Area 51 Tours

Its secretive nature and undoubted connection to classified aircraft research, together with reports of unusual phenomena, have led Area 51 to become a focus of modern UFO and conspiracy theory. Some of the unconventional activities claimed to be underway at Area 51 include:

*The storage, examination, and reverse engineering of crashed alien spacecraft (including material supposedly recovered at Roswell), the study of their occupants (living and dead), and the manufacture of aircraft based on alien technology.

*The development of exotic energy weapons (for SDI) applications or otherwise) or means of weather control.

*The development of unusual and exotic propulsion systems related to the Aurora Program.

*Activites related to a supposed shadowy one world government and or the Majestic Twelve organization.

Many of the hypotheses concern underground facilities at Groom or at nearby Papoose Lake, and include claims of a transcontinental underground railroad system, a disappearing airstrip (nicknamed the "Cheshire Airstrip", after Lewis Carroll's Cheshire cat) which briefly appears when water is sprayed onto its camouflaged asphalt, and engineering based on alien technology. In 1989, Bob Lazar claimed that he had worked at a facility at Papoose Lake (which he called S-4) on such a U.S. Government flying saucer.

In July 1996, a man named "Victor" announced on Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM radio show that he had a videotape of an alien interrogation which had taken place in Area 51. He claimed that he had made a copy of the tape during a scheduled transfer of analogue videotape files on the base into digital form, and had then smuggled the copy out of Area 51. The video appears to show the head of an alien creature in a dark interrogation room, possibly using telepathy to communicate with military personnel and scientists. The footage was eventually included in a video documentary entitled Area 51: The Alien Interview. The following is a clip from the video:

Zeta Reticuli

Map of Zeta Reticuli, according to Betty Hill and Marjorie Fish.

The Zeta Reticuli system has gained some notoriety in ufology: some ufologists allege that Zeta Reticuli is home to an alien civilization they refer to as the Greys. This is based on the alleged 1961 abduction of Betty and Barney Hill. In 1964, under hypnosis, Betty Hill drew a map she claimed she was shown during the abduction, showing the aliens' home star, the Sun,

and 14 other stars. UFO researcher Marjorie Fish constructed a 3-dimensional map of nearby sun-like stars and claimed a good match from the perspective of Zeta Reticuli. The fit of the Hill/Fish star maps was debated in the December 1974 edition of Astronomy Magazine. In his Cosmos television program, Carl Sagan debunked the map, noting that the match was not (and could not be expected to be) perfect, and random chance would produce at least one similarly good match to the map somewhere in the star catalog Fish used in her analysis.

In an interview with George Knapp for a television documentary, Bob Lazar, the man who first claimed that Area 51 was a secret UFO research facility, suggested that the UFO that he claimed to have helped reverse-engineer may have come from the vicinity of Zeta Reticuli, or that this information may have been given to him in an attempt to misguide him.

In 2005, several anonymous messages posted to ufology forums claimed that a planet in the Zeta Reticuli system was the site of a United States military project, allegedly named Project Serpo.

Project Serpo

Some variations on the conspiracy story state that the name Serpo is the nickname of the extrasolar planet.Serponia or Seinu by US authorities involved in the project.

Background

The first mention of a 'Project Serpo' was in a UFO email list maintained by enthusiast Victor Martinez. Various versions of the conspiracy theory circulated, and were later detailed on www.serpo.info.

According to the most common version of the story, an alien survived a crash near Roswell in the later 1940s (see Roswell UFO incident). This alien was detained but treated well by American military forces, contacted its home planet and eventually repatriated. The story continues by claiming that this led to the establishment of some sort of relationship between the American government and the people of its home world – said to be a planet of the binary star system Zeta Reticuli. Zeta Reticuli has a history in ufology (including the Betty and Barney Hill abduction), having been claimed as the home system of an alien race called the Greys. The story finally claims that twelve American military personnel visited the planet between 1965 and 1978 and that all of the party have since died, from 'after effects of high radiation levels from the two suns'.

Criticisms

One criticism of Project Serpo stems from the lack of veracity of one of its alleged witnesses, Sergeant Richard Doty. Doty has been involved in other alleged UFO-related activities (see Majestic 12 and Paul Bennewitz), and this makes the Project Serpo allegations automatically suspect. Additionally, there is no physical evidence according to Tim Swartz of Mysteries Magazine, Doty, who promised evidence to Moulton Howe before backing out, has been involved in circulating several other UFO conspiracy stories. Swartz also expressed that the details of Project Serpo have varied considerably with different accounts.

It has since been discovered that the entire set of posts were merely to virally encourage sales for a new book by Doty. Cited here; http://www.realityuncovered.net/ufology/articles/serpo/

Further criticisms of the story include the usual arguments against conspiracy theories, UFOs, and faster-than-light travel, as well as astronomical knowledge of the Zeta Reticuli system. There is currently no evidence of technological life in the system and also no evidence of planets. Because the stars are widely separated (several thousand astronomical units), claims of excess radiation as a result of the presence of a second star are nonsensical.

