# So What's REALLY In "Area 51"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963 "2004-09-10T21:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2004, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/21 "2004-09-13T23:36:00Z")
Well, I’ve actually spent many days just a few ridges away, at Frenchman Flat in the Nevada Test Site, and I can tell you with certainty some of the things that are “REALLY in” Area 51: - Sand - Dust - More sand and dust - Jackrabbits - Sidewinders - Kangaroo rats (swarms!) - Foxes - Painted Tortoises [sup]1[/sup] - Scrub grass and chapparal, except on the lake beds, where there is NOTHING - Even more sand and dust [sup]1[/sup] Well, actually… I’ve never seen any tortoises, but there are signs all over the NTS saying, in effect, “don’t drive over the tortoises.” And the one picture I did see of a tortoise, it had a number painted on its back ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/22 "2004-09-14T00:11:19Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > If I can throw my hat in the ring…it sounds no more secretive than plenty of places in Britain. Obviously, being in a desert makes it possible to have a much larger perimiter. But what is sinister about being turned back, or being told that if you encroach you’ll be met with deadly force? If I drive through the gates of the nearest RAF base at full speed, shouldn’t I expect to be _dealt with_? [Well, it looks like the security at Groom Lake is a _lot_ tighter than that in Britain.](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/13/britain.palace/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/23 "2004-09-14T13:23:48Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > You forgot: > > [ul] > [li]James Hoffa’s body[/li][li]The orignal prints of the first three Star Wars movies. [/li][li]The set where the Moon Landing was Filmed[/li][li]The lost contients of Atlantis, Mu and Lumeria[/li][li]The missing 9/11 plane[/li][li]The Holy Grail[/li][li]A bunch of cool Knights Templar/Freeman stuff[/li][li]Elvis’s condo[/li][li]The list of names of those who killed JFK[/li][li]The Body of Christ[/li][/ul] No, that’s [Warehouse 23](http://www.warehouse23.com/basement/). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/24 "2004-09-14T13:38:30Z")
My former father-in-law is a retired colonel in the USAF. His wife is an engineer for a defense contractor that specializes in making guidance systems. Lynn (the wife) won’t confirm or deny that she’s ever been there (I stopped asking), and John told me “I’ve piloted a plane near it and the only thing I know for sure about the place is to stay away from it - when they say “Don’t come near here or we’ll shoot you out of the sky,” they mean it.” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/25 "2004-09-14T14:03:50Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > The amazing story of the USAF’s large fleet of captured, stolen and otherwise secretly acquired Soviet aircraft… Secretly acquired? I thought we paid good money for them. IIRC, the going rate was $500,000 in gold. > [@GorillaMan](#): > > MI6 never officially existed in Britain until the 90s, IIRC, but that didn’t give the idea that it was busy studying spaceships. No, instead we just got James Bond. ---
**Author:** ![six\_personalities](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@six\_personalities](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/six_personalities)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/26 "2004-09-14T14:11:27Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > [li]Elvis’s condo[/li] > [/list] First time I read this,I thought it said Elvis’s condom.Boy did that worry me… ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/27 "2004-09-14T14:17:24Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [Well, it looks like the security at Groom Lake is a _lot_ tighter than that in Britain.](http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/13/britain.palace/index.html) Since when is MI6 based at Buckingham palace? ---
**Author:** ![Kilt-wearin\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/82dd89/32.png) [@Kilt-wearin\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilt-wearin_man)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/28 "2004-09-14T14:48:19Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Secretly acquired? I thought we paid good money for them. IIRC, the going rate was $500,000 in gold. Not all of the Soviet equipment the US had was handed to us by defectors. Some that were purchased were purchased secretly from other governments that equipped their forces with Soviet equipment, but still maintained friendly relations with us. That’s still a “secret” acquisition - after all, if the Soviets had known about it, they’d have stopped selling to those countries. ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/29 "2004-09-14T16:54:26Z")
Some of it also came from Germany or the former Czechoslovakia. After the Berlin Wall fell, for instance, the new, re-unified German military had a bunch of Soviet-supplied stuff they really didn’t want, so we purchased Hinds, Hips, MiG’s, etc. A former East German missle corvette was even [a commissioned unit in the US Navy](http://www.hazegray.org/features/hiddensee/) for a time. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/30 "2004-09-14T17:28:35Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > [DCP: 37 degrees north, 116 degrees west (visit #2)](http://www.confluence.org/confluence.php?id=679) There are a few places where you can get a view of the base about like this. Rugged terrain up rocky slopes that can be done on a motorcycle if you have any rock-riding skills and time to waste. Not much to see really, but I can say I saw it. There are far more interesting places in Nevada to see, believe me. > [@plnnr](#): > > …and John told me “I’ve piloted a plane near it and the only thing I know for sure about the place is to stay away from it - when they say “Don’t come near here or we’ll shoot you out of the sky,” they mean it.” My old man flew out of Nellis and told me there were “blacked-out” spaces on maps and was told that if he ever had to bail out/crash land in these areas, to not move from the spot and would be picked up. He also, as a passenger on a transport, flew into an unmarked base and was held on the plane by armed guards till it left the ground again. He figures it was Groom or possibly Tonopah. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/31 "2004-09-14T18:20:52Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > Well, I’ve actually spent many days just a few ridges away, at Frenchman Flat in the Nevada Test Site, and I can tell you with certainty some of the things that are “REALLY in” Area 51: > > - Jackrabbits > - Sidewinders > - Kangaroo rats (swarms!) > - Foxes > - Painted Tortoise Well, what else are the Chupacabras supposed to eat? ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2004, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963/32 "2004-09-14T20:19:42Z")
Umm… Maybe _goats_, perhaps?? (Preferably, juicy ones.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-really-in-area-51/263963.md?page=1)