~~GETTIN U GUYS THE BASIC PISCTURE::||

Military Facility, Social Phenomenon and State of Mind ::

Area 51, also known as Groom Lake, is a secret military facility about 90 miles north of Las Vegas. The number refers to a 6-by-10-mile block of land, at the center of which is a large air base the government will not discuss. The site was selected in the mid-1950s for testing of the U-2 spyplane, due to its remoteness, proximity to existing facilities and presence of a dry lake bed for landings. Groom Lake is America's traditional testing ground for "black budget" aircraft before they are publicly acknowledged. The facility and surrounding areas are also associated -- with varying levels of credibility -- with UFO and conspiracy stories. In 1989, Bob Lazar claimed on a Las Vegas television station that he had worked with alien spacecraft at Papoose Lake, south of Area 51. Since then, "Area 51" has become a popular symbol for the alleged U.S. Government UFO cover-up. [GC 8/96]

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE

Nellis Air Force Base's primary mission is the training of pilots and support crews in realistic air combat exercises, the best known of which is Red Flag. The vast, Connecticut-size Nellis Range, northwest of Las Vegas, is managed by the base for support of these combat exercises. Also making use of the range are numerous aircraft and weapons testing programs, many of them secret. The Nellis-administered range surrounds, but apparently does not include, the block of land known as "Area 51" and the secret Groom Lake air base within it. (Area 51 appears to be under control of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB.) Nellis controls Indian Springs Auxiliary Air Field adjacent to the southern part of the range, and also administers, in conjunction with DOE, the Tonopah Test Range in northwest part of the range. Nellis Area II, a separate compound about a mile northeast of the main Nellis base, includes a high-security bunker complex that is a major national repository for nuclear weapons.

EXTERNAL LINKS::

All stored on other servers
Official Nellis AFB Home Page
Nellis History and Description
99th Range Group. Manages the Nellis Range.
Nellis Organizations
Nellis Range Renewal. Good overview.
Personnel, arranged by chain of command.
Maj. Gen. Marvin Esmond, Commander, Air Warfare Center
Col. Jerry Carpenter, Commander, 99th Range Group
Lt. Col. Jack Schofield, Commander, 99th Range Squadron
Lt. Col. Arthur Jean, Commander, 99th Range Support Squadron
News Articles
Search Las Vegas Sun for recent stories on: "Nellis"
Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS) in Nevada, a database from the Army Corps of Engineers, includes many maps and interesting documents on Nellis-controlled areas. All maps and documents are in a crude Tiff format. Translate them to jpg for more attractive display.

Las Vegas Air Force Station: Radar complex on Angel Peak. (Decommissioned.)
Site location map (265k Tiff). Shows location at Angel Peak and access roads.
General layout map (93k Tiff). Close-up of facilities.
See Area II for other FUDS links.
General Information
Brochure describing Nellis Range Complex from MRTFB (Air Force) site. Recommended!
Overview from Las Vegas On-Line
A list of planes on static display at Nellis AFB
Maps & Photos
Aerial Photo of Las Vegas (296k) shows Nellis and Nellis Area II in upper right corner.
Site Characterization Project on the Nellis Range from Center for Land Use Interpretation. Many interesting map samples.
Nellis Terrain Data. Technical. If you can figure this out, please let us know.
Contractors
Lockheed-Martin, the primary contractor for range operations. Purchased the former contractor, Loral.
Commercial
Thunder Mark Thunderbird insignia products
Web Searches
Searching for "Nellis Air Force Base": Altavista
Searching for "Nellis Range": Altavista