Message posted by Peter Merlin on May 11, 2012 at 10:55:55 PST:

Inside Area 51, Discovery Channel (1997) remains one of the very best because it dealt with both the history and the UFO mythos in a very even-handed way. Unfortunately, it contains a near-fatal flaw. Just as production was wrapping up, the June 1997 issue of Popular Mechanics magazine hit the stands. This was the one where Science/Technology editor Jim Wilson wrote that Area 51 had been closed completely , and that secret test operations had moved to a new facility near Green River, Utah.

The producers of Inside Area 51 rushed to interview him for the program. Unfortunately, all other interviews had been completed and there was no time to recall any of the experts to provide a rebuttal to the Popular Mechanics article. As a result, Wilson’s unsubstantiated and easily refutable claims went unanswered. The viewing audience was left with the indelible impression that Area 51 had been abandoned.

Area 51 Declassified, National Geographic Channel (2011) is, so far, the best of all. It was the first documentary to focus solely on the actual, documented history of the Groom Lake test facility instead of the usual mythology that we have seen in previous television programs. The National Geographic crew had unprecedented access to declassified documents, interviews, and subject matter experts. The only drawback was the relatively narrow emphasis on some of the older projects (U-2, A-12, etc.), with little material on more recent projects.

The History Channel is currently working on a new documentary that promises to be pretty good.

In Reply to: Re: Groom Lake - TV programs posted by Brian L on May 11, 2012 at 10:24:31 PST:

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