A look at AREA 51 ...

[Mark Allen M]

Most of these photos are from the 1960's, 70's showing lots of interesting 'stuff' at AREA 51, Burbank CA and Edwards AFB ...
For those who do facebook there's plenty to look at in the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/habu122/photos/
For those that do not do facebook here's a flickr album link below. (207 photos)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/142209609 ... 429212752/


AREA 51 in the distance c 2011


AREA 51 runways from the air c 1980's


The Lockheed family of aircraft on the flight line.

[p51]

Ah yes, I used to play practical jokes on people going to Vegas, telling them to go to a certain gate at McCarran and say stuff that'll make the nice men in civvies but armed like a SEAL team show up and start asking their own questions. I stopped doing that when it almost cost a guy his security clearance for a gov't job he was bucking for (he was an utter tool, though, so no big loss).
Just keep in mind that everyone there knows when a sat will pass overhead so they're not likely to have anything 'cool' sitting out in the open (besides, all the good stuff is usually flown at night). They'd also be able to put stuff on roofs to make ID'ing buildings difficult as to their functionality.
Remember those string of UFO sightings in the Vegas area in the 70s and 80s? I always assumed they were F-117s, personally...
Whatever you do, don't read "Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base" by Annie Jacobsen. It reads like a Mad Magazine in her conclusions. If you have any knowledge of this kind of stuff, you'll find it to be a waste of money and a good laugh.

[JohnB]

My roommate at OTS was prior enlisted and as such had a Top Secret clearance...as opposed to the usual Secret...and was slotted for helicopter training.

I ran into him at Survival School and he said he was assigned to the Nellus annex because of his TS security clearance...He said it was necessary because of the support of the nuclear site.

In retroscpect, I suppose it was because of the Groom Lake site and the new stealth aircraft that were being tested then.

[Pogmusic]

Nellus?
Helicopters are used extensively in support nuke missions. So, he may have been telling the truth. In reality, a TS is no big deal. It is the level of TS that is important. I had a basic TS as an E-3 that was a NAC (National Agency Check). All they did was make sure you weren't wanted on outstanding warrants or had too many speeding tickets. However, as an O-3, I had a TS with all sorts of letters behind it. I think even the clearance level was classified. They checked everything for that one. They checked your references and then went around the neighborhood asking questions about the references. Don't even think about having a missed payment on ANY sort of loan or credit card...

Also, at all levels of clearance, one was constantly reminded of the security classifications and coding of documents and materials. So, anyone, ANYONE, who says that they did not know what the classification code on a document was, did not deserve to have ANY clearance. Just sayin'

[sandiego89]

Wow some great photos on the facebook site, thanks for sharing. Really neat to inside some of the hangers at Groom Lake.

Looks like the Lockheed line up photo is on the ramp at Edwards AFB, main base.

[wendovertom]

On the human side of things - One of the Hill AFB F-16 Demo team members and I got to chatting years ago. He had worked on the F-117 program and his observation was how many divorces there were among people who work out at Groom Lake. Its tough to leave and not come back for a week or more, no calls, no emails, just silence. It was just too much for some families to bear for very long.

Tom P.

[JohnB]

Lance

If course it is Nellis...my tablet auto correct strikes again.

He may have had an enhanced TS. In our conversation we didn't go that deeply into the matter. It makes sense that someone at the AFPC would have selected someone already with a TS clearance for a sensitive job. Still, as a helicopter pilot, I suspect he would have been more likely to see something regarding secret aeronautical happenings than he would have exposed to weapons secrets.

Oh, the good old days of clearances (and their paperwork)...for one assignment I received a TS-SCI...which was said to cost a lot of money.
For a long while family members and friends reported visits from background investigators.

[p51]

Nellus?
Helicopters are used extensively in support nuke missions. So, he may have been telling the truth. In reality, a TS is no big deal. It is the level of TS that is important. I had a basic TS as an E-3 that was a NAC (National Agency Check). All they did was make sure you weren't wanted on outstanding warrants or had too many speeding tickets. However, as an O-3, I had a TS with all sorts of letters behind it. I think even the clearance level was classified. They checked everything for that one. They checked your references and then went around the neighborhood asking questions about the references. Don't even think about having a missed payment on ANY sort of loan or credit card...

Also, at all levels of clearance, one was constantly reminded of the security classifications and coding of documents and materials. So, anyone, ANYONE, who says that they did not know what the classification code on a document was, did not deserve to have ANY clearance. Just sayin'

Yep, my brother was in ICBMs for the USAF and had an alphabet at the end of his clearance. they even asked my friends about him (how they connected my high school friends to him attests to how deep they go with these. When I became a Army officer a few years later, I talked with someone about my own clearance and was told most of the heavy lifting had bene done already, I can only assume due to his clearance the years before. hey had my childhood covered, I assume to find out if immediately family might sway someone with their literal hands on the launch keys.
I had a basic TS as far as I know. They were getting ready for the cool letter version when I decided to pop smoke and seek life elsewhere.
But yeah, I had a (mostly TOW) missile shop in my company and those guys were E-3s mostly and they had all TS clearances due to what they were working on every day.

[b29flteng]

Some of us in the Texas ANG (181st. TAS) got TS clearances after Desert Storm. Apparently some air crews, during DS, couldn't see photos of their targets because it required a TS clearance. They could bomb them but not see a photo. The investigators came to my work place and interviewed everyone that knew me, I had a supervisor ask me what kind of trouble I was in. They interviewed all of my neighbors, and finally interviewed me. Did I get to see any cool stuff afterward, nope, I just had a TS clearance on all of my travel orders till I retired.

[Kyleb]

Some of us in the Texas ANG (181st. TAS) got TS clearances after Desert Storm. Apparently some air crews, during DS, couldn't see photos of their targets because it required a TS clearance. They could bomb them but not see a photo.

I read an article recently where they discussed the "secret squirrel" nature of recon photos. The recon systems were purchased with the premise of giving better information to people actually fighting the wars, but the information was ultimately classified at a level which precluded sharing that information with the folks who needed it.

So the various services began hiring time on private photo satellites and using information from public mapping sources (i.e. Google) to plan their forays, negating their need (and their part of the justification) for the expensive satellite systems.

So, to protect their funding, the NRO (or whoever owns the US satellite fleet) began sharing their information much more widely.

Don't ya love silos and bureaucracies...

[ZRX61]

People with stuff in their past can get waivers for clearances. I know a child abuser (mental, not physical) who has one of the highest clearances & she has access to stuff out at Groom Lake. They simply decided not to look at the paperwork from the DCFS.

[Spitty]

I still like China Lake..
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