Date: Sun Feb 20 1994 15:53:02 To: All Subj: Sidenote, Popular Science Article.. INFO.PARA

Date:   Sun Feb 20 1994  15:53:02
From:   Mike Keithly
To:     All
Subj:   Sidenote, Popular Science Article..
INFO.PARANET                   -------------------------------

From the Popular Science Magazine March 1994 Issue.

                       ********************

  A sidebar article deals with the possible UFO connection:

                  Area 51 - Home of the Aliens?
                        by Stuart F. Brown

  In 1989, a man named Bob Lazar appeared in a broadcast on Las Vegas
television station KLAS, claiming to be a physicist hired by the
government to reverse-engineer the propulsion system of saucer-shaped
alien spacecraft.
  The saucers, he maintained, were kept in a secret complex called S-4
at Papoose Lake, a dry lake bed located a few miles south of Groom Lake.
Lazar's claims, as well as many details of his background, have proved
impossible to confirm.  But their dissemination through the UFO-
enthusiastic grapevine transformed Area 51 into a mecca for saucer
seekers.  They can be seen congregating, with their motor homes and lawn
chairs, next to Nevada Route 375 at an icon called "The Black Mailbox."
This ordinary mailbox belongs to the rancher who leases grazing rights
in the valley.
  Many UFO watchers have kept vigils there for an aerial phenomenon
called "Old Faithful" - and gone home satisfied.  Old Faithful is a
bright, barely moving light observed low in the sky for several minutes
at about 4:45 a.m. on weekdays.
  Last March, three chilly airplane watchers with binoculars atop White
Sides Mountain at this magic hour were tracking a 737 airliner
approaching Groom Lake, as a fourth member of their group thawed out in
his truck below.  Parked on a knoll, he was next to a van-load of UFO
seekers.  They were led by tour operator Sean Morton, whose leaflet
describes him as "the world's foremost UFO researcher."
  Morton donned a horned Viking helmet and from time to time pointed to
the sky, exclaiming: "Look at that one!"  The airplane watcher trained
his binoculars in the same direction, but saw nothing out of the
ordinary.  Later, Morton's group became excited by what they perceived
as an entire formation of UFOs; the airplane watcher's lenses revealed
only stars.  Finally, as the morning's first 737 made its gentle
approach toward Groom Lake at 4:45, the UFO enthusiasts rejoiced at Old
Faithful's appearance.  Everyone had seen exactly what they hoped for.

End of Article.