On a more fundamental level, it is entirely possible that the messages originating the story were deliberate hoaxes. The postings were to Internet forums that cover conspiracy theories and UFOs, and a cursory examination of such forums shows that hoaxes are not uncommon. Some ufologists have even claimed that the messages were a hoax perpetrated by the American military and intelligence communities to protect real, related, activities.

Discontinuation of website

Bill Ryan, a chief proponent of publicizing the Project Serpo claims, announced on March 5th, 2007 that he was stepping down from his role as webmaster for the Serpo material. Ryan nevertheless maintains his belief that an extraterrestrial exchange program did occur - although he states that the Serpo releases definitely contained disinformation.

Majestic 12, also known as MJ 12, is believed to be the codename of a covert group of scientists, military leaders and government officials that was created in 1947 under the executive orders of President Harry S. Truman. Created with the function of investigating UFO activities after the incident in Roswell, Majestic 12 consisted of six civilians – mostly scientists – and six high-ranking military officers, two from each of the three major military services.

The only evidence that Majestic 12 existed was a collection of documents that surfaced in 1984 that stated the date of the creation of the group. The United States government has denied the existence of Majestic 12, insisting that the papers were a hoax. The UFO community were divided by the documents, one half insisting the documents were genuine while the other agreed with the FBI's assertion of it being a hoax due to the errors in both the formatting and the chronology. Since the first Majestic 12 papers, thousands of papers have appeared and collectively been called the "Majestic Documents." All of these documents are allegedly dated from 1942 to 1997, ranging from contact with aliens to testing of alien spacecraft to cover-up memos. One Majestic 12 document that is a considered a manual dated in 1954 is called the MJ-12 "Special Orders Manual (SOM)," which mainly dealt with the handling of crash debris and alien bodies. The genuineness of this manual has been debated, centering on the style of how it was written and the historical anachronisms. The Majestic Documents also supposedly contained the signatures of important people such as Albert Einstein and Ronald Reagan, sparking heated debates in the UFO and conspiracy groups. The authenticity of these papers has been highly questioned with only a few proven to be fraudulent. No other Majestic 12 documents have been released since 1997.

Majestic 12 has been associated with NSC 5412/2 Special Group created by President Eisenhower in 1954, an extremely secretive group that has been historically verified. While the Special Group had nothing to do with UFOs, the "12" has been noted between the two groups as well as the first chairman of the Special Group, Gordon Gray, who had been believed to be a member of Majestic 12. Majestic 12 was also believed to go under the more public name of Interplanetary Phenomenon Unit which was a UFO-related military group active between the 1940s and 1950s.

One of the most controversial documents to be uncovered in the anals of UFO research is called the MJ Documents. These documents were left under Jaime Shandera home door by an unknown source in 1984. At this Mr. Shandera was a producer in the Los Angeles area and was working with Bill Moore, to undercover the secret about the UFOs. At this time, Bill Moore was working with scientist Stanton Friedman and so the three of these men upon receiving these documents did extensive research. These documents have been re- published in a Richard Hall's book, "Uninvited Quests" as well as "Crash at Corona" by Stanton Friedman and Don Berliner in 1992. Mr. Friedman believes based on other documents they found in the National Archive that the documents are geninue and other researchers have found some inconsistancies with page number and type face of the 1950's.

BRIEFING DOCUMENT: OPERATION MAJESTIC 12 PREPARED FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER: (EYES ONLY) 18 NOVEMEBR, 1952

WARNING: This is a TOP SECRET - EYES ONLY document containing compartmentalized information essential to the national security of the United States. EYES ONLY ACCESS to the material herein is strictly limited to those possessing Majestic-12 clearance level. Reproduction in any form or the taking of written or mechanically transcribed notes is strictly forbidden.

SUBJECT: OPERATION MAJESTIC-12 PRELIMINAR BRIEFING FOR PRESIDENT-ELECT EISENHOWER

NOTE: This document has been prepared as a preliminary briefing only. It should be regarded as introductory to a full operations briefing intended to follow.

On 24 June, 1947, a civilian pilot, flying over the Cascade Mountains in the State of Washington observed nine flying disc-shaped aircraft travelling in formation at a high rate of speed. Although this was not the first known sighting of such objects, it was the firs to gain widespread attention in the public media. Hundereds of reports of sightings of similar objects followed. Many of these came from highly credible military and civilian sources. These reports resulted in independent efforts by several different elements of the military to ascertain the nature and purpose of these objects in the interests of national defense. A number of witnesses were interviewed and there were several unsuccessful attemts to utilise aircraft in efforts to pursue reported discs in flight. Public reaction bordered on near hysteria at times.

In spite of these efforts, little of substance was learned about the objects until a local rancher reported that one had crashed in a remote region of New Mexico located approximately seventy-five miles northwest of Roswell Army Air Base (now Walker Field).

On 07 July, 1947, a secret operation was begun to assure recovery of the wreckage of this object for scientific study. During the course of this operation, aerial reconnaissance discovered that four small human-like beings had apparently ejected from the craft at some point before it exploded. These had fallen to earth about two miles east of the wreckage site. All four were dead and badly decomposed due to action by predators and exposure to the elements during the approximately one week time period which had elapsed before their discovery. A special scientific took charge of removing these bodies for study. (See Attachment "C".) The wreckage of the craft was also removed to several different locations. (See Attachment "B".) Civilian and military witnesses in the area were debriefed, and news reporters wee given the effective cover story that the object had been a misguided weather research balloon.

A covert analytical effort organized by Gen. Twining and Dr. Bush acting on the direct orders of the President, resulted in a preliminary concensus (19 September, 1947) that the disc was most likely a short range reconnaissance craft. This conclusion was based for the most part on the craft's size and the apparent lack of any identifiable provisioning. (See Attachment "D".) A similar analysis of the four dead occupants was arranged by Dr. Bronk. It was the tentative conclusion of this group (30 november, 1947) that although these creatures are human-like in appearance, the biological and evolutionary processes responsible for their development has apparently been quite different from those observed or postulated in homo-sapiens. Dr Bronk's tea has suggested the term "Extra-terrestrial Biological Entities", or "EBEs", be adopted as the standard term of reference for these creatures until such time as a more definitive designation can be agreed upon.

Since it is virtually certain that these craft do not originate in any country on earth, considerable speculation has centred around what their point of origin may be and how they get here. Mars was and remains a possibility, although some scientists, most notably Dr. Menzel, consider it more likely that we are dealing with beings from another solar system entirely.

Numerous examples of what appear to be a form of writing were found in the wreckage. Efforts to decipher these have remained largely unsuccessful. (See Attachment "E".) Equally unsuccessful have been efforts to determine the methods of propulsion or the nature or method of transmission of the power source involved. Research along these lines has been complicated by the complete absence of identifiable wings, propellors, jets, or other conventional methods of propulsion and guidance, as well as a total lack of metallic wiring, vacuum tubes, or similar recognizable electronic components. (See Attachment "F".) It is assumed that the propulsion unit was completely destroyed by the explosion which caused the crash.

A need for as much additional information as possible about these craft, their performance characteristics and their purpose led to the undertaking known as U.S. Air Force Project SIGN in December, 1947. In order to preserve security, liason between SIGN and Majestic-12 was limited to two individuals within the Intelligence Division of Air Material Command whose role was to pass along certain types of information through channels. SIGN evolved into Project GRUDGE in December, 1948. The operation is currently being conducted unde the code name BLUE BOOK, with liason maintained through the Air Force officer who is head of the project.

On 06 december, 1950, a second object, probably os similar origin, impacted the earth at high speed in the El Indio - Guerrero area of Texas - Mexican border after following a long trajectory through the atmosphere. by the time a search team arrived, what remained of the object as been totally incinerated. Such material as could be recovered was transported to the A.E.C. facility at Sandia, New Mexico, for study.

Implications for the National Security are of continuing importance in that the motives and ultimate intentions of these visitors remain completely unknown. In addition, a significant upsurge in the surveillance activity of these craft beginning in May and continuing through the autumn of this year has caused considerable concern that new developments may be iminent. It is for these reasons, as well as the obvious international and technological considerations and the ultimate need to avoid a public panic at all costs, that the Majestic- 12 Group remains of the unanimous opinion that imposition of the strictest security precautions should continue without interruption into the new administration. At the same time, contingency plan MJ-1949-04P/78 (Top Secret - Eyes Only) should be held in continued readiness should the need to make a public announcement present itself. (See Attachment "G".)

*ATTACHMENT "B"........Operation Majestic-12 Status Report #1, Part A. 30 NOV '47. (TS-MAJIC/EO)

*ATTACHMENT "C"........Operation Majestic-12 Status Report #1, Part B. 30 NOV '47. (TS-MAJIC/EO)

*ATTACHMENT "D"........Operation Majestic-12 Preliminary Analytical Report. 19 SEP '47. (TS-MAJIC/EO)

*ATTACHMENT "E"........Operation Majestic-12 Blue Team Report #5. 30 JUN '52. (TS-MAJIC/EO)

*ATTACHMENT "F"........Operation Majestic-12 Status Report #2. 31 JAN '48. (TS-MAJIC/EO)

*ATTACHMENT "G"........Operation Majestic-12 Contingency Plan MJ-1949-04P/78: 31 JAN '49. (TS-MAJIC/EO)

*ATTACHMENT "H"........Operation Majestic-12, Maps and Photographs Folio (Extractions). (TS-MAJIC/EO)