438 lines
34 KiB
Plaintext
438 lines
34 KiB
Plaintext
THE GROOM LAKE DESERT RAT ISSUE #1 IS UPLOADED HERE WITH THE PERMISSION OF
|
|
THE AUTHOR.
|
|
|
|
THE GROOM LAKE DESERT RAT. An On-Line Newsletter.
|
|
Issue #1. Jan. 18, 1994.
|
|
-----> "The Naked Truth from Open Sources." <-----
|
|
AREA 51/NELLIS RANGE/TTR/NTS/S-4?/WEIRD STUFF/DESERT LORE
|
|
Written, published, copyrighted and totally disavowed by
|
|
psychospy@aol.com. See bottom for subscription/copyright info.
|
|
|
|
In this issue...
|
|
FREEDOM RIDGE STATUS
|
|
SOME VIEWPOINTS REMAIN UNTOUCHED
|
|
FIELD TRIP A SUCCESS
|
|
MEN IN BLACK VISIT RACHEL
|
|
TRESPASSERS PLEAD NOT GUILTY
|
|
|
|
[Note: This file ends with "#####". Check for truncation.]
|
|
|
|
----- FREEDOM RIDGE STATUS -----
|
|
|
|
The popular public viewpoints into the unacknowledged Groom Lake
|
|
base remain open at present. Although the Air Force has applied
|
|
to BLM to seize this land, approval is no longer a certainty.
|
|
"You can't fight the government," some people may say, and we
|
|
would have concurred a few months ago, but substantial political
|
|
opposition has begun to materialize recently from many different
|
|
quarters. Aside from the environmental, UFO and anti-secrecy
|
|
groups one would expect to be involved, opponents have found
|
|
unexpected support in some Nevada state agencies and the brewing
|
|
"Sagebrush Rebellion," a movement of local counties to take
|
|
control of public lands. At the least, the AF will be forced to
|
|
overcome significant hurdles before it gets the land. At best,
|
|
some people hope to rout the Federal government altogether from
|
|
lands previously controlled by BLM.
|
|
|
|
From the Freedom Ridge and White Sides viewpoints you see what
|
|
appears to be a large Air Force base beside a dry lake bed, with
|
|
a very long runway, many large hangers and a virtual city of
|
|
support facilities. Ten to twelve roundtrip 737 flights each
|
|
weekday bring workers here from Las Vegas. No one seems to have
|
|
any confirmable information about what is actually going on at
|
|
Groom. The interesting aspect of this facility to most visitors
|
|
is that the government in no way acknowledges its existence.
|
|
Further satisfaction can be drawn from the intensive monitoring
|
|
of nearby public lands by anonymous, heavily-armed security
|
|
forces who watch all visitors closely. If you approach these
|
|
dudes, they'll run away, but they always remain close enough to
|
|
keep track of you.
|
|
|
|
A public hearing on the land withdrawal is scheduled for Monday,
|
|
Jan. 31, in Caliente, Nevada (about 2-1/2 hours north of Las
|
|
Vegas), at 7pm in the VFW hall. In spite of the remote location,
|
|
this event is already becoming a hot ticket among local Nevada
|
|
land use advocates. Opponents have also requested a second
|
|
hearing in Las Vegas so more people can attend. Although this
|
|
request has not yet been granted, a Las Vegas hearing is looking
|
|
increasingly likely and would probably take place in late Feb. or
|
|
early March. Sparks will fly at both events: Caliente will
|
|
probably be more of an in-state protest focusing on land use
|
|
issues, while Las Vegas would probably focus on the Groom Lake
|
|
base itself, including the alleged environmental abuses there and
|
|
the justification for its continued "nonexistence."
|
|
|
|
Even if things were to go amazingly well for the AF (which they
|
|
are not), the viewpoints cannot legally be closed before the
|
|
hearings take place. The land remains public until the seizure
|
|
is formally approved, so anyone can come here until then to view
|
|
the secret base. If you choose, you can even camp here for up to
|
|
14 days without permission from anyone. The hike to Freedom
|
|
Ridge takes 50 minutes, while four wheel drive owners can push
|
|
all the way to the top on the newly marked "Freedom Ridge
|
|
Expressway," a rugged cross-country track. You can park at the
|
|
top with a bucket of popcorn and your special sweetie just like a
|
|
drive-in movie. Nothing significant ever seems to happen at the
|
|
secret base when people are watching, but if you and your sweetie
|
|
are feeling cozy that shouldn't matter. (Please note, however,
|
|
that making out within sight of the secret base is strictly
|
|
against Federal law and is punishable by a fine of $5,000 and up
|
|
to a year in prison.) Of course, you must be careful not cross
|
|
the nearby military boundary, which is well-marked with signs and
|
|
orange posts. (The maximum theoretical punishment for that
|
|
offense is the same as for making out, although first time
|
|
offenders are usually fined only $300 to $600.)
|
|
|
|
----- SOME VIEWPOINTS REMAIN UNTOUCHED -----
|
|
|
|
The underlying reason for the proposed land withdrawal is that
|
|
the AF botched its survey work for the huge Groom Range
|
|
withdrawal of the 1980s. That action was also intended to hide
|
|
the Groom base from public view by seizing a whole mountain
|
|
range. Alas, they overlooked the more obscure hills now in
|
|
question, effectively rendering the entire withdrawal useless.
|
|
|
|
Could it be possible that, even with the current proposed
|
|
withdrawal, the AF has botched the job once again? Reports
|
|
continue to reach us of public viewpoints into '"51" that remain
|
|
untouched by the current action. We won't publicize all of them,
|
|
but it is sufficient to say that the AF cannot neutralize these
|
|
locations without bursting the 5000 acre limit beyond which
|
|
Congressional approval would be required. (The military would
|
|
rather face a dozen Saddams than tangle with Capitol Hill.)
|
|
|
|
Viewpoints we can talk about now are Badger Mountain and Tikaboo
|
|
Peak. These are in the high cluster of peaks about 15 miles east
|
|
of Freedom Ridge and just south of Hancock Summit. The climb is
|
|
longer and more strenuous, but a recent visitor to Tikaboo Peak
|
|
reports that you can see most of the Groom base from there.
|
|
Distance is a problem: 25 miles vs. about 10 miles from Freedom
|
|
Ridge, but having a high-quality telescope could help. The
|
|
important thing proven here is that the AF is once again engaged
|
|
in "government work," an incompetent, weak-kneed effort that does
|
|
only half the job. If they are going to take any land at all,
|
|
they should be required also to take Tikaboo and Badger peaks.
|
|
This, in turn, would burst the 5000 acre limit and force the
|
|
issue to be debated in Congress, where the voice of the people
|
|
can be heard.
|
|
|
|
----- FIELD TRIP A SUCCESS -----
|
|
|
|
About 25 people showed up on Freedom Ridge for the Jan. 15
|
|
aviation field trip. Given that the plans came together only
|
|
about 10 days before the event, this was a strong turnout. A
|
|
wide array of civilian optical devices were turned on the base,
|
|
allowing participants to see "the hairs on a gnat's ass," so to
|
|
speak. Sweetman, Goodall, psychospy, Dr. Brown, Agent X, Rocket
|
|
Scientist, The Cops and other fanatics and riff-raff speculated
|
|
wildly about what was inside each of those big hangers and
|
|
factory buildings, but no consensus was reached.
|
|
|
|
The field trip coincided with the opening of the new "Freedom
|
|
Ridge Expressway." In a scene reminiscent of a television
|
|
commercial for Coors or Toyota, four sport-utility vehicles
|
|
traversed the desert sagebrush to this remote hilltop location,
|
|
where the occupants broke out their lawn chairs and would have
|
|
drank beer if anyone had thought to bring any.
