From: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Subject: Skunk Works Digest V4 #120 Reply-To: skunk-works-digest@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Errors-To: skunk-works-digest-owner@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu Precedence: bulk Skunk Works Digest Monday, 17 January 1994 Volume 04 : Number 120 In this issue: bad craziness! (Groom Lake trip report) Re: Please Read! Important administrative news See the end of the digest for information on subscribing to the skunk-works or skunk-works-digest mailing lists and on how to retrieve back issues. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: TRADER@cup.portal.com Date: Sun, 16 Jan 94 21:34:21 PST Subject: bad craziness! (Groom Lake trip report) Here's a brief (and hopefully informative) trip report about my visit to see Groom Lake from Freedom Ridge on Jan. 15, 1994. (The secret US Air Force test facility at Groom Lake is also known as "Dreamland", "Area 51", "The Ranch", and "Watertown Strip".) I had planned for more people and had rented a passenger van to transport us from Costa Mesa, CA. Because of last minute cancellations, only 3 of us ended up driving to Nevada on Friday night. Tip - make Nevada hotel/motel reservations -before- you travel, if you go during a three day holiday weekend (Monday is Martin Luther King's birthday and southern Nevada was overflowing with tourists). We ended up getting a room in Jean, NV, but due to various things, we didn't get a lot of sleep. Unfortunately, we got going rather late Saturday morning. I dropped my friend Al off in Las Vegas, because he was worried the US government would yank his visa and deport him if he got caught up at Groom Lake. I took US Highway 93 out of Las Vegas and headed north with a close female friend. Travel tip -- Upper Pahranagat Lake (south of Alamo, NV) is very scenic. We did some sightseeing and birdwatching there, and got back on the road. We turned west up Hwy. 375 and turned on to the Groom Lake dirt road (at milepost 34.6). Glenn Campbell (psychospy@aol.com) and friends had been busy -- I particularly like the yellow sign marked "Sensor" where a hidden sensor was located. We drove down the dirt road and only saw one security vehicle, at a good distance to the left. I accidentally went past the parking area 13.6 miles down the dirt road because there were no vehicles there around 2:30 PM Saturday. I did a quick turn-around when I saw the "Warning - Military Installation" signs 13.8 miles down the road. We got out of the van and decided that everyone else had left for Tonopah. After we climbed the first steep hill, I picked up a loud, clear radio transmission from base security on my scanner. It was on 138.3 MHz (FM), a channel I haven't seen associated with Groom Lake before -- it's a Nevada Test Site security channel. The transmission was roughly "23 to 106. We've got an 850 and 860 going up the hill. Bring your truck up". (I don't know whether I was the 850 and my female companion was the 860 or vice-versa). I yelled "let's go!!" and we started hiking at a rapid pace, following the yellow markers. I felt that I didn't drive more than 400 miles from California, only to be turned away so close to Freedom Ridge. As we were climbing, we saw a white four-wheel drive truck go up a small hill just past the parking area. I decided we had to get up the hill fast, see the Groom Lake facility, and come down quickly, before security got their act together. We made it to the top (sorry Glenn - I forgot to sign the visitor's rock), and pulled out binoculars to see the secret facility. The Groom Lake facility looks like other desert air bases, and we didn't see any strange aircraft with our 10x50 binocuars. I also had a digital magnetometer with me and took readings from Freedom Ridge of approximately 0.1 milligauss (background level). I did the readings because UFO researchers claim that a strong electromagnetic field exists around UFOs. Personally, I don't believe Groom Lake is a UFO base, but is the place where secret aircraft are tested. Due to increasing interest from security, we only spent 15 minutes up on Freedom Ridge. We then hiked down, hearing the security get ever more excited on the 138.3 MHz frequency. We got in our rental van and sped out of there at 60 MPH along the dirt Groom Lake road - the security followed us all the way to Hwy. 375. Unfortunately, we couldn't make it up to Tonopah, to link up with the people who had been at the Groom Lake viewing, earlier on Saturday -- does anybody who went have a trip report to post? If you go up there, you absolutely, positively, need to get a copy of Glenn Campbell's (psychospy@aol.com) "Area 51 Viewer's Guide" which is packed full of useful info from the Groom Lake maestro himself. You can order a copy from: Secrecy Oversight Council HCR Box 38 Rachel, NV 89001 USA The price per copy is $15.00 (US dollars). Add the following for shipping: - Priority Mail (US) - $3.50 - 3rd/4th Class Mail (US) - $2.00 - overseas surface mail - $5.00 - overseas air mail - $10.00 Scanner radio frequencies not in the "Area 51 Viewer's Guide" that may be useful. (all channels listed are FM): 138.3 MHz - security, during our visit - used on the Nellis Range/Nevada Test Site. (I have heard that the Air Force security units nationwide are changing down to the 136-144 MHz range, from their older channels in the 162-168 MHz range). 167.825 - Nellis Range/Nevada Test Site security 148.5 - Nellis Range security 163.4875 - Nellis AFB primary security channel 163.5875 - Nellis AFB secondary security channel 155.655 - Nevada law enforcement - statewide mutual aid channel Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com ------------------------------ From: soundy@sybase.com (Richard Soundy) Date: Mon, 17 Jan 94 07:52:43 Subject: Re: Please Read! Important administrative news Philip, Thanks for providing the admin. function for the Skunk Works list, and Good Luck in your new job. Richard Soundy Sybase (UK) Ltd. ------------------------------ End of Skunk Works Digest V4 #120 ********************************* To subscribe to skunk-works-digest, send the command: subscribe skunk-works-digest in the body of a message to "listserv@harbor.ecn.purdue.edu". 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