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A Place Where Dreams Are Made (An Area 51 History)
From: Lee Wallace <lee.wallace@virgin.net>
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 1997 05:43:20 -0800
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I have a considerable interest in UFOs, Area 51, Aircraft, etc. and have
read many books and magazines on these subjects. I have put together the
following history on this mysterious complex for my own personnel use
and reference.
A Place Where Dreams Are Made
By Lee Wallace
During 1954 the first stages of Area 51 were built at Groom Dry Lake,
Nevada. At this time there was also thirty one atmospheric nuclear test
sites situated throughout the Nevada Test Site (NTS). By 1956 this
number had increased by 14.
The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) first announced the existence of this
base in 1955 as Watertown. A booklet distributed to the press by the AEC
in 1957 stated that the facility was within the Las Vegas Bombing and
Gunnery Range. It was described as a small complex with "dormitories,
equipment, buildings and a small airstrip" [5,000 ft long, made of
asphalt]". The booklet said the base was run by the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, which later became NASA) and "that U-2
jet aircraft with special characteristics for flight at exceptionally
high altitudes had been flown from Watertown to make weather
observations for the Air Weather Service of the US Air Force. The U-2
aircraft based here also bore the NACA markings.
The true reason for the base, hidden behind the cover story, was to be
used as a remote and secure test location for Lockheed's U-2 spy plane,
which was under the authority of the CIA. The tests went extremely well
considering they were frequently interrupted because the personnel at
the base were to be evacuated whenever a nuclear test was to take place
nearby.
The base suffered extensive damage during some of these detonations. One
in particular was HOOD, the 6th nuclear shot of Operation Plumbob. This
bomb was lofted to 1,500 ft about 14 miles South-West of Watertown. It
exploded on July 5 1957 and was five times as powerful as the bomb
dropped on Hiroshima. The damage, shattered windows on the west sideÆs
of both Building 2 and the Mess Hall, a broken ventilator panel on the
north side of Dormitory Building 102, 2 Butler Buildings on the west
side of the base, a Maintenance Building on the west side of the base
had its west and east doors buckled and the south door of the Supply
Warehouse west of the hangers was buckled in.
In 1957 a memo stated that ' Latest info here indicates Watertown will
continue operation through June 30, 1957, and possibly for an additional
year there after." [By this time, to the best of my knowledge, the U-2
program was moved to other locations.]
In 1960 the airbase was given the new designation Area-51, this was to
appear on most documents and maps for the next 2 decades. The reason, it
was being revisited to support the OXCART program ( A-12 ), yet another
covert program for a CIA spy plane.
Construction began in Sept 1960 and included new hangers, dormitories,
runways and fuel storage facilities. The runway was extended to 8,500 ft
and was covered by 74,971 ft of concrete. Three Surplas Navy hangers
were constructed at the North side, and 100 Surplas Navy housing
Buildings were also added. A Warehouse and Shop space were built and the
old buildings were repaired. 18 miles of highway was resurfaced leading
into the base. [ the first A-12's were transported from Palmdale to
Groom Lake by road. This was done in very large containers on the back
of special trucks.]
In Early 1962 a fuel tank farm with a capacity of 1,320,000 gallons was
complete. By this time support aircraft began arriving at Groom Lake.
These included 8 McDonnell F-101's for chase and training, 2 Lockheed
T-33s for proficiency training, 1 Lockheed C-130 for transport of most
of the A-12's, 1 Cessna U-3A for administration purposes, 1 Helicopter
for search and rescue, 1 Cessna 180 for liaison use, and an F-104 was
used as a chase plane. In January of the same year there was an
expansion of the restricted air space surrounding the base. Selected
military radar facilities were told not to report radar sightings of
high-performance aircraft.
The first A-12 reached the base, by road, at 1.00 pm on the February 28,
1962.
The last above ground test at the NTS took place on July 17, 1962.
The M-21 / D-21 aircraft reached Area-51 on the August 12, 1964.
By 1966 the D-21's were being dropped from modified B-52's at Area-51.
The A-12 Program was terminated in 1968. This was the year a ceremony
took place at Area-51 to celebrate the success of the A-12 program. It
was attended by the test pilots, some USAF personnel, Kelly Johnson of
Skunk Works, along with more Skunk Works personnel, and the Deputy
Director of Central Intelligence.
By 1969 the D-21 program had been moved to Beale AFB.
[Nearly 8 years passed before Area-51 was used again]
The next known aircraft to be based at Area-51 was the Lockheed Have
Blue aircraft. This was the early version of the Senior Trend / F-117
program. The first was delivered by C-5A Galaxy on November 16, 1977.
By July 11, 1979 the last of the two Have Blue was written off at Groom
Lake. [It seems that the designation Area-51 was no longer used by 1979,
it was now known as Groom Lake.]
On November 16, 1978 the contract was won, and the F-117 program was
started. It was named Senior Trend. The first flight took place on June
18, 1981 at Groom Lake. The Senior Trend program was soon designated
F-117A.By October 1983, the F-117A program was moved to the Tonopah Test
Range (TTR), NV, an airbase modified especially to take the F-117A
program.
Workers are flown from the Janet Terminal at McCarran Airport, LV, to
Groom Lake and the TTR in Janet 737-200's with a red stripe on the side.
The Nellis Ranges boast an 8 million-acre Bombing and Gunnery Range, 3
million acres of which are restricted, said to be for live munitions.
There were an additional 89,000 acres seized in 1986 surrounding Groom
Lake.
The existence of Groom Lake was acknowledged in November of 1994 , but
the U.S. Government said the base has no name, thus still preventing
lawsuits from continuing against the base.
There were a further 4,000 acres siezed in April 10, 1995.
The only things that leave Groom Lake are the workers, everything else
is either burned or buried, i.e. jeeps, jet parts, food scraps etc.
----------------------------------
The above history of Groom Lake is far from complete, there are many
gaps in the use of the base as the reader has probably noticed :-
1957 - 1960 At least 2 years unused.
1969 - 1977 At least 8 years unused.
1983 - To Present -- At least 13 years unused.
The aircraft developed at this base, that are unclassified, are :-
U-2, A-12, Have Blue, F-117A, M-21, D-21
Posted with permission of author.
Index: Base History
Created: Jul 31, 1997
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