|
|
|
|
Also in attendance, but trying desperately not to be noticed,
|
|
were at least a dozen of the anonymous, camouflage-clad security
|
|
dudes lurking behind rocks and Joshua trees at various locations
|
|
on public and military land at least a mile away. The word on
|
|
the street now says these folks work for the government
|
|
contractor EG&G, not Wackenhut as once surmised. There were
|
|
plenty of distant appearances by the ubiquitous white Jeep
|
|
Cherokees, sticking out like beacons against the beige-and-brown
|
|
landscape. Less obvious was a big beige van partially covered
|
|
with cammo netting on public land about two miles from the get-
|
|
together. On top of the van was a tower of some kind, about 5
|
|
feet high. Our speculation is that it was a high powered range
|
|
tracking video camera pointed our way. We waved and turned our
|
|
own telescopes in that direction, and eventually the occupants
|
|
packed up and slinked back across the border.
|
|
|
|
Road sensors were also a popular tourist attraction for visitors.
|
|
The organizers had labeled some of the secret roadside detectors
|
|
with big fluorescent orange signs that said "SENSOR" so they
|
|
wouldn't be missed. We hope the heavy traffic and close
|
|
inspection of these paint-can size transmitters didn't damage
|
|
them any, because they have come to seem like old friends to us.
|
|
They are usually found in reliable locations and are easy to
|
|
disable should the need arise.
|
|
|
|
After yaking and milling about on Freedom Ridge for a few hours,
|
|
the group made its way to the Little A-Le-Inn where we warmed up
|
|
a big pot of Dr. Brown's famous "Fartless Chili" (scientifically
|
|
designed to avoid the obvious aftereffects) which all in
|
|
attendance were required to consume. From there, the caravan
|
|
proceeded westward to the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) where we gave
|
|
out Area 51 patches to the guards. Unlike the anonymous Groom
|
|
dudes, these guys have name tags and were happy to converse with
|
|
us. There sure were a lot of them, however. They said they knew
|
|
we were coming because the Dept. of Energy sent them a copy of
|
|
our flyer. (Gosh, that was clever of them. Maybe we should take
|
|
DOE off our mailing list.)
|
|
|
|
A pleasant time was had by all, and great satisfaction was
|
|
derived from our observation that no more than 25 of us law-
|
|
abiding citizens resulted in canceled vacations and untold
|
|
overtime for what appeared to be about 50 security dudes total.
|
|
We think of it as defending the job security of our friends in
|
|
beige.
|
|
|
|
----- MEN IN BLACK VISIT RACHEL -----
|
|
|
|
As part of the group was making its way from Freedom Ridge toward
|
|
the Little A-Le-Inn, we stopped briefly at the mysterious Black
|
|
Mailbox, site of many UFO tales. There, the word reached us from
|
|
a departing visitor that two men in business suits were seen
|
|
lurking around the Campbell residence in Rachel, still 20 miles
|
|
away. This reporter nearly shat in his proverbial pants as he
|
|
contemplated the implications of that intelligence. WHO WEARS
|
|
BUSINESS SUITS IN THE DESERT? At best, these must be FBI agents
|
|
waiting to arrest or serve a warrant on Mr. Campbell, the chief
|
|
irritant to the military along the '51 border. At worst, they
|
|
could be the mysterious Men In Black, perhaps employed by a
|
|
shadowy government agency that knows no rules or even, if you
|
|
choose to believe the stories, actual aliens disguised as humans
|
|
and engaged in some sinister mind game.
|
|
|
|
Not knowing what to expect, we decided that the best option was
|
|
to descend on the Campbell residence en masse. There were only
|
|
two of them, our intel said, versus a dozen of us, so maybe we
|
|
could stand up to them as a group. We motored as a convoy down
|
|
Highway 375 to Rachel, then took up a position on the opposite
|
|
side of the road from Mr. Campbell's mobile home. Peering
|
|
through binoculars, we saw at first no sign of the Men In Black.
|
|
There were no unidentified cars parked in the vicinity and no
|
|
obvious indications that the front door had been tampered with.
|
|
However, closer inspection of the door with our most powerful
|
|
optical devices revealed undeniable evidence that the MIBs had
|
|
indeed been there and were on the prowl for our very souls.
|
|
Wedged between the doorknob and the doorframe was a rolled up
|
|
copy of The Watchtower.
|
|
|
|
Jehovah's Witnesses!
|
|
|
|
----- TRESPASSERS PLEAD NOT GUILTY -----
|
|
|
|
Seven people accused of trespassing on military land near the
|
|
Groom base were arraigned in Justice Court in Alamo on Jan. 12.
|
|
Three pleaded "No Contest" and accepted their fines of about $300
|
|
each. Four pleaded Not Guilty, and their trial is scheduled for
|
|
Mar. 2. The four contend that although they did cross the line,
|
|
it was entirely accidental, the result of confusing signals and a
|
|
misread map.
|
|
|
|
On Jan. 2, these seven traveling in three vehicles drove beyond
|
|
the Keep Out signs on the well-maintained Groom Lake Road and up
|
|
to the guard shack about a half mile beyond. This was their
|
|
first visit to the area, and they obviously had not read this
|
|
reporter's "Area 51 Viewer's Guide," which advises against
|
|
crossing the line. Trying to follow a crude map to the Freedom
|
|
Ridge trailhead, the group whizzed past the often photographed
|
|
sign forest forbidding trespass (and photography) and containing
|
|
such memorable but evidently unread phrases as "Use of Deadly
|
|
Force Authorized."
|
|
|
|
There was no place to turn around at the signs, the intruders
|
|
claim, and as they passed a white Jeep Cherokee, they said a
|
|
guard inside waved to them, as though saying "Come on in!"
|
|
Naturally, upon arrival at the guard house, they were descended
|
|
upon by a gaggle of excessively armed cammo dudes who were not
|
|
prepared to give helpful directions and certainly were not versed
|
|
on any of the social graces. The immediate arrest of the
|
|
offenders, no matter how old, young, naive or harmless, was
|
|
apparently the only option available in their very limited
|
|
emotional repetoir.
|
|
|
|
This reporter and two other hikers happened to witness the
|
|
incident while climbing Freedom Ridge ourselves. As soon as we
|
|
understood what was happening, we aborted our ascent and broke
|
|
out the telescopes to watch the festivities. The ratio of armed
|
|
cammo dudes to naive intruders was easily two to one. We watched
|
|
as the trespassers--four men and two woman of varying ages--stood
|
|
around their cars for over an hour looking frustrated and
|
|
confused while tough men with big assault weapons milled about
|
|
looking equally bored and a bit embarrassed. A state trooper
|
|
arrived first, followed by Sgt. Lamoreaux of the Lincoln County
|
|
Sheriff's Dept. Forms were signed, and the prisoners were turned
|
|
over to the Sheriff for more advanced forms of humiliation.
|
|
|
|
The intruders were thoughtfully provided with handcuffs and leg-
|
|
irons (for their own safety, no doubt) and were taken in an Air
|
|
Force van to the palatial, brand-spanking-new Lincoln County
|
|
Detention Center in Pioche. This nearly empty, high-tech
|
|
hoosegow, otherwise known as the Jail That Ate Lincoln County,
|
|
was built with the intent to house other people's prisoners for
|
|
profit. That was before the bottom fell out of the captive
|
|
housing market, and the county now has to scrape for any
|
|
prisoners it can get.
|
|
|
|
In this case it graciously accommodated Connie Ruiz, her daughter
|
|
Sissy and son David, Connie's neighbor Bill Fitzgerald, his sons
|
|
Kevin and Tim, and a friend Gilbert Narvaiz. Hardened criminals,
|
|
all. They claim that at the Detention Center they were forced to
|
|
stand facing a blank wall for over an hour and a half, even one
|
|
man who had an injured ankle, and were denied the use of the
|
|
bathroom for many hours after their arrest. They said they were
|
|
strip searched (because, presumably, you never can know in which
|
|
body cavity those devious trespassers might be hiding drugs or
|
|
weapons) and were given stylish orange jumpsuits to wear (as
|
|
you've seen rakishly modeled by Charlie Manson). The seven
|
|
wasted away in jail for about eight hours while Bill's wife and
|
|
Connie's husband three hours away in Las Vegas tried to hunt up
|
|
$4200 in cash on a Sunday night to bail out their loved ones.
