Message posted by Tom on May 14, 2004 at 17:58:00 PST:
It's a lot more fun for these pictures to be mysterious, but they are not. Interestingly, they've been around a while, and have taken on a life of their own. I find it revealing how readily folks are willing to accept them as something strange. And despite the title, neither were taken at Area 51. The "Snowbird" image was taken at Northrup's Tejon RCS facility. This facility is one of the least secure facilities, so it's highly unlikely they would be testing something of any sensitivity in broad daylight when there was an aircraft obviously circling nearby. Notice how unconcerned the staff appears with an aircraft taking photos overhead? In all likelyhood, the were setting up to test a cowling of some sort for a stealth aircraft. It also could be a reduced scale model of a part, or section of a possible aircraft. The other image is NOT a UFO, but rather of a polecap on an RCS pylon at Lockheed's Helendale facility. Polecaps are used for calibrating the radar return of the pylons to ensure essentially zero radar return. They are usually teardrop or UFO shaped. The one interesting thing about this photo is that it pretty old. It was taken before the radar range was extended further north, and the truly neat retractable pylon and recessed building were constructed at the end. This particular loaction is "Pit 2" and the large antenna seen in the background is their lower frequency "Mobile Antenna".
In Reply to: "Area 51 Testing UFO From Pylon" Photo posted by Chris H. on May 14, 2004 at 12:02:17 PST:
Replies: