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Tonopah Test Range (Area 52), Site 4, Area 19, The Story of Jerry Freeman, and Bob Lazar's S4
S4 and Area 19 are two places often connected to the mystery surrounding Area 51. S4 is the place where Bob Lazar was taken to reverse engineer the alien space craft. Bob Lazar's S4 is in the mountain range near the Papoose dry lake bed. Very little can be confirmed about this location. Different individuals have supported Bob Lazar's claim about the location of S4 and the work that goes on there. The Tonopah Test Range does include an area called Site Four. I have included some easily obtained information about Site Four. Area 19 is another area linked to Area 51. The Nevada Test Site does have an Area 19. I have included some information about this site. There is a huge powerline that runs into the ground in Area 19. Conspiracy believers claim Area 19 is where the "Cheshire" airstrip exists. A former pilot has told a story about an airstrip existing that can only be seen once water is sprayed over it. Both S4 and Area 19 are interesting topics that raise far more questions then can be answered.
Tonopah Test Range (TTR) and S-4
Tonopah Test Range, also known as Area 52, is a military installation located about 30 miles southeast of Tonopah, Nevada. It is part of the northern fringe of the Nellis Range and is inaccessible to the public. The Tonopah Test Range measures 625 miles² in size. Tonopah Test Range is located about 70 miles northwest of Groom Dry Lake, home of the Area 51 facility. Like the Groom Lake facility, Tonopah is a site of interest to conspiracy theorists, though mostly for it's use of experimental and classified aircraft. As such, it is not the focus of alien enthusiasts, unlike its neighbor. It is also used for launching sounding rockets.
Tonopah Test Range includes the Tonopah Test Range Airport. About six miles north of the airfield is a large housing area called Mancamp, which contains dormitories, a library, cafeteria (currently closed), gym, Olympic size indoor pool, 2 lane bowling alley a bar and an ATM.
The range is largely in a valley flanked by the Cactus Range to the west. To the east is the Kawich Range, home of Silverbow, one of the largest mining ghost towns in Nevada. The range holds a sizable wild horse and coyote population, closely monitored by the Bureau of Land Management.
History
It was opened in 1957 as a testing site for United States Department of Energy weapons programs, and for most of its life it was administered by Sandia National Laboratories.
Constant Peg
From 1977-1988 the range hosted a MiG air combat training program code named Constant Peg. The brainchild of Colonel Gail Peck, the program allowed American pilots the opportunity to fly – and to fly against – the fighter aircraft of their Cold War rivals. Constant Peg was formally declassified in November 15, 2006, though it had been discussed by name in different Internet military forums as early as mid-2004. As many as 25 MiG aircraft were involved in the training including MiG-17s, MiG-21s, and MiG-23s. It is believed that since the end of the Constant Peg program MiG-25s, MiG-29s and SU-27s have also operated from Tonopah for testing and evaluation flights as well.
Approximately 6800 pilots participated in Constant Peg.
Stealth
F-117's operated from Tonopah in secret from 1982 through 1989 while the program was still classified. During this period Mancamp was connected to the airfield by shuttle bus service, while the airfield in turn was connected to Nellis Air Force Base by between five to twenty Key Air Boeing 727 flights per day from Nellis to Tonopah. The airfield was also serviced by one or two JANET Boeing 737 flights daily, which were presumably from McCarran International Airport and served Sandia National Laboratories employees. In early 1991, Key Air lost the contract and the service was taken over by American Trans Air Boeing 727 aircraft.
S-4
Sector Four or Site Four is located within the boundaries of Tonopah Test Range (TTR), near the eastern border, about 10 miles east and slightly south of the TTR headquarters. Access to Site Four is provided not only from within TTR, but also from a gate on TTR's eastern boundary. From this "Site Four Gate", as it is called, a high quality dirt road (similar to Groom Lake Road) heads east and connects with Hwy. 375. Site Four sits by itself on a large plain. It is easily observed from a number of locations, although from a distance. It is a large complex, spread over several miles, with some of the buildings widely separated.
There are a number of towers containing various antenna, steerable microwave dishes, and towers without antennas. There's a number of bunkers, perhaps containing explosives or other dangerous materials. There appears to be a main headquarters building, a large two story office type structure. Surrounding it were a number of other industrial style buildings. No airstrip was observed, but maps indicate a heliport.
Little is publicly known of Site Four's mission or purpose. It seldom even shows up on maps of TTR, in spite of its size. There is a rumor that secret solar energy research is conducted there. However, visual observation of the facility reveals nothing even remotely in the way of solar collection apparatus.
Discussions with a former TTR worker revealed a few interesting pieces of information. The workers at TTR's main complex considered Site Four even "more secret" than the main complex. People bound for Site Four had to pass through another gate within TTR before gaining access to Site Four. And oddly, while workers at the main TTR complex were allowed (and perhaps even encouraged) to live in one of the nearby local communities, this was not the case for Site Four employees. They were required to utilize the commuter flights from Las Vegas.
A recently released environmental impact report for TTR (1994 Site Environmental Report, TTR), contains a few new clues. While not mentioning Site Four anywhere in the document, it does identify a facility that would be immediately adjacent to where Site Four has been shown on earlier maps. It could account for some of the facilities seen and noted above.
This facility is labeled as the "554th Range Squadron O&M Complex". According to the index of abbreviations in the EIR, "O&M" stands for "Operations and Maintenance". What is operated and maintained there is not clear. The location shown for the 554th O&M complex is about 2 miles west of where other maps have indicated Site Four to be.
Also, a bit of unconfirmed information has surfaced as to just what Site Four's mission was (or is, if it still exists). Supposedly, Site Four was a testing location for purloined Soviet radar equipment. This could account for the presence of towers at the facility, some of which were lacking any discernible antennas. They simply had flat platforms at the top, suitable for the installation of various equipment.
Image of TTR
Area 19
This area, within the Nuclear Test Zone, occupies 388 km2 (150 mi2) in the northwest corner of the NTS. Area 19 in the northwest corner of the test site was originally developed as a suitable location for higher yield underground nuclear test (over several hundred kilotons). No atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted in Area 19. However, fallout from the Schooner test (part of the Plowshare cratering tests) was deposited off-site on the surface toward the northwest and is detectable. From the mid-1960s through 1992, a total of 36 underground nuclear tests were conducted.
Specifically, this Pahute Mesa area was incorporated into the boundaries of the NTS in late 1963 under an agreement between the Atomic Energy Commission and the U.S. Air Force. Area 19 was used for high yield tests which no longer would be permissible under the terms of the Threshold Test Ban Treaty. Both areas have the same rugged terrain features and harsh winter-season conditions that made year-round operations difficult.
The geology of Pahute Mesa makes it possible to test devices at much greater depths than in Yucca Flat (down to more than 13,700 meters (4500 feet)). The greater depth and isolation allowed the much higher yield tests, with minimal levels of ground motion being felt in Las Vegas, over 160 kilometers (100 miles) away. Tests in the megaton and greater range included the Boxcar, Benham, and Handley events. In addition to the DOE weapons development tests, a DOD nuclear test detection experiment and several Plowshare tests have been conducted on Pahute Mesa.
The Plowshare tests included several nuclear cratering experiments (Palanquin, Cabriolet, and Schooner). Schooner, detonated in late 1968, was designed to specifically study the effects and phenomenology of cratering with a nuclear explosive in hard rock. The depth of burial was 110 meters (350 feet) and the yield was 41 kilotons; the result was a crater 260 meters (850 feet) in diameter and 63 meters (210 feet) deep.Fallout from the Schooner test (part of the Plowshare cratering tests) was deposited off-site on the surface toward the northwest and is detectable in Area 19.
NASA's Apollo astronauts used Test Site craters to prepare for the Moon surface. Because the "Schooner" and "Sedan" craters at the Nevada Test Site had features similar to the topography of Moon craters, astronauts used them to train for their missions. Astronauts for Apollo 14 exercised at Schooner crater, and visited Sedan crater in November 1970. Apollo 16 astronauts visited the Schooner crater in November 1970, and exercised there in October 971. Apollo 17 astronauts conducted exercises at Schooner and on Buckboard Mesa in August 1972.
What first attracts attention to Area 19 is a simple power line. It is visible on both the Las Vegas aircraft sectional chart and the Pahute Mesa 1:100,000 USGS map. It begins at an evem larger line near Highway 95 at Lathrop Wells, and runs almost due north through the NTS, terminating in Area 19. It would appear to be one of the main power feeds for the entire NTS, with considerable load carrying capability. According to NTS maps, the line terminates in Area 19 as a 34.5 kilovolt line at a 1,000 KVA substation. The maps show the line ending in the center of an unusual double ring of roads, a configuration not seen in other areas of the NTS. Strangely, there is no facility listed on any NTS document at the line's termination. Officially, there just isn't anything there. Yet aerial and satellite photos do indeed show something there. Finally, the very boundaries of Area 19 seem to be drawn around where the power line terminates. The location is absolutely centered in the middle of the nothernly bulge of the Area 19 boundary.
Area 19 is as far from anywhere within the Nellis Complex, shielded by many many miles. It is much more remote than even the Groom Lake Test Facility. A quick look at a large scale map reveals the location is fairly centered within the overall Nellis Complex, with viewing opportunities from neighboring peaks out of the question.
According to documents from the NTS, most of Area 19 is set aside for nuclear weapons testing, and is shown as being assigned to the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). However, Paul McGinnis was informed by the folks at the NTS that Areas 19 and 20 were under control of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA). He was further told that the NTS had no knowledge of what classified programs the DNA had underway in those two areas. Ben Rich, the manager of Lockheed's Skunkworks, was asked a question. He was asked "hypothetically speaking, if we had possession of extraterrestrial debris or even craft, who would you suppose would be handling it?" To this Rich literally growled, "Los Alamos!" and wouldn't discuss it further. It was the recollection of a former worker at the NTS that "an awful lot of drilling" was done in Area 19, but relatively few nuclear blasts. He says there was a story released that the drillers hit an underground lake, as a result the NTS was not able to fully utilize the area.
Bob Lazar's S4 and Papoose Dry Lake
Here is an interesting story from the Las Vegas Sun. Jerry Freeman planned a trip into the Papoose Dry Lake area of the restricted area near Groom Lake looking for signs left by some of the early 49ers that eventually died in Death Valley. This is a real interesting read!
Ken McCall
Sat, Jul 19, 1997 (2:04 a.m.)
 As the full moon rose on an April night, Jerry Freeman picked up his backpack and headed into a desolate and forbidding landscape. Driven by an obsession about an episode in American pioneer history -- and the stubbornness of the Air Force -- the 55-year-old archaeologist and adventurer began an unauthorized seven-day, hundred-mile trek through the Nevada Test Site, into highly restricted Air Force property, and near, if not in, the top-secret Area 51. His objective: To find an inscription made in 1849 by a member of a lost and desperate wagon train that eventually gave Death Valley its name. Also, Freeman wanted to see Papoose Dry Lake, the last place where the group of would-be gold-diggers camped together before splintering in search of water. His problem: The dry lake and the canyon that is thought to contain the inscription are deep within one of the nation's most restricted military bases. Freeman's subsequent adventure, described in his own words in a five-part serial that begins today in the SUN, took him through a surreal landscape that included eerie installations, ominous warning signs, a large ship stranded in the desert, and seemingly endless miles of rock and scrub brush. The trek also put him through several heart-stopping close encounters with security, a nerve-wracking moonlight tiptoe across a Test Site "potential crater area," an interview with a surly rattlesnake, and a desperate, dry-mouthed, all-night forced march in search of water. For his troubles, Freeman got a good sunburn, a good look at Papoose Dry Lake and Nye Canyon, and the discovery of an ox shoe likely left behind by the wagon train. But he never found the inscription. By the time Freeman got to Nye Canyon, where the etching is believed to be located, he was almost out of water. He had only a day to search. Freeman knew before he started that the odds were against success and that he stood a good chance of being arrested, but the lure of finding that inscription and seeing the route was too strong. "The siren song is deafening," he said in an interview with the SUN on the afternoon before he set out. "I would be the only individual to see all seven inscriptions. I've seen so much of the trail. I've seen everywhere they went except for that stretch there.
"I am smitten by the forbidden fruit."
* Late last year, Freeman led a group of five on a 32-day, 330-mile trek that followed the route taken by the so-called Lost 49ers. Those impatient pioneers, in November 1849, turned off the well-traveled Spanish Trail near what is now Enterprise, Utah, and headed southwest in hopes of finding a shortcut to the California gold fields. Instead, their unfortunate decision brought them seven weeks of misery, four deaths and the dubious honor of naming Death Valley. Freeman's group had the advantage of modern equipment, knowledge of water sources and a supply truck. But unlike the Lost 49ers, Freeman had to deal with the Air Force. The proposed trek was well-received by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management. In addition, Freeman got the Department of Energy to agree to supervised visits to areas of the Test Site that could have been on the Lost 49ers route. The Air Force, however, ignored or sternly rebuffed all efforts by Freeman and his supporters to gain even limited access to the military base. Freeman, an Antelope Valley, Calif., resident, enlisted the help of his congressman, Buck McKeon, who wrote a letter to the Air Force. To no avail. The reply, Freeman said, was that the Air Force "will not allow nor will they ever allow anyone access to the area." There are seven inscriptions mentioned in the journals of the Lost 49ers, and early in last November's trek, Freeman discovered the previously unknown location of one of them. The team also found an encampment containing artifacts that were likely left by the unfortunate pioneers. Freeman and his group eventually would see all but one of the inscriptions. They had a photograph of the seventh one, taken from a history book. But there is no documentation for the photo, other than it was taken in Nye Canyon near a place called Triple Tanks. After the group trek ended in December, that last inscription -- and the Air Force's obstinacy -- kept eating at Freeman. "When you start a project ... you hope to bring it to a conclusion," Freeman said. "If you leave gaps in it, you don't have a sense of fulfillment." Besides, he said, the Air Force "treated me and my entire crew with disdain." "This is part of our American heritage. I believe I have a right to see it."
 * Freeman came to the SUN because he wanted a neutral party he trusted to know when and why he was going in. "I'm no Rambo," he said before he began his clandestine journey. "I have no death wish here. I'm a middle-of-the-road American guy. I'm not a guy who protests. I pay my taxes. I've never been arrested. "I want the Air Force to know there's nothing sinister about what I'm doing. I'm not interested in the military or technology. I'm interested purely in the history and culture of that site and this artifact. "I'm an archaeologist, that's all I am." Freeman was apprehensive about tales of people venturing into Area 51 never to be seen again. He would take a cellular telephone with him and call in to leave coded messages of his condition and whereabouts. And if he saw he was about to be arrested, he would call in immediately to make sure someone on the outside knew. As he left the office, Freeman still wasn't sure he would attempt the trek. "My wife is totally against this thing," he said. "Any prudent individual would tell me not to do it." But, he admitted, his "sense of adventure" was pulling him. "Nobody's probably been in that canyon and looked around for 50 years. "I may be able to find that inscription."