|
|
$200 more to tow each of the three vehicles brought the total bar
|
|
tab to $4800 for this very engrossing weekend experience. The
|
|
adventure was all the more educational for several of the
|
|
participants had never before seen the inside of a jail cell.
|
|
|
|
Some hysterical activists might cry "overkill" and "law
|
|
enforcement run amok." Well, maybe just a tad.
|
|
|
|
In the meantime, after witnessing the arrest but still not
|
|
knowing who these people were, this reporter got on the horn to
|
|
his contacts to tell them about the event. ("Seven People
|
|
Arrested in Groom Lake Incident," the Las Vegas Review-Journal
|
|
reported on Jan. 5.) He then headed down the highway to Pioche,
|
|
arriving at the Detention Center sometime after the prisoners
|
|
did. The duty officer behind a seamless expanse of bullet-proof
|
|
glass refused to give any information about the prisoners, even
|
|
whether they were being held at the detention center at all, so
|
|
this reporter was forced to wait outside in the sub-freezing
|
|
night for an uncertain release. And wait. And wait. In his
|
|
delirium and creeping hypothermia, the reporter was transformed,
|
|
in a metaphysical sense, from a mild-mannered Bill Bixby into a
|
|
raging green Incredible Hulk. Alas, when the prisoners were
|
|
finally bailed out around 4 am, the Hulk was sound asleep in the
|
|
back of his car and did not get a chance to meet them. He
|
|
learned who they were only when one of the seven called him a few
|
|
days later, and the story they told further enraged the Hulk's
|
|
already green condition.
|
|
|
|
Doctor, help me. Ever since spending the night in the parking
|
|
lot of the Lincoln County Detention Center, I have been afflicted
|
|
by the uncontrollable urge to do violent damage to both the
|
|
anonymous cammo dudes and the Lincoln County Sheriff's Dept. I
|
|
don't mean to bomb, shoot, dismember or otherwise physically harm
|
|
these noble defenders of the law; I want to utterly destroy them
|
|
at the very core of their being. I WANT TO CUT THEIR FUNDING. I
|
|
know this is an irrational impulse. Each of these people, as
|
|
individuals, are probably nice folks, but when you throw together
|
|
a lot of decent people "just following orders" what you sometimes
|
|
get, on the whole, is a sadistic monster with no collective
|
|
conscience or critical judgment.
|
|
|
|
The case of the seven trespassers has become, for this reporter,
|
|
a timely symbolic example that dovetails naturally with the fight
|
|
to save the viewpoints and expose the nonexistent base at Groom
|
|
Lake. The four who pleaded Not Guilty must continue to make
|
|
their own decisions, but I encourage them not to go down quietly.
|
|
At the trial on Mar. 2, they will be accorded all the protections
|
|
of any other defendant, including the right to subpoena
|
|
witnesses. The first witness I would call, and that any good
|
|
lawyer would also want to haul into court, is that cammo dude in
|
|
the white Cherokee who waved at the visitors as they passed.
|
|
"What was your intent?" Perry Mason would ask. "Were you giving
|
|
them an implied consent to enter your area?"
|
|
|
|
If this well-armed paramilitary force patrolling public land
|
|
refuses to officially exist, then this is a good opportunity to
|
|
bring them out into the open. "Could you please state for the
|
|
court your name and who you work for?" Mason would ask. The Las
|
|
Vegas press will be present at this promising trial, and even a
|
|
few in the national corps might be interested in meeting a
|
|
genuine cammo dude face to face. They are, after all, so hard to
|
|
pin down in the field, always running away as they do. With a
|
|
bloody land seizure hearing (or two) expected in the meantime,
|
|
everyone should be whipped into a glorious frenzy by the time
|
|
Mar. 2 rolls along. What if the cammo dudes don't honor the
|
|
subpoena? Then the case falls apart. Implied consent is a
|
|
critical issue here, and if the government fails to supply this
|
|
one essential witness, it would be obstructing a legitimate
|
|
defense.
