archived as http://www.stealthskater.com/Documents/Areas_01.doc (also …Areas_01.pdf) => doc pdf URL-doc URL-pdf

more related material is at the /Military. page at doc pdf URL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nevada_Test_Site

Area-51 & Nevada Test Range

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The Nevada Test Site is broken down into areas. Some of the areas and their uses include the following:

Area 1

Area 1 held 8 nuclear tests for a total of 9 detonations. 4 early atmospheric tests were conducted above Area 1 in the early 1950s as well as three underground tests in 1971 and 1990. In 1955, a Civil Defense experiment (called Operation Cue in the press) studied nuclear blast effects on various building types. A few structures still stand.

Heavy drilling equipment and concrete construction facilities are sited in Area 1. Non-destructive X-ray, gamma ray, and subcritical detonation tests continue to be conducted in Area 1.

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The radioactivity present on the ground in Area 1 provides a radiologically contaminated environment for the training of first responders.

Area 2

Area 2 is a division of the Nevada Test Site in the Mojave Desert. The area is located 18 miles southwest of Area 51.

Area 2 was the site of 144 tests comprising 169 detonations. Shot "Gabbs", intended for 1993, was abandoned in place.

Area 3

Area 3 held 266 nuclear tests for a total of 288 detonations (more than in any other area of the NTS).

As part of Operation Tinderbox, on 24 June 1980 a small satellite prototype (DSCS III) was subjected to radioactivity from the "Huron King" shot in a vertical line-of-sight (VLOS) test undertaken in Area 3. This was a program to improve the database on nuclear hardening design techniques for defense satellites.

The final nuclear test detonation at Nevada Test Site was Operation Julin's "Divider" on 23 September 1992 just prior to the moratorium temporarily ending all nuclear testing. Divider was a safety experiment test shot that was detonated at the bottom of a shaft sunk into Area 3.

In 1995 and 1997, plutonium-contaminated soil from "Double Tracks" and "Clean Slate 1" of Operation Roller Coaster (1963) was picked up from the Tonopah Test Range and brought to the Area 3 Radioactive Waste Management Site as a first step in eventually returning Tonopah Test Range to an environmentally neutral state. Corrective action regarding the contaminated material from the "Clean Slate 2" and "Clean Slate 3" tests has yet to be agreed upon.

Area 4

Area 4 held 40 nuclear tests for a total of 44 detonations. It is home to the Big Explosives Experimental Facility (BEEF).

Area 5

Area 5 held 19 nuclear tests. 5 atmospheric tests were detonated starting on 27 January 1951 at Area 5 as part of Operation Ranger. These were the first nuclear tests at NTS. Further tower detonations were studied at Area 5 and the Grable shot which was fired from a M65 Atomic Cannon located in Area 11 exploded in Area 5. The Priscilla test was conducted at Area 5 on 24 June 1957.

5 underground tests were set up at Area 5. Four of those suffered accidental release of radioactive materials. On 16 March 1968, physicist Glenn T. Seaborg toured the upcoming Milk Shake shot of Operation Crosstie. Milk Shake's radioactive release was not detected outside of NTS boundaries.

Area 6

Area 6 held 4 nuclear tests for a total of 6 detonations. The only 2 towns to be established within the boundaries of NTS prior to 1947 -- BJ Wye and Mule Lick -- are located in Yucca Flats in Area 6. The

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area features an asphalt runway that was constructed on top of a dirt landing strip that existed since the 1950s. Some buildings including a hangar are situated near the runway.

The Device Assembly Facility (DAF) was originally built to consolidate nuclear explosives assembly operations. It now serves as the Criticality Experiments Facility (CEF).

The Control Point is the communication hub of the NTS. It was used by controllers to trigger and monitor nuclear test explosions.

In 1982 while a live nuclear bomb was being lowered underground, the base came under attack by armed combatants. The combatants turned out to be a security team conducting an improperly scheduled drill.

Area 7

Area 7 held 92 nuclear tests. During Operation Buster, 4 successful tests were conducted via airdrop with bomber aircraft releasing nuclear weapons over Area 7.

It is also the site of Matthew Reilly's book called Area 7.

Shot "Icecap" planned for 1993 was abandoned in Area 7 following 1992's testing moratorium. The tower, shaft, and wiring remain in place along with a crane intended to lower the nuclear test package into the shaft.

Area 8

Area 8 held 13 nuclear tests for a total of 15 detonations.

Area 8 hosted the "Baneberry" shot of Operation Emery on 18 December 1970. The Baneberry 10 kt (42 TJ) test detonated 900 feet (270 m) below the surface. But its energy cracked the soil in unexpected ways causing a fissure near ground zero and the failure of the shaft stemming and cap. A plume of fire and dust was released raining fallout on workers in different locations within NTS. The radioactive plume released 6.7 megacuries (250 PBq) of radioactive material, including 80 kCi (3.0 PBq) of 131I.

