Introduction To Area 51 / S-4
Area 51/Groom Lake
Located in North Las Vegas, Nevada, the primary mission of Nellis Air Force Base is the training of pilots and flight crews in realistic air combat exercises. The vast, Connecticut-size Nellis Range Complex, north and west of Las Vegas, is attached to the base. It contains at least two secret
bases, Groom Lake and the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), both used for the testing of advanced technologies.
Area 51, located in between the Nellis Air Force Bombing and Gunnery Range, in Rachel, Nevada, is home to Groom Lake, where a top-secret Air Force base is located. Many top-secret projects take place here (which don't stay top-secret for long). Groom Lake is the supposed testing grounds of Project
Aurora, the Air Force's replacement for the SR-71 Blackbird and F-117a Stealth Fighter spy planes. Area 51 is also one of the three supposed places parts of the UFO that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico were shipped to.
Further south of Groom Lake is Papoose Lake, sometimes known as S-4 or "Dreamland." This is the supposed location of several flying saucers that are in the government's possession.
Site Four (S-4)
Site Four is located within the boundaries of TTR, near the eastern border, about 12 miles east and slightly south of the TTR headquarters. Access to Site Four is provided not only from within TTR, but also from a gate on TTR's eastern boundary. From this "Site Four Gate", as it is called, a high quality dirt road (similar to Groom Lake Road) heads east and connects with
Hwy. 375.
Site Four sits by itself on a large plain. It is easily observed from a number of locations, although from a distance. It is a large complex, spread over several miles, with some of the buildings widely separated. It is also worth noting that while TTR is covered with an assortment of camera and radar tracking facilities, there is a notable absence of these near
Site Four, adding to its appearance of isolation.
The complex seems of indistinct purpose. There are a number of towers containing various antenna, including steerable microwave dishes, but there are also some towers devoid of antennas. However it does not have the appearance of a Radar Cross Section facility. There are a number of earthen covered bunkers, indicating storage of either explosives or other dangerous materials. What appears to be a main headquarters building was observed, a large two story office type structure. Surrounding it were a number of other industrial style buildings. No airstrip was observed, but other maps indicate the presence of a heliport.
Little is publicly known of Site Four's mission or purpose. It seldom even shows up on maps of TTR, in spite of its size. There is a rumor that secret solar energy research is conducted there. However, visual observation of the facility reveals nothing even remotely in the way of solar collection
apparatus.
Discussions with a former TTR worker revealed a few interesting pieces of information. The workers at TTR's main complex considered Site Four even "more secret" than the main complex. People bound for Site Four had to pass through another gate within TTR before gaining access to Site Four. And oddly, while workers at the main TTR complex were allowed (and perhaps even encouraged) to live in one of the nearby local communities, this was not the case for Site Four employees. They were required to utilize the commuter flights from Las Vegas.
Update:
A just recently released environmental impact report for TTR (1994 Site Environmental Report, TTR), contains a few new clues. While not mentioning Site Four anywhere in the document, it does identify a facility that would be immediately adjacent to where Site Four has been shown on earlier maps.
It could account for some of the facilities seen and noted above.
This facilty is labeled as the "554th Range Squadron O&M Complex". According to the index of abbreviations in the EIR, "O&M" stands for "Operations and Maintenance". What is operated and maintained there is not clear, but it sounds pretty boring. The location shown for the 554th O&M complex is about 2 miles west of where other maps have indicated Site Four to be.
Also, a bit of unconfirmed information has surfaced as to just what Site Four's mission was (or is, if it still exists). Supposedly, Site Four was a testing location for purloined Soviet radar equipment. This could account for the presence of towers at the facility, some of which were lacking any discernible antennas. They simply had flat platforms at the top, suitable for the installation of various equipment. However, the veracity of this information is unknown.