|
|
|
|
These four have been crudely treated and are not guilty of the
|
|
charges against them. Although they did cross the line, they
|
|
followed each other like lemmings, in clouds of dust and under
|
|
conditions of limited warning where there was inadequate
|
|
opportunity to read the signs. The only person who might be seen
|
|
as having control over the situation was the driver of the first
|
|
vehicle, who has already pleaded No Contest. The others either
|
|
were passengers in other people's cars--and who thus had no
|
|
control at all over the situation--or were drivers of following
|
|
vehicles who made a legitimate error that any law-biding citizen
|
|
could easily have fallen victim to. ("The guy in front must know
|
|
where he is going, and that nice fellow in the Cherokee is waving
|
|
us along.") The authorities, if they are smart, will drop the
|
|
case to avoid their ultimate and totally publicized humiliation.
|
|
If they are not smart (as is common among authorities), then they
|
|
should be ready to fight a high-profile battle, not to mention
|
|
the seething greenness of this reporter.
|
|
|
|
Hulk wants blood.
|
|
|
|
----- LATE BREAKING NEWS -----
|
|
|
|
1/25/94: Official notice has just been received that a hearing
|
|
WILL be held in Las Vegas. It will take place Weds., Mar. 2, 5-
|
|
8pm, in the Cashman Field Center, Rooms 203-204. More details
|
|
will follow in Desert Rat #2, due sometime after Feb. 1.
|
|
|
|
The Las Vegas hearing is in addition to the Caliente hearing
|
|
scheduled for Jan. 31. The Caliente hearing is already shaping
|
|
up to be a big event for land use advocates. For those who plan
|
|
to attend, you may like to know that opponents will be gathering
|
|
for dinner at the Knotty Pine Restaurant at about 5 or 5:30, just
|
|
before the 7pm hearing.
|
|
|
|
----- SUBSCRIPTION AND COPYWRITE INFO -----
|
|
|
|
(c) by Glenn Campbell, 1994.
|
|
|
|
The entire contents of this on-line newsletter are copyrighted
|
|
and may not be reproduced in any form without permission, EXCEPT
|
|
FOR THE FOLLOWING: For the next 90 days following the date of
|
|
publication, you may photocopy this text or send this document
|
|
electronically to anyone who you think might be interested. You
|
|
may only copy or send this document in its entirety, not as
|
|
partial excerpts. After 90 days, no further reproduction of this
|
|
document is granted without permission.
|
|
|
|
This newsletter is published on an irregular basis whenever
|
|
conditions warrant. Subscriptions are currently available free
|
|
of charge to any internet user (although we reserve the right to
|
|
start charging a nominal fee at a later date). To subscribe (or
|
|
unsubscribe) to future editions of THE GROOM LAKE DESERT RAT,
|
|
send your email address to psychospy@aol.com. (This is a human-
|
|
operated address, not a redistribution list. Mail sent here will
|
|
be kept confidential.) We will acknowledge your request within a
|
|
few days; if you receive no reply it may indicate an addressing
|
|
problem. In that case, call the human at 702-729-2648. Hard
|
|
copy subscriptions to this newsletter are available for $1.50 per
|
|
issue, ordered from the address below. (e.g. $15 for the next 10
|
|
issues, mailed anywhere in the world.)
|
|
|
|
For a free catalog of documents and products relating to Groom
|
|
Lake and government secrecy, send us your snail mail address.
|
|
Among the documents available is the Area 51 Viewer's Guide, the
|
|
definitive 110-page guide to the border and its lore. (Available
|
|
for $15 plus $3.50 postage.) Also available is the popular Area
|
|
definitive 110-page guide to the border and its lore. (Available
|
|
for $15 plus $3.50 postage.) Also available is the popular Area
|
|
51 cloth patch. ($8, plus $1 postage if ordered separately.)
|
|
|
|
The snail mail address for psychospy, Glenn Campbell, Secrecy
|
|
Oversight Council, Area 51 Research Center and countless other
|
|
ephemeral entities is:
|
|
HCR Box 38
|
|
Rachel, NV 89001
|
|
|
|
Final wisdom: If it says, "Restricted Area," "No Trespassing,"
|
|
"Keep Out," and "Use of Deadly Force Authorized," then keep
|
|
going, don't worry about it, God will
|
|
protect you.
|
|
|
|
#####
|