Area 9

Area 9 held 115 nuclear tests for a total of 133 detonations.

In Area 9, the 74 kt (310 TJ) "Hood" test on 5 July 1957 (part of Operation Plumbbob) was the largest atmospheric test ever conducted within the continental United States; nearly 5 times larger in yield than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. A balloon carried Hood up to 460 meters above the ground where it was detonated. Over 2,000 troops took part in the test in order to train them in conducting operations on the nuclear battlefield. 11 megacuries (410 PBq) of Iodine-131 (131I) were released into the air.

Area 10

Area 10 held 57 nuclear tests for a total of 71 detonations.

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The first underground test at NTS was the "Uncle" shot of Operation Jangle. Uncle detonated on 29 November 1951 within a shaft sunk into Area 10.

The "John" shot of Plumbbob on 19 July 1957 was the first test firing of the nuclear-tipped AIR-2 Genie air-to-air rocket designed to destroy incoming enemy bombers with a nuclear explosion. The 2 kt (8.4 TJ) warhead exploded approximately 3 miles above 5 volunteers and a photographer who stood unprotected at "ground zero" in Area 10 to show the apparent safety of battlefield nuclear weapons to personnel on the ground. The test also demonstrated the ability of a fighter aircraft to deliver a nuclear-tipped rocket and avoid being destroyed in the process. A Northrop F-89J fired the rocket.

The "Sedan" test of Operation Storax on 6 July 1962 was a 104 kt (440 TJ) shot for the Operation Plowshare which sought to discover whether nuclear weapons could be used for peaceful means in creating lakes, bays or canals. The explosion displaced 12 million tons of earth creating the Sedan crater which is 1,280 feet (390 m) wide and 320 feet (100 m) deep.

Area 11

Area 11 held 9 nuclear tests. Four of the tests were weapons safety experiments conducted as Project 56. They spread so much harmful radioactive material around the test sites that Area 11 has been called "Plutonium Valley". As is the case with Area 1, background radiation levels make Area 11 suitable for realistic training in methods of radiation detection.

Area 12

Area 12 held 61 nuclear tests between 1957 and 1992, one of which involved 2 detonations. All tests were conducted below Rainier and Aqueduct mesas.

Area 12 was the primary location for tunnel tests and used almost exclusively for that purpose. The tunnel complexes mined into Rainier and Aqueduct Mesa include the B-, C-, D-, E-, F-, G-, I-, J-, K-, N-, P-, and T-Tunnel complexes and the R- and S- shafts.

Area 13

There is no "Area 13" within NNSS, though such a name is attached to a section of Nellis Air Force Range which abuts the northeastern corner of Area 15. Project 57's weapons safety test was conducted here on 24 April 1957 spreading particles emitting alpha radiation over a large area.

Area 14

Area 14 occupies approximately 26 square miles (67 km2) in the central portion of the NNSS. Various outdoor experiments are conducted in this area. No atmospheric or underground nuclear tests were conducted in Area 14.

Area 15

3 underground detonations took place in area 15 in the 1960s.

Pile Driver was a notable Department of Defense test. A massive underground installation was built to study the survivability of hardened underground bunkers undergoing a nuclear attack. Information

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from the test was used in designing hardened missile silos and the North American Aerospace Defense Command facility in Colorado Springs.

The abandoned Crystal and Climax mines are found in Area 15. Storage tanks hold contaminated materials.

From 1964 to 1981, the Environmental Protection Agency operated a 36-acre (150,000 m2) experimental farm in Area 15. Extensive plant and soil studies evaluated the uptake of pollutants in farm-grown vegetables and from the forage eaten by a dairy herd of some 30 Holstein cows. Scientists also studied horses, pigs, goats, and chickens.

Area 16

Area 16 held 6 nuclear tests.

Area 17

No nuclear tests took place in Area 17.

Area 18

Area 18 held 5 nuclear tests and includes the Pahute Mesa Airstrip.

Area 19

Pahute Mesa is one of 4 major nuclear test regions within the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). It occupies 243 square miles (630 km2) in the northwest corner of the NNSS. The eastern section is known as Area 19 and the western section as Area 20.

A total of 85 nuclear tests were conducted in Pahute Mesa between 1965 and 1992. Three of them (Boxcar, Benham and Handley) had a yield of over 1 megaton. 3 tests were conducted as part of Operation Plowshare and one as part of Vela Uniform.

(Area 20)

Area 22

No nuclear tests took place in Area 22. Area 22 once held Camp Desert Rock, a staging base for troops undergoing atmospheric nuclear blast training. As many as 9,000 troops were camped there in 1955. Desert Rock Airport's runway was enlarged to a 7,500 ft (2,300 m) length in 1969 by the Atomic Energy Commission. It is a transport hub for personnel and supplies going to NNSS and also serves as an emergency landing strip.

