Re: Interesting new book


Message posted by Peter Merlin on November 29, 2014 at 12:34:08 PST:

Perhaps my initial assessment was too harsh. I gave the book a second look and it is not as bad as I first thought. That said, there are a number of unfortunate errors that harm its overall quality.

P.4 "In July 2013, the CIA finally declassified Area 51's existence..." This actually took place in 2010, according to T.D. Barnes. I posted messages on various Internet sites at the time, but was utterly ignored. Then when the declassified U-2/A-12 history was posted several years later, everybody got all excited about something that for some of us was old news.

P.5 Why did the authors have to tie Roswell to the origin of Area 51? There is absolutely no connection whatsoever. Also, the illustration of Mac Brazel next to a deep gouge in the earth is entirely inaccurate. I fear that this will keep some of the myths alive.

P.12 Herbert Miller is shown as being on the flight to check out Groom Lake. According to Kelly Johnson and Col. O.J. Ritland, he was not on that flight. That was taken from Jacobsen's book, and it is wrong. Also, Ray Goudey's name is misspelled as "Goudy."

P.13. The illustration of Area 51 in the 1950s should not have had a YF-12A on the ramp next to the C-124. It should have been a U-2. Not a forgivable error.

P.14 The U-2 pilot should have been illustrated wearing a partial-pressure suit, not the more modern full-pressure suit.

P.18-19 The word AQUATONE should be replaced with OXCART. Again, not a forgivable error.

P.22 In 1960, the Area 51 runway was not lengthened and redesigned. It was entirely replaced with a new, longer runway. All, the overhead illustration of the airfield shows the base as it looks today, rather than how it looked then.

P. 30 The author's claim that the April 26, 1962, X-15 mission got a picture of the A-12 is entirely inaccurate. It never happened. The CIA was briefly concerned because NASA reported an unidentified object in film from the X-15 flight was occurred coincidentally on the same day as an A-12 flight, The object turned out to be ice flaking off the rocket plane's fuselage.

P. 32 The designation RS-71 should really be R-12. This may be nitpicking but I stand by it.

P.60 The diagram on this page shows the final F-117A configuration where it should have showed the simple Hopeless Diamond model that was tested in the Rye Canyon RCS range.

There are a few other minor nitpicky things with regard to some of the illustrations, and I might have left out some of the speculative stuff, but otherwise it's not bad.


In Reply to: Re: Interesting new book posted by Joerg (Webmaster) on November 27, 2014 at 15:30:16 PST:

Replies:



[ Discussion Forum Index ] [ FAQ ]