Area 51 celebrates its 50th - public gathering on May 28

PRESS RELEASE - May 13, 2005

The 50th Anniversary public celebration of Area 51 on May 28, 2005

GROOM LAKE, NEVADA

Marking the 50th Anniversary of "the operating base near Groom Lake" (official name of the popularly known Area 51 base), several celebrations are being held this month in various locations. The construction of this sprawling aerospace complex in Nevada, the world's most well-known but misunderstood "secret base", began in the month of May of 1955.

Some of the "official" celebrations, closed to the public, were already held at the base itself, including the Base Headquarters (or, officially, Building #269, according to the Security Manual of the base entitled DET 3 SP), the Administration Building (Bldg. #265), the Dining Hall (Bldg. #267) and at Building #170, which contains the officers' lounge/bar known as "Sam's Place", the gymnasium and the swimming pool.

Other "private" celebrations were already held at diverse aerospace facilities both in Nevada and in Southern California, including the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, whose Detachment 3 operations are said to be tied in with the Nevada base.

Aside from these private gatherings, there will be several "public" festivities marking the Golden Anniversary of Area 51. On Saturday, May 28, 2005 the largest of these gatherings will be held adjacent to the eastern boundary of the base alongside Groom Lake Rd. and will be headed by Joerg Arnu, webmaster of Area 51 - The Dreamland Resort
http://www.dreamlandresort.com
the world's largest online source of information on Area 51.

Supporters and "aficionados" of Area 51, including military aviation enthusiasts, are expected to celebrate outside the eastern boundary of the base with a camp-out, barbecue and live music entertainment along with various speakers. A mini-stage will be set up at the site.

According to Arnu, May 28 was selected because it coincides with the Memorial Day weekend and thus it would be easier for the public to make it to the celebrations. Some participants will begin to arrive at the site in the late afternoon on Friday, May 27. The celebrations will continue throughout the weekend.

The news media is expected to cover the event and the BLM Rangers (Bureau of Land Management) are also expected to participate by helping with the coordination of parking and other logistics needed to make the event a success.

For more info, go to: Area 51 - 50-th Anniversary campout celebration
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/campout.html

For the past 16 years or so, Area 51 has been popularly and erroneously (and "conveniently", according to some theorists) associated with false rumors of "alien technology" and conspiracies.

Norio Hayakawa Civilian Intelligence Operations
http://www.hometown.aol.com/groom51s4/index.html
who, at once time was a proponent of such conspiracy theories but now an ardent supporter of the importance and necessity of this vital base for our national defense, states that "the operating base near Groom Lake" is a real aerospace complex which had never been a top secret base. (go to the bottom link to read the excellent article by aerospace historian, Peter Merlin).

According to Hayakawa, it only became a "secret base" to those who were taken in by paranoia mongers and through misinformation, resulting from false rumors which began in the late 80s and persisted throughout the mid 90s.

Area 51 today is a vibrant aerospace R & D conglomerate test base, employing anywhere from 1800 to 2400 defense contractor employees, working in shifts on diversified projects. Some of the contractors include Raytheon, Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, TRW, E.G. & G. and General Atomics.

One of the best recent color satellite photos of the base was taken on Thursday, July 24, 2003: Color Satelllite Photo of Area 51 taken on Thursday, July 24, 2003
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/area51/Area51-072503-LG.jpg

Finally, perhaps the best history of Area 51 was recently compiled by Peter Merlin, an aerospace historian who resides near Edwards Air Force Base in California:

Area 51 Was Never A Secret, Classified Base.
http://www.dreamlandresort.com/pete/no_secret.html

END OF PRESS RELEASE

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