Area 23

No nuclear tests took place in Area 23. The town of Mercury, Nevada lies within Area 23. The area is the main pathway to and from NNSS test locations by way of U.S. Route 95. An open sanitary landfill is located to the west of Mercury and a closed hazardous waste site abuts the landfill.

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Mercury is also the main management area for the site which includes a bar and large cafeteria, printing plant, medical center, warehousing, fleet management, liquidation and recycling center, engineering offices, dormitories, and other administrative areas for both the O&M contractors, LLNL, LANL, and SNL personnel. At its height in the 1950s and '60s, it also held several restaurants, a bowling alley, a movie theater, and a motel.

Area 25

Area 25 is the largest named area in the Nevada National Security Site at 254 square miles (660 km2) and has its own direct access from Route 95. Area 25 is commonly called "Jackass Flats" because it is composed primarily of a shallow alluvial basin by that name. No nuclear explosions took place within Area 25.

Area 25 is the site of the now decommissioned Nuclear Rocket Development Station (NRDS). It was built in support of Project Rover to test prototype nuclear rocket engines. The complex includes 3 test stands; the Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (E-MAD) facility; the Reactor Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (R-MAD) facility; a control point/technical operations complex; an administrative area; and a radioactive material storage area.

The R-MAD Facility was built to support the nuclear rocket program and was operational from 1959 through 1970. It was used to assemble reactor engines and to disassemble and study reactor parts and fuel elements after reactor tests. Project Rover was successful, but ultimately canceled.

Portions of Area 25 are used by the military for training exercises. The U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory conducts open-air and X-tunnel tests using depleted uranium.

On July 8, 2010, it was announced by Harry Reid, Steven Chu and Ken Salazar that a 25-square-mile (65 km2) portion of this area was being reassigned as a development and test area for new solar technologies.

One of the test stand of Area 25, the Reactor Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly (R-MAD) facility has been demolished. The non-radiologically contaminated portions of the facility were demolished in late 2005. Demolition activities for the radiologically contaminated portions of the R-MAD Facility were initiated in October 2009 and completed on July 15, 2010.

Area 26

No nuclear tests took place in Area 26, the most arid section of the NNSS. An old abandoned mine (the Horn Silver Mine) was used for waste disposal between 1959 and the 1970s. Some of the waste is radioactive. Water flow past the shaft could pose a human health risk, so corrective action has been planned.

In 1983 the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency performed the NUWAX-83 tests near Port Gaston in Area 26 simulating the explosion of a nuclear-armed helicopter and the resulting spread of nuclear debris over 65 acres. The radioactive material used to simulate the accident became inert in less than 6 months.

An eight-square-mile complex was constructed in Area 26 in support of Project Pluto. It consisted of six miles of roads, the critical assembly building, the control building, the assembly and shop buildings, and utilities. Those buildings have been used recently as mock reactor facilities in the training of first responders.

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Area 27

It occupies approximately 49 square miles (130 km2) in the south-central portion of the NNSS. A portion of Area 27 was originally known as Area 410. No tests of nuclear devices took place in Area 27.

Area 27 is home to the Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research (JASPER) Facility.[1]

JASPER uses a 2-stage high-energy shock gun to achieve shock pressures, temperatures, and strain rates similar to those attained in a nuclear weapon. It is specifically designed to conduct research using plutonium and surrogate materials as targets. Data from these experiments is used to determine material equations of state and to validate computer models of material response for weapons applications. JASPER experiments support the Stockpile Stewardship Program and complement subcritical experiments conducted in Area 1.

The facility is located in a decommissioned weapons assembly complex and was established in 1999. By April 2003, qualification testing using non-nuclear materials was complete. By May 2007, a series of tests comparing new plutonium weapons pits with old ones had confirmed that the plutonium cores in US weapons stockpiles were less subject to deleterious aging effects than previously anticipated.

Area 28

Area 28 no longer exists. It was absorbed into Areas 25 and 27.

Area 29

No nuclear tests took place in Area 29. The rugged terrain of Area 29 serves as a buffer between other areas of NNSS. A helipad is present at Shoshone Peak.

Area 30

Area 30 occupies approximately 59 square miles (150 km2) at the center of the western edge of the NNSS. Area 30 has rugged terrain and includes the northern reaches of Fortymile Canyon. It is used primarily for military training and exercises.

Area 30 was the site of a single nuclear test -- the Crosstie Buggy row charge experiment, part of Operation Plowshare which involved 5 simultaneous detonations.

Area 1 U1a37.00819°N

116.05894°W

The U1a Complex is an underground laboratory used for subcritical experiments. Physics experiments that obtain technical information about the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. U1h and U1g -- shafts which add data access, ventilation and other utilities to the facility -- are just north of this entrance.

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Area 1 Industrial Area37.06561°N

116.13411°W

Houses $20 million worth of mining tools. Contains an area for creating site grout and stemming mixes.

