Two questions. What is the farthest anyone has ever snuck into the Area 51 permimeter? If one had to sneak in, what is the best way to do so? (It is against policy to talk about sneaking into a non existant place)
Rest assured, Area 51 exists (inasmuch as it was a designation on a map for a particular place, namely the Groom Lake airfield at Nellis Air Force Range in Nevada). Also, it is illegal to “sneak in” and therefore to talk about the best way to do so would be to violate the SDMB policy on discussing how to do illegal things.
I would be halfway interested in an answer to the first part though.
I don’t know how far anyone has snuck inside the perimeter, but I’ll wager they didn’t get too far inside. (The official title is Area 51 of the Nevada Test Range, owned by the Department of Energy.) The DoD and the DoE (who jointly manage the test range that Area 51 is a part of) maintain very tight security. Not only are “black” projects tested there, but there is likely a lot of unexploded ordnance on certain parts of the range.
I’ve never been to Area 51 but I’ve been in some of the areas adjacent to it, including the (former) Nellis AFB. While security was strict, I didn’t see any indications of flying saucers, alien autopsies, or electro-destrutor rays. I did see a lot of old junk of Cold War vintage, but nothing worth speaking of.
BTW, there is a tourist area (I don’t think it qualifies as an actual town) at the junction between US 95 and the road that leads into that part of the test range where you can buy all sorts of touristy alien crap. Some people really go for the stuff, I guess. Me, the strangest thing I saw was a 1953 Mercury that had the paint scorched off on one side. I guess they parked too close. :eek:
Stranger
[Nerd voice ON]
Actually many people have ‘snuck in’ to Area 51. They are people who work there.
Analysing the alien spacecraft and making autopsy films.
Someday THEY will let US in to Area 51. Of course THEY will have moved IT elsewhere, so WE will find NOTHING. This proves there is a CONSPIRACY.
[Nerd voice OFF]
I spent an afternoon in August taking an unmarked dirt road in the NE corner of Area 51. Got as far as a “WARNING DO NOT CROSS” sign hidden in a blind alley, snapped a few photos, then headed back to Vegas.
On the way back, I was scoped out by a Nevada State Trooper. Probably a coincidence. 
What if you’re Jewish?
That would be illegal, and we do not permit questions about how to break the law. I’ll leave this thread open since the first question is acceptable. Anyone providing an answer to the unacceptable question will be in big trouble with my and my gray friends.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
Before the federal Government procured all the land surrounding groom lake, some friends and I got a pretty good view of ithe facility from Freedom Ridge. It’s off-limits now, though.
Every good vantage point is now officially government-owned. I would strongly advise that you just take a good look at the readily-available satellite imagery rather than risk getting your ass shot off.
You do have to do a bit of fancy footwork. Officially, the US government won’t let you do this but there’s nothing to stop you going to Russia and taking the Tunguska shuttle to Farside (there’s one every hour). Here’s the thing though: there’s no real policy against leaving, it’s when you try to get back that things get hard. So buy a single, not a return, and you won’t ring alarm bells. Don’t buy any other ticket at this stage. At Farside, buy two tickets[sup]*[/sup], another single to Alpha Centauri direct and a Monthly Local System Rover. I know it’s cheaper to get a single to AC via Mars, but don’t do that: immigration will pick up that you haven’t arrived there earlier and you’ll have less time.
Officially, buying two tickets like this is a bit of a grey area, but aim to get to Farside on a weekday afternoon. That’s when one ticket clerk, a guy called Eddie (well that’s as near as you can pronounce it) will be on. He’s the guy with only one nose and with an earring through that, ummm, whatever you call that thing. You’ll know him when you see him. Slip him a 1960’s Playboy (yeah, I know, bestiality, ick, but whatever turns him on) and he’ll sell you the two, no questions asked.
Go through the gates and immigration showing the Single to AC. When you’re through, though, just nonchalantly wander off to your left and go through into the lounge for the flight down to Groom Lake Base. If anyone stops you, just say you’re looking up a friend in the GL lounge, and you’ll be back at the gate for AC in a minute. Show them the Single. They’ll take your word for it because they’ll figure no one in their right mind is going to shell out for an outworld single then just take the hop back down to GL at a hundredth the fare. When you get to the gate, show the Monthly. Because you’re on a Monthly, everyone’s going to think you’re a commuter, so they’re not going to look at you too closely.
Easy. You’ll have about a month before some desk jockey notices the glitch in the paperwork and they start tracing you.
Good luck. I suppose I’m going to get banned now.
[sub]* I never said this was going to be cheap, did I?[/sub]
From the Discovery Channel type shows Ive seen, they have cameras hidden in logs and trees LONG before you get to a fence. They know you are comming a mile away. (Or more perhaps)
Clearly you are not up with the facts. Alien technology has superseded cameras.
I can’t say more on an open forum, except to say that they know when you’re planning to come.
I doubt it, but the men in white suits may be coming for you.
Stranger
You can fly aroundit legally… Or at least, you could in '96. Not being in the US, I have no idea if the restricted airspace has changed.
Consult your local laws.
When did Nellis become “former”? It still has units assigned to it (including the Thunderbirds) and recently wrapped up this year’s “Red Flag” excercise.
IIRC, all the ‘neat stuff’ that went on at Area 51 has been moved to a new base in BFE Utah.
My former father-in-law is a retired Air Force Colonel, and piloted aircraft near the site several times. I asked him about Area 51 and he told me, “I have no idea what’s out there, but I do know enought to stay the hell away from it when I’m in an airplane. I don’t think they’d have much problme shooting me out of the sky.”
I beg your pardon; Nellis AFB is indeed open; I was specifically refering to the “Mellon Strip” where the F-117s were based in the 80s at the north end of the Tonopah Test Range while undergoing operational testing and pre-deployment operations. On review, the area is still part of the Nellis Range Complex but is managed by the DoE. Anyway, not much worth seeing there, ‘cept at lot of antelope, some elk, and a bunch o’ rocks. Certainly not worth getting picked up by guys with automatic weapons and being held incommunicado for an indefinite period of time while being intimidated by people whose job is to display no sense of humor about such things.
I’d rather sneak onto the grounds of the Playboy Mansion, personally. 
Stranger
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- Some years ago the gov’t made a major expansion to the area–you used to be able to legally go to a couple hilltops that overlooked the base. Apparently you can’t do that anymore.
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- Also a couple or three years ago it was noted that much of the activity that used to be done at Area 51 had been moved elsewhere. Aircraft-industry watchers said that this was done because the project that the people there were working on changed to a vertical-take-off scramjet aircraft (dubbed “Project Aurora”) that did not need the huge landing strip Groom Lake had. The rocket is noted for its odd exhaust, which leaves a small solid stream of vapor with smoke rings around it at regular intervals, and is frequently described as “donuts-on-a-rope”.
General Googlage for “groom lake aurora rocket donuts”:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=groom+lake+aurora+rocket+donuts&btnG=Search
Google Image Search for “donuts on rope”, pics of the odd exhaust:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=donuts+on+rope&btnG=Search
~
so, to paraphrase the OP : "How far has anybody sneaked into the Playboy Mansion? "
Because the original name for Playboy magazine was going to be “Stag Party” and the symbol Hugh Hefner wanted to use was a cartoon stag–i.e. antelope.
[note to mods–sorry 'bout the hijack…but it is relevant to antelope, which is relevant to the post by Stranger, which is relevant to the OP ;)].
Easy to get in: send your resume. If you’re hired, you can visit everyday.