’Le’Inn, someone there be able to point it out to you.

The back gate is great because there is actually a gate set-up in the middle of a field with a few cameras and a guard shack.  Don’t photograph the guards.

• It’s roughly eight miles from HWY – 375 to the Back Gate.  The first five miles are dirt, the last two or three are paved – Yes, it happens just like that; cow pasture, dirt road, new paved road, gate.  It’s totally awesome.
• There are more likely to be free range cattle along this stretch of the road.  The locals in Rachel told us to be very wary around them.  Apparently these cows charge and have taken out a few cars.  Don’t honk, spook them, or attempt to drive by if they are in the road.
• You’ll know when you are at the gate, and don’t try and cross.  In fact, we were told to stay at least 10-20 feet away.

Beyond the Unknown

Despite whatever may or may not be going on at Groom Lake, the Air Force openly carries out regular testing and training missions in the valley around Rachel.  Look for Red Flag and Green Flag days to see US and Allied forces racing through the area at only one-hundred feet off the ground.  Who knows, maybe you’ll see one of the prototype planes they’re building on the base.


Warnings

• Area 51 is a military base.  Whether or not there are aliens behind the mountain, there is still strict military protocol that doesn’t like to be bent or tested.  Don’t try and cross the fence, you will be fined and arrested.  Don’t taunt the guards, you can be arrested.
• Careful driving around the Free Range Cattle.  They can total your car, and it is a LONG way back to a repair shop

The best part of the trip out to Area 51 is that it really lives up to the idea of a top secret destination; there aren’t really any tourist sights, there aren’t any roadsigns pointing out the sights, and there is barely anybody there.  The first thing my Dad said when I told him where I visited was, “If there was ever anything there, it’s gone now.  If it’s mobile, it’s been moved.” Which is possibly true (I have since heard rumors of a secret base up in Colorado).  But, the best advice I can give anyone interested in going is to go, and don’t worry about the logistics.  There could definitely be aliens and UFO’s there.  Let your imagination run wild.  This place lived up to every expectation I had, which is rare.  It felt just like I wanted it to.  So, if you’ve ever had an interest in Area 51 – you should definitely go.

Have you ever been up to Area 51?  Seen any UFO’s in the sky?  Do you know anything about this other Colorado base?