Area 1 Survival City37.05305°N

116.10339°W

The alternative to Doomtown. Used in the Teapot Desert/Rock exercises and the Civil Defence/PR effort Operation Cue. Name taken from "News of the Day" newsreel about the Apple 2 test.

Area 1 Fortune Training Area

36.98689°N 116.04384°W

Fortune was a training facility for building bomb test sites. Site reused for Unicorn subcritical test in 2005–06.

Area1 Apple-2 houses37.04434°N

116.07397°W

Three "typical American" houses built for the Apple-2 civil defense event. The one on the left is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the 29kt blast; the right one 2 miles (3.2 km). The left one is on the monthly tour bus route. The 2 towers are from later seismic studies.

Area 1 NNSS-CTOS37.05263°N

116.10308°W

Counter Terrorism Operations Support - a location for training in emergency preparedness in radiological emergencies.

Area 2 Operation Gabbs37.13796°N

116.07353°W

Operation Gabbs was another shaft detonation scheduled for 1993 that was laid to rest by the 1992 test ban treaty.

Area 2 Gun Turret37.13945°N

116.10904°W

Used in calibration of Whitney, Shasta, Diablo and Smoky tests. Made of "old" steel from 1940s U.S. heavy cruiser (USS Louisville CA 28) damaged from kamikaze on January 5, 1945. It was "aimed" at the shot cab to get radiation data.

Area 3 Area 3 RWMS37.04445°N

116.02425°W

Low level Radioactive Waste Management Facility. Waste (mostly dirt) is buried in a selection of old subsidence craters.

Area 4 Original Bren Tower

37.09869°N 116.09685°W

Original site of the Bare Reactor Experiment in Nevada (BREN), a reactor on a tower which emulated bomb explosions for medical studies. A Japanese village was constructed around it because it focused on war bomb injuries. BREN was later moved to Area 25.

Area 4 BEEF37.09611°N

116.09262°W

Big Explosives Experimental Facility

Area 4 BODF37.08068°N

116.08697°W

Buried Objects Detection Facility -- area to test and calibrate mine sweeping equipment against buried objects.

Area 5 Doomtown36.79805°N

115.93416°W

The original effects test area and close cousin to Survival City in Area 1.

Area 5 RWMS-536.85758°N 115.9551°W

Radioactive Waste Management Facility, Area 5

Area 5 Annie Emplacement36.70428°N

115.97387°W

Location of “Atomic Annie” (M65 280mm nuclear field artillery) emplacement for Upshot-Knothole Grable test.

Area 5 Bleachers Bleacher area for viewing of Frenchman Flat events.

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36.70843°N 115.97412°W

Area 5 Hazmat Spill Facility

36.80138°N 115.95075°W

Used to test Hazmat strategies and tactics. Became the Nonproliferation Test and Evaluation Complex in 2005.

Area 5 Ship of the Desert

36.87486°N 115.92957°W

A massive tracked structure designed to capture neutrons from the Diagonal Line experiment.

Area 5 The Forest36.75907°N

115.95138°W

The famous forest on the desert swept by the blasts of Encore and Grable.

Area 6 DAF36.89827°N

116.04814°W

Device Assembly Facility: bombs and components are made ready for testing here.

Area 6 Atlas Pulse Power

36.97946°N 116.03965°W

The Atlas Pulse Power Facility

Area 6 News Nob36.945°N 116.05°W

The location from which VIPs and news people would watch nuclear tests.

Area 6 Rad/NucCTEC36.89026°N

116.03093°W

Radiological/Nuclear Countermeasures Test and Evaluation Complex Homeland Security operational nuclear test and training center

Area 6 Lockheed-Martin AOF36.92692°N

116.00755°W

Aerial Operations Facility. A testing area for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Area 6 Test Control Point

36.93453°N 116.05482°W

NTS Test control center (CP-1). These 2 buildings controlled the tests performed at the NTS.

Area 7 Operation Icecap37.0808°N

116.04558°W

Operation Icecap was being built up when the 1992 Comprehensive Test Ban was signed. The equipment was left in place including the 0.5 million pounds (230,000 kg) instrumentation payload, the crane, the wiring, and many of the recording trailers.

Area 11 Plutonium Valley

36.97659°N 115.96228°W

Area contains scattered raw plutonium from plutonium dispersal safety tests.

Area 12 'B' Tunnel37.19345°N

116.19887°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'B' Entrance.

Area 12 'C','D','F' Tunnels

37.19322°N 116.19999°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnels 'C', 'D', and 'F' Entrances (separate, but very close together)

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Area 12 'E' Tunnel37.18816°N

116.19477°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'E' Entrance.

Area 12 'G' Tunnel37.1694°N

116.1947°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'G' Entrance.

Area 12 'I' Tunnel37.21876°N

116.16036°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'I' Entrance.

Area 12 'J' Tunnel37.21884°N

116.16319°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'J' Entrance.

Area 12 'K' Tunnel37.21878°N

116.15891°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'K' Entrance.

Area 12 'N' Tunnel37.20169°N

116.19187°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'N' Entrance.

Area 12 'P' Tunnel37.22906°N 116.1535°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'P' Entrance.

Area 12 'T' Tunnel37.21589°N

116.16711°W

Rainier Mesa, Tunnel 'T' Entrance.

Area 12 Camp 1237.19598°N

116.15624°W

Camp for miners and others working on the Rainier Mesa in the 1970s.

Area 12 BACHUS Test37.19569°N 116.1584°W

Biotechnology Activity Characterization by Unconventional Signatures (a secret biowarfare simulation facility).

Area 15 EPA’s NTS Dairy

37.20829°N 116.04037°W

A dairy and pig farm maintained from 1964 to 1984 by the EPA, mainly to provide experimental data for uptake of milk contamination, following Operation Schooner.

Area 15 Climax Mine37.22352°N

116.05895°W

Location of an old silver mine. Recycled for 3 nuclear tests and the Spent Fuel Test in which spent nuclear fuel was stored in a mine drift to study the effects on the granite walls.

Area 16 ‘A” Tunnel37.01245°N

116.19565°W

Shoshone Mountain, Tunnel ‘A’ Entrance.

Area 16 Divine Strake37.02245°N

116.18203°W

U16b tunnel entrance complex including Divine Strake proposed 700t chemical blast tunnel on the north, the latter heavily protested, delayed, and eventually abandoned.

Area 20 Operation Greenwater37.23086°N

116.44725°W

The third suspended test was Operation Greenwater, the test of the space X-Ray laser system, a part of the Star Wars concept. The 45 meters (148 ft) tower remains on the site. It is supposed to be in Area 19 but actually is in Area 20.

Area 22 Camp Desert Rock

The Army Camp that housed the participants in Operations Desert Rock I-VIII. Across the road is the Pig Hilton where test

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36.62593°N 116.01937°W

subjects were housed in barnyard splendor.

Area 23 Mercury36.6594°N

115.99642°W

The base housing and office area for the Nevada Test Site (NTS).

Area 25 Yucca Mountain nuclear waste

repository36.85282°N

116.42672°W

Yucca Mountain radioactive disposal site. This is the north entrance; the south entrance is about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) SSW.

Area 25 'X' Tunnel36.74542°N

116.32816°W

Two tunnel entrances used by the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory for depleted uranium testing.

Area 25 Bren Tower36.78062°N

116.24358°W

The BREN (Bare Reactor Experiment, Nevada) is a 453 m (1,486 ft) tall tower originally in Yucca Flat used to experimentally irradiate ground targets with gamma and neutrons. Moved to Jackass Flat for HENRE (High Energy Neutrons Action Experiment). Demolished 23 May 2012.

Area 25 Nevada Test Stand

36.83162°N 116.27809°W

Test stand for the nuclear rocket NERVA

Area 25 KIWI-TNT36.83285°N

116.27914°W

Test of the NERVA engine to destruction to determine worst-case scenario for runaway reactor. 1.6 Mci released.

Area 25 E-MAD Building

36.80646°N 116.30476°W

Engine Maintenance and Disassembly Building used for handling radioactive NERVA engines; site being dismantled.

Area 25 R-Mad Building36.8161°N

116.23936°W

Reactor Maintenance and Disassembly Building, maintained radioactive NERVA reactors. Also used in the MX program. Site being dismantled.

Area 25 ETS-1 Test Stand

36.8321°N 116.31217°W

Engineering Test Stand 1 for testing nuclear rockets in a standard upright position.

Area 25 MX Testing Area

36.69946°N 116.37952°W

MX missile test track and silo

Area 25 Rock Valley Study

36.68406°N 116.19397°W

The circles are the Rock Valley Study Area. Environmental research area for studying radiation in the desert ecosystem.

Area 26 Project Pluto36.81744°N

116.14906°W

Ram-jet nuclear-powered cruise missile engine development project. Site being dismantled.

Area 26 RBIFF36.81645°N

116.16486°W

Re-entry Body Impact Fuze Flights

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Area 27 JASPER36.77496°N

116.11703°W

Houses the Joint Actinide Shock Physics Experimental Research, a 2-stage light-gas gun for shock experiments.

Area 27 Super Kukla36.77907°N

116.11041°W

A naked reactor test area designed to test equipment under a hostile radioactive environment, 1965–78.

(Area 28)Area 29Area 30

Area 51 Groom Lake37.23986°N

115.81363°W

The famed Air Force base used for testing secret aircraft.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32919/pilot-takes-amazing-images-of-area-51-and-tonopah-air-base-while-skirting-restricted-airspace

Pilot Takes Amazing Images of Area 51 and Tonopah Air Base while skirting Restricted Airspace

A private pilot had one heck of an adventure through the Nevada Test and Training Range getting very rare looks at the shadowy installations.

by Tyler Rogoway / The War Zone / April 7, 2020

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They are America's most secretive airbases -- Area-51 and Tonopah Test Range Airport -- located deep in the massive Nevada Test and Training Range that covers a large portion of southern Nevada.

Although there are distant vantage points on the ground that allow views into these highly secure installations, aerial images of them taken close enough to make out any details are rare to nonexistent. Regardless, some may be surprised to hear that private planes do legally fly along the borders and even into some of the ranges that make up the NTTR, offering a one of a kind aerial tour of a land that the Government would like you to forget.

One such aerial adventure was recently flown by private pilot Gabriel Zeifman in his little Cessna 150. He brought his camera along with him and the results are stunning.

Flying very near and even across some of the restricted areas within the NTTR is not unheard of. If the timing is right and the ranges are not in use (referred to as being "cold"), air traffic control can allow routing through the area. A handful of small civilian airports ring the NTTR and planes can't fly into them without at least passing very near the restricted operating areas that host everything from massive aerial warfare exercises like Red Flag to various test and tactics development sorties. (It's also worth noting that the Russians are allowed to get even closer than any civilian pilot can.)

Map of the NTTR. Area-51's airspace (also known as "The Box") is 4808A.

After spotting Zeifman's amazing images after he posted them on Reddit, The War Zone reached out to the adventurous flyer. He described his flight into the NTTR and interest in the area to us as such:

I've had an interest in all the military airspace out this way for a while and figured I had to go check it out. The first time I ventured into the Nellis Ranges was on a flight from Tonopah to Rachel via R4807A where I went down to the edge of that side of 4808A [also known as "The Box"] and got some good views of Groom [Area-51] from the north.

After departing Rachel, I was given permission to enter R4806W enroute to Henderson and proceeded to fly the perimeter of The Box and R4808N basically to

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Yucca Lake. I only had my cell phone camera at the time. So I waited to come back with a good camera.

I tried with a friend recently. But that only yielded one decent picture because the weather was less than ideal. So we were quite a bit lower than I had preferred. But we did get to fly through much of R4806W.

This last weekend, I was unable to get permission to fly into any of the restricted areas. So I took the opportunity to get some great pictures of TNX [Tonopah Test Range Airport] as I skirted the perimeter. I don't have any kind of special authorization in these airspaces. They're just random transits that I've been given enroute to other places when the airspace is cold.

The plane is just a standard Cessna 150. Asides from seeing the legendary Groom Lake, it's been quite neat to see the other parts of the ranges including all the targets and infrastructure.

Gabriel flying with Groom Lake in the distance.

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Gabriel after landing on El Mirage dry lake bed in Southern California.

Yes, his Cessna 150 has nose art and here Gabriel seems to be modeling some of his own!16

The 2 main aviation attractions in the NTTR are historic (to say the least). Area-51 really doesn't need any introduction. Fabled aircraft like the U-2 and SR-71 spy planes were born there as were game-changing test aircraft like Have Blue and Tacit Blue, not to mention more modern types such as the modified Stealth Black Hawks that were used in the Bin Laden raid and who-knows-what else.

Tonopah Test Range Airport once housed America's secret MiG adversary squadron as well as the F-117 Nighthawk force while it remained shrouded in secrecy. In more recent times, it was the early home to the RQ-170 Sentinel spy drone and the base remains a major reservoir for Foreign Materiel Exploitation (FME) programs such as housing foreign-made radars and missile launchers that are used for testing and training purposes. It also still hosts the remnants of the F-117 force and is the most likely locale to bed down any budding new semi-operational clandestine aircraft force.

Rare shot of an F-117 rolling out from the canyons and toward the gated taxiway at Tonopah Test Range Airport. I t's funny, the hangar right to the rear right-hand side of the F-117's tail is the where this mystery

craft popped up on Google Earth recently: http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/24495/censored-craft-near-hangar-appears-in-satellite-image-of-secretive-tonopah-test-range-airport …

So, these are the installations where Aviation's crown jewels are developed and kept, some of which we may never know existed.

You can see the results of Zeifman's Tonopah Test Range Airport and Area-51 aerial tour in the amazingly detailed images below. He even caught a new development at "Dreamland" during his adventure:

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Tonopah Test Range Airport

An amazing shot looking south. Note the runway construction and displaced threshold that we have mentioned in the past as well as the ongoing revitalization of the "Janet Airlines" terminal at the very

south end of the base. While the terminal area is under construction, a temporary terminal area appears to have been relocated near the center of the closest blocks (or "canyons") of hangars. You can see the cars

parked just to the east of the ramp area.

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Here you can see the cars parked where the temporary Janet Airlines terminal is located. The farthest hangars on the right are where a handful of F-117s still operate from.

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Bald Mountain Radar Station keeps a watchful eye over a large swathe of the NTTR and provides key fighter control information for exercises and supports various test programs that occur over the complex.

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Groom Lake and the Air Force's clandestine flight test center located there.

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On the other side of this mountain range is Groom Mine which was regularly visited by the family who had owned it for well over a century up until the Air Force evicted them just a few years ago. Read more

about this bizarre story here and here.

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Groom Dry Lake with its auxiliary runways.

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The main base area in remarkable detail. There is one new addition seen being constructed in this image. See the next photo.

The old F-117 hangars are having some sort of massive new structure added onto them that will greatly enhance their size. If this isn't a new enclosed hangar space, then it will likely be an open-air shade that

will keep whatever is underneath it out of view from satellites overhead. Also, note the tarped over canvas hangar that has a huge hole in it for some time.

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The huge lone hangar at the far south end of the base which was just built roughly 5 years ago remains a major mystery.

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An amazing and totally unique perspective looking north at the base.

On another of Gabriel Zeifman's flights around the NTTR, he made a remarkably close pass by Area-51's southern reaches resulting in awesome pics of the base being bathed in some beautiful light. Note the partially-flooded lakebed which is a fairly regular occurrence, and the absolutely massive abandoned runway.

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You can check out all of Gabriel's photos in even higher resolution at this link. Note that it opens up in Google Drive.

So there you have it. Tonopah Test Range Airport and Area-51 like you have never seen it before. We have to stress that this was not some rogue flight. Private aircraft remain under the watchful eye and direction of air traffic control as they pass through the area.

As these images show, when the conditions are right, a private pilot can get pretty close to these famed installations without breaking any rules, putting anyone in danger, or causing a hugely expensive distraction for the Air Force. If some idiot pilot were to disobey orders or step into restricted airspace, they would regret it greatly.

With this in mind, you are better off just sitting back and enjoying Gabriel's awesome pictures.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/32951/pilots-rare-trip-around-area-51-includes-pics-of-range-targets-drone-bases-ufo-legends

Pilot's Rare Trip around Area-51 includes Pics of Range Targets, Drone Bases, UFO Legends

The Nevada Test and Training Range is a huge place filled with oddities, including one impossible to reach dry lake that's a staple of UFO lore.

by Tyler Rogoway / The War Zone / April 13, 2020

Our account and its accompanying gallery of private pilot Gabriel Zeifman's somewhat astonishing flight through the usually highly-restricted Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) [which includes shadowy bases like Area-51 and Tonopah Test Range Airport and the Nevada Test Site where hundreds of nuclear weapons were tested] drew fascination from readers all over the Globe.

Now, Gabriel has shared additional images of his adventures over the NTTR that are pretty spectacular in their own right. They include the best photos I have seen of a very popular location in UFO lore -- Papoose Lake. Located just to the southwest of Area-51, this is the place where Bob Lazar claims of having reversed-engineered flying saucers in the 1980s while working inside a camouflaged facility called S-4 that was built into the side of a mountain. [StealthSkater note: doc pdf URL ]

No, I don't believe Bob's story. But I do think that it is one of the most entertaining tales ever told and it has continued to capture imaginations for decades. I wasn't thinking of Bob Lazar or "S-4" when I wrote my story on Gabriel's flying adventure. But after I published it, I was swarmed with emails and direct messages asking if he had any pictures of Papoose Lake. Aside from satellite images, no direct photos of the area in question are known to exist. That is until now.

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The most impressive part of his route through the NTTR was the turn to the west just south of the infamous impenetrable "box" of airspace that surrounds the clandestine flight test facility located at Groom Lake. This part of his flight took him directly over Papoose Lake and the hill that Lazar famously claimed had camouflaged hangar doors built into the side of it to hide from 1980s imaging satellite technology. Although Gabriel didn't take any pictures of this area on the flight we discussed in our previous article, he did on a previous excursion with a less capable camera.

Groom Lake and Area-51 to the north and Papoose Lake to the south.

For purposes of continuity, we have laid out a selection of Gabriel's images in order of how his flight progressed around-and-through the NTTR. Beyond Lazar's supposed UFO reverse-engineering lair, there is plenty more to see including another shadowy base that is located near the Department-of-

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Energy's Yucca Lake facility. That drone test base has a big new hangar facility. We also see the various targets in different range areas spread throughout the NTTR's central and southwestern reaches (one of which is quite elaborate).

We will start off our journey near Lida Junction, Nevada where a lakebed has a huge humorous inscription drawn in it for those flying over to read. Then, just like last time, Gabriel enters the normally closed airspace (you can read all about how private light planes occasionally get totally legal access to it in our previous piece) just to the north of Tonopah Test Range Airport.

You have already seen the amazing photos he took on his latest journey through the area of this base which is the historic home of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter, America's secret MiG squadron, the RQ-170 Sentinel drone, and who-knows-what else.

He then drops down into the central range areas from there circumventing Area-51 and crossing over Papoose Lake and heading into the southern reaches of the huge complex.

With all that said, here we go ...

Whoever drew this massive "UFO" and arrow on this dry lakebed northeast of Lida Junction, Nevada, right on the western edge of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR), clearly wanted flyers by to know "The Truth Was Out There":

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The Tonopah Test Range Airport:

A broad view of the Tonopah Test Range (TTR). A dry lake bombing range inside the TTR (which has been used to test inert nuclear bombs) is seen as are the living facilities that are used for Tonopah Test Range Airport. They were originally built for the F-117 program when it existed at Tonopah in total secrecy:

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Gabriel's GPS showing him approaching the R-4808N restricted area:

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Keno Airstrip within the R-4807A restricted airspace at the northern edge of the NTTR is sometimes used by the Air Force during its Red Flag air combat exercises and its Joint Forcible Entry Exercises (JFEX):

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A bombing range in the Kiwich Valley just to the east of Area-51's northwestern corner:

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Another target area, this one representing an airfield just to the south of the one on the dry lakebed:

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Groom Lake and the Area-51 flight test center located there seen as Gabriel passed along the northern edge of its closed airspace:

Gabriel's plane parked along the road outside the Little A'Le'Inn. This is a frequent haunt of those looking to get close to Area-51 on the ground and situated on the Extraterrestrial Highway (also known as Nevada State Route 375) in Rachel, Nevada:

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Below are shots of Papoose Lake with Area-51 just over the Papoose Mountain Range. Unsurprisingly, nothing appears to be there just as satellite images show. There isn't even an access road. And as you can see, the lakebed is flooded which is a fairly common occurrence making traversing it in a car or bus problematic.

Regardless, it is a fun little pop-culture element to the story and for many, it will add to the evidence that Lazar's story is a fake (albeit remarkably elaborate) tale. And for the believers, it will probably do the opposite somehow.

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Lazar did play a huge part in turning Area-51 into a household name (for better or worse). And he did seem to know a lot about the Base itself (the one that actually exists) before the pre-Internet era. He

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has even made claims about seeing a high-speed exotic aircraft on the base while transiting to the remote UFO shop at S-4. Here is his drawing of that craft:

Lazar's drawing of what he thought was a methane-powered high-speed aircraft at Area-51. He claims the craft was ridiculously loud and had huge shutter-like square exhausts.

[StealthSkater note: see the "Aurora" at => doc pdf URL ]

Although some of the details Bob mentioned about the base and its operations proved to be accurate, that doesn't mean he worked on alien craft at some comic-book-like hideout facility built into the side of a mountain at Papoose Lake.

The NTTR is a HUGE place with big stakeholders like the Department of Energy and the Air Force operating an endless list of facilities out there, as you can see in these pictures. As such, it employs all the same types of people you would need for similar unsecured areas including electricians, security

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personnel, janitors, cooks, engineers, computer techs, construction workers, and so on. So yes, you can work out there without reverse-engineering UFOs or test-flying secret stealth aircraft.

After that little detour into the bizarre, we continue our flight...

An area of the Yucca Flat north of Yucca Dry Lake within the Nevada Test Site now known as the Nevada National Security Site which is heavily pockmarked from underground nuclear testing during the Cold War:

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A view of the secretive airstrip at the southeastern edge of Yucca Dry Lake within the Nevada National Security Site's Area-6that is used to support unmanned aircraft test and evaluation activities for the U.S. Military and other U.S. Government agencies including the CIA. You can read our report on this facility here. You can also see the DOE's fortress-like Device Assembly Facility to the far left.

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You can see the big new semi-permanent hangar that has been erected on the facility's main apron:

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A view of Frenchman Dry Lake and the adjacent French Flat within the Nevada Test Site which were the sites of numerous above-ground nuclear tests at the dawn of the nuclear era:

The view of the northern end of Dog Bone Lake which sits in a part of the NTTR's airspace designated R-4806W. The southern end of the lake bed serves as a gunnery and bombing range and has a MOUT facility that is regularly used for JTAC training as well as other exercises where air and ground assets work together:

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A view of the MOUT facility at Dog Bone Lake.

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Looking west at the very southern end of the NTTR. Creech Air Force Base is in the distance:

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Our tour guide himself with Area-51 in the distance.

Here is our best approximation of where the images were taken:

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Although we weren't able to positively identify any secret UFO workshops hidden in mountainsides, these are some very rare images of an incredibly shy section of the American Southwest.

A Big Thanks! to Gabriel Zeifman once again for sharing the images from his airborne journey with us.

Contact the author: tyler@thedrive.com

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else if accessing these files from the CD in a MS-Word session, simply <CLOSE> this file's window-session; the previous window-session should still remain 'active'

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