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The amount of information the United States government has been willing to provide regarding Area 51 has generally been very minimal. The government explicitly concedes in various court filings, government directives and replies to inquiries, that the USAF has an "operating location" near Groom Lake, but does not provide any further information. Information on and photos of various past projects have been declassified however and are now available to the public.The base does not appear on public U.S. government maps; the USGS topographic map for the area only shows the long-disused Groom Mine. A civil aviation chart published by the Nevada Department of Transportation shows a large restricted area, but defines it as part of the Nellis restricted airspace.
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The official aeronautical navigation charts for the area show Groom Lake but omit the airport facilities. Similarly the National Atlas page showing federal lands in Nevada does not distinguish between the Groom block and other parts of the Nellis range. Although officially declassified, the original film taken by U.S. Corona spy satellite in the 1960s has been altered prior to declassification; in answer to freedom of information queries, the government responds that these exposures which map to Groom and the entire NAFR appear to have been destroyed. Terra satellite images which were publicly available, were removed from web servers ,including Microsoft's TerraServer-USA, in 2004, and from the monochrome 1 m resolution USGS data dump made publicly available. NASA Landsat 7 images are still available (these are used in the NASA World Wind. Higher resolution and more recent, images from other satellite imagery providers including Russian providers and the IKONOS are commercially available. These show, in considerable detail, the runway marking, base facilities, aircraft, and vehicles
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Unlike much of the Nellis range, the area surrounding the lake is permanently off-limits both to civilian and normal military air traffic. Radar stations protect the area, and unauthorized personnel are quickly expelled.
Even military pilots training in the NAFR risk disciplinary action if they stray into the exclusionary"box"surrounding Groom's airspace.Perimeter security is provided by uniformed private security guards working for EG&G's security subcontractor Wackenhut, who patrol in Humvees, SUVs, and pickup trucks.
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The guards are armed with M16s, but no violent encounters with Area 51 observers have been reported; instead, the guards generally follow visitors near the perimeter and radio for the Lincoln County Sheriff. Deadly force is authorized if violators who attempt to breach the secured area fail to heed warnings to halt.
Fines of around $600 seem to be the normal course of action, although some visitors and journalists report receiving follow-up visits from FBI agents. Some observers have been detained on public land for pointing camera equipment at the base. Surveillance is supplemented using buried motion sensors.
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Aerial imagery shows the airfield of Area 51 having seven runways including one that now appears to be closed. The closed runway, 14R/32L, is also by far the longest with a total length of approximately 23,300 feet (7,100 m), not including stopway. It appears to contain numerous cracks, the concrete slabs used in its construction having deteriorated due to the desert heat.The two active airfield runways are of asphalt construction, 14L/32R with a length of 12,000 feet (3,700 m) and 12/30 with a length of 5,400 feet (1,600 m), and four runways located on the salt lake. These four runways are 09L/27R and 09R/27L, which are both approximately 11,450 feet (3,490 m), and 03L/21R and 03R/21L, which are both approximately 10,000 feet (3,000 m).The control tower and a support building is located at adjacent to an access road in the taxiway area.
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There is also a twin-ended hangar located in the taxiway area. It has one end for fixed winged aircraft, the opposite end for helicopters and what may be an area for personnel in the middle of the structure. It may possibly be used for alert aircraft.On the flight line are two open transient aircraft parking ramps, along with what appears to be a terminal/base operations buildings visible. A large number of vehicles are parked near it, likely being used for personnel transport around the base. The northern transient aircraft ramp appears to be used for single or twin-engine commuter aircraft; the southern transient ramp for larger aircraft. Imagery shows several Boeing 737 aircraft parked on the southern ramp. These are likely used for transporting personnel to the Groom Lake facility from other locations.
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Approximately 15.5 miles north-northeast of the base, on a peak known as Baldy Mountain, are a series of radar radomes , at approximately 9,400' elevation. The types of radar at these sites is unknown, although they may be the ARSR-4 Air Route Surveillance Radar which is used by the Air Force and FAA Joint Surveillance System throughout the United States. Another series of radars of a different type are located on a ridge at 4,300' just to the north of Groom Lake at . All of the radar sites appear to be automated and unattended.
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Approximately 85 miles to the northeast of the Area 51 airfield is a 7,300' airstrip aligned 03/21, that is parallel to U.S. Route 6 . This airfield is known as "Base Camp Airfield". There is no sign at the facility except "U.S. Government" and to "Keep Out". It is alleged that the facility is operated by civilian government contractor personnel on behalf of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California. It may be an auxiliary airfield for the Groom Lake airfield.
In addition to the single runway, there is a small residential compound presumably for the operations staff; a radome which appears to be a VORTAC/VOR-DME station; an industrial compound; and a fire station. The runway, equipped with modern navigation aids, is shown as "closed" on air charts and is marked with an "X" painted on either runway end, however aerial imagery shows the industrial compound has several vehicles parked inside it, and a vehicle parked near the aircraft parking ramp of the airstrip.
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Halligan Mesa Radar Site is located approximately 15 miles northeast of Base Camp Airfield . It is an electronics and communications facility used for collecting data for Air Force testing programs conducted in the vicinity of the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) and the Nellis North Range
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This may sound a little wild, but some people believe that when an alien spacecraft crashed in Roswell, N.M. if, in fact, it really did the government sent the wreckage and the body of an alien almost 900 miles (1,448 kilometers) away to Area 51 near Las Vegas, Nev., to be examined. Some people even say that warehouses of alien technology and living aliens can be found in the tunnels and facilities underneath the visible buildings of Area 51. There are even some people who believe that the aliens are in charge at the site and are trying to come up with a human-alien hybrid because they can't reproduce themselves. Some think the government allows these aliens to abduct people freely for various experiments. The Air Force has denied any connection between aliens and Area 51.
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Despite Air Force denial, however, conspiracy theorists still maintain that Area 51 is connected to aliens. In 1987, Robert Lazar claimed that the government was holding nine alien spacecraft near Area 51, and that he was helping them adapt technology from the aircraft to help power military equipment. According to Lazar, he discovered a special substance called "Element 115" that powered the alien ships.
Most believe Lazar's claims to be false, but since he appeared on television making these statements in the late '80s, he inspired new public interest in the idea of aliens at Area 51.The government has used the airspace around Area 51 for test flights over the years, and many people have reported seeing UFOs in the area. However, many of the government's test aircraft in the past may have looked strange, causing people to think they were seeing something other than Earthly craft.
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So What do you Believe ? ARE WE ALONE ON THIS PLANET EARTH and IS IT TRUE ABOUT AREA 51 in Nevada in the western United States.
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