MORE COMMENTS AND WRITINGS

MORE OF NORIO'S COMMENTS AND WRITINGS

AREA 51 WAS NEVER A SECRET BASE

by Norio Hayakawa -- January 20, 2005

The biggest secret about "Area 51" is the fact that it had never been a secret base.

The construction of this sprawling aerospace complex in Nevada, erroneously known as "Area 51", began in the month of May of 1955.

Since about 18 years ago "Area 51" has become ridiculously synonymous (whether wittingly, unwittingly or "conveniently") with false rumors of "alien technology" or "global conspiracies".

I, Norio Hayakawa, CIVILIAN INTELLIGENCE OPERATIONS, was at one time a staunch proponent of such conspiracy theories, but several years ago I began to question the validity of such conspiratorial views regarding this base.

Today I am an ardent supporter of the importance and necessity of this vital base for our national defense. I have come to the realization a few years ago, that this base, officially named "an operating base near Groom Lake", is here to stay, no matter what.

It is a real aerospace complex which had never been a top secret base, to begin with.

(See the bottom exellent article by aerospace historian, Peter Merlin).

The dilemma for the government was whether or not to name the complex with an official name. The ironical fact was that it initially did not name the complex with a proper official name, except for "the operating base". Morever, it never intended to advertize to the world that there was such a complex next to the dry lake at the northeast corner of the Nevada Test Site, well secluded and surrounded by mountains.

Eventually, however, some people (mountain climbers, hunters, hikers, etc.) began to notice the base, beginning around the late sixties and early seventies. Then towards the late eighties, rumors began to circulate. The pandora's box was opened in 1989 with the appearance of a Bob Lazar (a self-proclaimed "government scientist") on a Las Vegas radio talk show and consequently picked up by KLAS-TV Eyewitness News (George Knapp, et. al). The rest is history.

Therefore it became a "secret" base to those who began to believe in such stories and misinformation, which were later accelerated and manipulated by paranoia mongers.

I must admit that I was one of those who were caught up in the initial frenzy of Area 51 "conspiracies" from 1989 and into the early 90s and made many foolish mistakes which I regret very much to this day.

I was taken in by such baseless rumors and therefore was an unwitting participant in the propagation of "Area 51" myth.

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 in 2005.

Perhaps what I consider to be the best history of Area 51 was recently compiled by Peter Merlin, an aerospace historian who resides near Edwards Air Force Base in California:

A WORD OF CAUTION IN REGARDS TO "UFOLOGY" - February 4, 2005

Con artists have peddled (and some are still peddling) disinformation, misinformation as well as downright false rumors through the Internet as well as through appearances on popular radio talk shows such as Art Bell, etc. and it is amazing how some gullible segment of the population (ncluding some so-called "UFO researchers") are taken in by these hucksters.

It is no wonder that the mainstream seems to continue to categorize UFO research as part of "pseudo science".

I have to admit that I myself spent more than 45 years of my life researching on the UFO "phenomena" and have nothing concrete yet to show for it after all these years of study.

However, there are many in this field who do not share my rather pessimistic view on ufology. There are some sincere and honest persons of integrity that I admire in "UFO research" field.

As for me, I was at one time caught up in the frenzy of Area 51 conspiracies, etc. and made many foolish mistakes which I regret very much:

I did, however, learn a lot about human psychology during these past 45 years.

for the latest on AREA 51, go to:

and now back to the CIVILIAN INTELLIGENGE OPERATIONS: