# has area 51 moved? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952 "2001-01-27T02:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/1 "2001-01-27T02:03:49Z")
While watching the discovery channel a few days ago, there was a program devoted to various USA secrets. One of which, according to Nevada ‘experts’ was that activity such as launches, sonic booms, and personnel flights/buses (from the so called ‘janet’ terminal at Las Vegas airport) had wound down and more or less ceased to, from, and over what is called ‘Area 51’. The new position for what ahd previously gone on there was given as between Utah and Colorado, near Michael Air Force Base, shrouded on all sides by mountains. I’m not a great believer in alien conspiracy theories ie the X-files, or the reliability of the Discovery Channel but this intrigues me, espescially as various toxic waste type lawsuits have been filed against the US government from civilian employees dying after working there. Anybody shed any light on what i’m on about? ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/2 "2001-01-27T02:32:07Z")
_Dreamland_ has moved. _Area 51_ doesn’t exist, and hasn’t for a while–it’s from a no-longer-used mapping system. ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/3 "2001-01-27T02:58:22Z")
Smells covert to me. “Michaels Air Force Base” only got one hit on Google, and the official Air Force web site doesn’t even mention it. [http://www.senate.gov/~burns/p-jul11.htm](http://www.senate.gov/~burns/p-jul11.htm) [http://www.af.mil/sites/alphabetical.shtml#m](http://www.af.mil/sites/alphabetical.shtml#m) Terraserver has some cool satellite photos of what was Area 51. [http://www.terraserver.com/Area51\_coverage.asp](http://www.terraserver.com/Area51_coverage.asp) Find out the exact location of Michaels AFB and we can find it on Terraserver. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/4 "2001-01-27T03:28:15Z")
All the fuctions that were performed at the base in the Nevada desert known as Area 51 have supposedly been moved to an extremely remote base in Utah. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/5 "2001-01-27T03:55:46Z")
I’d read in popular science that It had moved to West texas or something, cause 51 was getting too popular. ---
**Author:** ![schief2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/6 "2001-01-27T04:07:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shiva \* > **Smells covert to me. “Michaels Air Force Base” only got one hit on Google, and the official Air Force web site doesn’t even mention it.** Sure does smell covert, doesn’t it? Luckily, these days it seems like any military installation, no matter how obscure or secret, has a [possibly crackpot web page](http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/dud/index.html) about it. (Apparently it’s part of the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah) > [@](#): > > UFOlogists have hinted that [DPG’s] secret status, underground facilities, and low profile make it the perfect place for sequestering of “alien artifacts” and other items of extraterrestrial origin. This claim is nearly impossible to verify given the secret nature of the installation and the dearth of publicly available information on the facility. > > The facility includes Michaels Air Force Base, an emergency landing facility for the space shuttle. This facility has been in the news lately as a location where the public will be able to view test flights of advanced prototype NASA spacecraft. Does look like it includes some links to satellite maps of the area, though… ---
**Author:** ![King\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7bcc69/32.png) [@King\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/7 "2001-01-27T04:13:26Z")
I’d tell you, but unfortunately then I’d have to kill you. ---
**Author:** ![schief2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@schief2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/schief2)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/8 "2001-01-27T04:18:59Z")
Upon closer inspection, that site I posted previously doesn’t seem so crackpot after all…seeing talk of “alien artifacts” on the very first page just got me a bit leery. FWIW, here’s a link to a Terraserver map of the Dugway Proving Ground area: [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?T=1&S=14&X=99&Y=1389&Z=12&W=0&mscssid=](http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?T=1&S=14&X=99&Y=1389&Z=12&W=0&mscssid=) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/9 "2001-01-27T04:28:12Z")
The general consensus among government watchers is that Area 51 was just too damn popular to maintain a secret base there. I’ve heard that some of the testing is now going on in the White Sands Missle Range. ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/10 "2001-01-27T05:28:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by schief2 \* > \*\*FWIW, here’s a link to a Terraserver map of the Dugway Proving Ground area: > > [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?T=1&S=14&X=99&Y=1389&Z=12&W=0&mscssid=](http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?T=1&S=14&X=99&Y=1389&Z=12&W=0&mscssid=) \*\* Oh great, giant bullseye targets and Nazca-esque runways for alien spaceships carved out of the remote desert by the US military! 😉 The X-Files crowd is going to love this. The 13,125-foot runway could be handy for X-33 testing and shuttle emergency landings though. The ICAO ID for Michael AAF is KDPG if anyone cares to dig further. ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/11 "2001-01-27T17:45:26Z")
A very long runway that appears to be under construction (May, 1995) at Dugway aka Michaels AFB or AAF. The USGS topo map describes it as an ‘airstrip’. [http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?S=13&T=1&X=191&Y=2781&Z=12&W=2](http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.asp?S=13&T=1&X=191&Y=2781&Z=12&W=2) An article supposedly from the Salt Lake Tribune. [http://www.ufomind.com/area51/list/1997/may/a27-007.shtml](http://www.ufomind.com/area51/list/1997/may/a27-007.shtml) They charge to view the archives and I’m cheap, so this is not verified. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-area-51-moved/51952/12 "2001-01-27T19:34:15Z")
The dicovery program I mentioned before gave the ‘new’ area 51 location like this: UTAH | new area 51 | COLORADO \* | | michael airforce base \* | (| lines are mountains) apparently no-one, such as the area 51 crew that regularly go to look at the now disused base would go near michael because its apparently there where they field test biological weapons etc. Sorry for omitting this info before. poor geography and being english limit my knowledge as to how accurate this map is. Its roughly what it looked like on the program, and I dont know the scale at all, but I do know its in harsh and sparsely, if at all populated area, though if its military owned it wont be now. make of this what you will if its any help Paulberserk