Message posted by Peter Merlin on October 16, 2008 at 9:17:57 PST:

Not surprisingly, they just repeat a lot of the old myths.

It's not accurate to say, "For more than 40 years they refused to confirm the very existence of the site. It wasn't until the mid-90s, as the UFO movement was growing exponentially, that a former Secretary of Defence revealed they were using the base. It took until 2003 for the US government to officially concede that operations were ongoing at Groom Lake."

We now know that the base was publicly acknowledged by the U.S. government since construction began in the spring of 1955. The Atomic Energy Commission released a statement to 18 news outlets in Nevada and Utah, including newspapers, radio networks and television stations. The statement described the planned facilities for the airbase and its location just northeast of the Nevada Test Site (NTS). Subsequent statements included the facility name (Watertown) and the geographic location (Groom Lake), and acknowledged the fact that the base was being used to operate the Lockheed U-2 airplane.

In 1959, additional announcements were made concerning construction of new radar facilities at the site. The terms "Project 51" and "Area 51." were used interchangeably. An unclassified news letter for NTS employees listed Area 51 telephone numbers and other information.

Over the years, Area 51 has appeared on numerous unclassified maps and documents. Some of these have been produced for internal use and others for the general public and news media. An unclassified NTS road map circa 1961 included mileage between various points. One notation read: "10.3 MILES TO AREA 51" and was followed by the words "GROOM LAKE."

All of this took place while the Central Intelligence Agency was responsible for the facility. After the U.S. Air Force took over in the late 1970s, Area 51 stopped appearing on most maps. USAF personnel with knowledge of the Groom Lake base were told not to discuss it. Of course, this culture of secrecy only provided fertile ground for conspiracy theorists.

In Reply to: Area 51 puff piece posted by Archangel on October 15, 2008 at 12:10:35 PST:

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