* An experienced backwoodsman, Freeman traveled light. He carried no tent or sleeping bag, relying solely on his clothes and an emergency blanket for shelter. Although he had planned to call every day, Freeman left only two phone messages, one at 3 a.m. April 23 and another at 10:27 p.m. April 25. There was nothing after that. On Monday, April 28, Freeman's wife, Donna, said her husband wasn't home yet and his brother, Doyle Freeman, had said Jerry was running a day behind. I finally made contact with Jerry Freeman again the following day. Freeman related highlights of his trek, many of which he called "heart-stopping." "It was high adventure," he said. "I'm lucky. I'm just really lucky." Because he hadn't found the inscription, Freeman wasn't sure he wanted to go public with the story. He wasn't sure it was worth the legal risk. It was agreed to hold any story until he decided he was ready. Two months later, after consultations with friends, family and lawyers, Freeman was ready. He wanted to go public, he said, to bring recognition to the Lost 49ers -- particularly the four pioneer women, "the unsung heroines," who were on that wagon train.Since his group trek last year, Freeman said he has sent story proposals about the Lost 49ers to dozens of magazines and historical journals, but sparked no interest. "I feel we have shortchanged historically that particular group of pioneers," he said. "They suffered through the Great Basin as no one had before. Now it's occupied by government agencies that don't care. They don't care about that inscription or those pioneers." Freeman recognized there would be more interest in his story now that it involves the "Area 51-UFO thing." "If that works," he said, "that's a good thing."
 * Whether Freeman crossed into the Air Force's fabled Area 51 is questionable. Although the Air Force recently acknowledged it has a facility in Groom Dry Lake, it refuses to comment any further on the base, much less define its boundaries. But Area 51 buffs, from studying government maps, have a clear idea where it is located. According to Glenn Campbell, the reigning civilian expert on the secret base and related UFO phenomena, Area 51 is a 60-square-mile tract that encompasses most of Groom Dry Lake. The base, he said, is snuggled up against the northeast edge of a mountain, which stands between Groom and Papoose dry lakes. In his account and in subsequent interviews, Freeman talked of climbing a ridge above Nye Canyon and looking down on Papoose Dry Lake, which is just south of the mountain. Many UFO buffs -- Freeman is not one of them -- believe a secret hangar containing captured alien spacecraft lies beneath the Papoose lakebed. "During the day I couldn't see anything," Freeman said of his view of the Papoose area. "But at night, it was a different story." Freeman saw several lights. One appeared to be a security vehicle that moved around. Another, however, was stationary and appeared to get larger and smaller -- as would a hangar door as it opened and closed. "But that's purely conjecture on my part," Freeman said. "From that distance, I couldn't tell what it was." Freeman thought he was looking into Area 51, but Campbell, who has written a book about the base, said the archaeologist was still about 10 to 15 miles south of the base, which was hidden from his line of sight by the mountain. Freeman, however, counters that Campbell is working from old maps and doesn't necessarily know what the Air Force considers to be the exact boundaries of its super-secret base. In any case, Freeman said, he wasn't there to see Groom Lake or Area 51. "The 49ers were never at Groom Lake," he said. "They were at Papoose."
* Freeman still hopes the Air Force will allow some historian -- he realizes he'll likely be blackballed -- to go into Nye Canyon and document the last inscription. "I don't think the general public should be allowed to go in there when they want to," Freeman said. "But for a legitimate educational purpose, I think we should be allowed to document it. I don't see how it would endanger national security to do that. "We do live in a time of relative peace. We're not at war. I think the Air Force needs to lighten up." Freeman also hopes to rekindle interest in pioneer history. "So much of our history has lost its relevance to our young people," he said. "They have no conception what the pioneers went through.
"Perhaps my going in there will spark their interest."
Here is the link to the Las Vegas Sun archived story of Jerry Freeman
Image below shows Papoose Dry Lake
Here is a satellite image taken in 2006 of the Bob Lazar S4 region of Papoose Dry Lake. I don't see any sign of a base in the side of a mountain here.
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