Tonopah Test Range
Encyclopedia
Tonopah Test Range also known as Area 52, is a restricted military installation located about 30 miles (48.3 km) southeast of Tonopah
, Nevada
. It is part of the northern fringe of the Nellis Range
, measuring 625 sq mi (1,618.7 km²). Tonopah Test Range is located about 70 miles (112.7 km) northwest of Groom Dry Lake, home of the Area 51
facility. Like the Groom Lake facility, Tonopah is a site of interest to conspiracy theorists, mostly for its use of experimental and classified aircraft. As such, it is not the focus of alien enthusiasts, unlike its neighbor. It is currently used for nuclear weapons stockpile reliability testing, research and development of fusing and firing systems, and testing nuclear weapon delivery systems. The airspace comprises restricted area R-4809 of the Nevada Test and Training Range
and is often used for military training.
and is managed by Sandia National Laboratories, a division of Lockheed-Martin, which operates the Tonopah Test Range under an Air Force permit with the National Nuclear Security Administration
. The range is part of the Great Basin Desert
and lies mostly within the Cactus Flat valley, consisting of horst and graben
geology. It is flanked by the Cactus Range
hills to the west and the Kawich Range
to the east, which is home of Silverbow, one of the largest mining ghost town
s in Nevada. The vegetation consists mostly of black sagebrush and creosote bush
. It holds a sizable wild horse
and burro
population, closely monitored by the Bureau of Land Management
. Common denizens of the TTR include the gray fox
, pronghorn
, coyote
, and mule deer
, along with the native birds sage thrasher
, sage grouse
, and sage sparrow
.
. About five minor abandoned airfields exist throughout the TTR which were primarily used during World War II by units based at Tonopah Army Air Field
(now serving as Tonopah's municipal airport). Only Mellan Airstrip, 11 miles (17.7 km) southeast of Tonopah Test Range Airport, survived past the 1960s, upgraded to a 5000 ft (1,524 m) concrete runway. A US Air Force assessment published in 2000 indicated it was a minimally adequate airfield which was used to support tactical C-130 and C-17 training.
In the early 20th century the region was used primarily for mining and some grazing. Early maps from the 1930s indicated a roadway connecting the towns of Caliente
and Tonopah
via Rachel
, which ascended Cedar Pass and crossed through the northern part of the future Tonopah Test Range. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
directed the establishment of a US Army Air Corps training range in this area. During the 1950s, weapons design research had been conducted largely at the Salton Sea
testing base, but haze problems forced the Department of Energy to seek another location. The Tonopah Test Range was withdrawn from public use in 1956 and testing began in 1957 for United States Department of Energy
weapons programs. For most of its life, the range was administered by Sandia National Laboratories
. In 2008 the National Nuclear Security Administration proposed to move its facilities on the Tonopah Test Range to White Sands Missile Range
, a move that local and state politicians say would cost the area jobs and lost revenue.
air combat training program code named Constant Peg. The brainchild of Colonel Gail Peck
, the program was run by the 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron, "Red Eagles", and allowed American aircrews the opportunity to fly – and to fly against – the fighter aircraft of their Cold War
rivals. Constant Peg was formally declassified on November 15, 2006, though it had been discussed by name in various media since the mid-1980s. At the height of the operation, the Red Eagles flew 14 MiG-21 Fishbeds and 9 MiG-23 Floggers (with additional airframes of both types available for cannibalization), and had also operated the MiG-17 Fresco until 1982, when the type proved too dangerous to continue flying. Between July 1979 and its final sortie in March 1988, 5,930 aircrew were exposed to Constant Peg.
F-117s of the 4450th Tactical Group
operated from Tonopah in secret from 1982 through 1989 while the program was still classified. During this period Mancamp was connected to the airfield by shuttle bus service, while the airfield in turn was connected to Nellis Air Force Base
by between five to twenty Key Air Boeing 727
and/or Boeing 737
flights per day from Nellis to Tonopah. The airfield was also serviced by one or two JANET
Boeing 737
flights daily, which were presumably from McCarran International Airport
and served Sandia National Laboratories
employees. In early 1991, Key Air lost the contract and the service was taken over by American Trans Air Boeing 727 aircraft.
at a pond on the TTR, resulting in the die-off of 61 horses in 1988. The fluid had been used as a de-icing agent. The Bureau of Land Management
investigated in November 1988, and imposed remedial actions and assessed a $15,000 fine. In 2007 over concerns that the chemical was infiltrating groundwater, a whistleblower unsuccessfully attempted to get the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene, leading to an August 2007 inquiry with the Department of the Interior by Senator Harry Reid
.
's UFO Hunters
. In both of these presentations Area 52 is speculated to facilitate the use of highly advanced aircraft technology including craft such as flying saucer
s or UFO
s.
In the television
series Stargate SG-1
, Area 52 is actually the code designation for Stargate Command
in the US treasury. In an episode of Total Drama World Tour, Area 52 is visited right before the contestants get to Area 51.
In the Warner Bros
movie Looney Tunes Back in Action
DJ Drake, Bugs Bunny
, Daffy Duck
and Kate Houghton visit a secret military
base in The Nevada Desert, used mainly as a storage for extraterrestrial
lifeforms
and technology and government
secrets
, called Area 52. The base in the movie was the "real" Area 51
, and the name Area 51 was only a cover
for Area 52.
announces New 3-D CGI Computer-animated
Movie set in area 52 called "Area 52" Aka "Area One", produced and distributed by Screen Gems.
Tonopah, Nevada
Tonopah is a census-designated place located in and the county seat of Nye County, Nevada. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95 approximately mid-way between Las Vegas and Reno....
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. It is part of the northern fringe of the Nellis Range
Nevada Test and Training Range
The Nevada Test and Training Range is a training facility of the United States Air Force located in the desert of southern Nevada in the United States. It is the largest of its kind in the US, and is operated by the USAF Warfare Center's 98th Range Wing...
, measuring 625 sq mi (1,618.7 km²). Tonopah Test Range is located about 70 miles (112.7 km) northwest of Groom Dry Lake, home of the Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
facility. Like the Groom Lake facility, Tonopah is a site of interest to conspiracy theorists, mostly for its use of experimental and classified aircraft. As such, it is not the focus of alien enthusiasts, unlike its neighbor. It is currently used for nuclear weapons stockpile reliability testing, research and development of fusing and firing systems, and testing nuclear weapon delivery systems. The airspace comprises restricted area R-4809 of the Nevada Test and Training Range
Nevada Test and Training Range
The Nevada Test and Training Range is a training facility of the United States Air Force located in the desert of southern Nevada in the United States. It is the largest of its kind in the US, and is operated by the USAF Warfare Center's 98th Range Wing...
and is often used for military training.
Description
The Tonopah Test Range is owned by the United States Department of EnergyUnited States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
and is managed by Sandia National Laboratories, a division of Lockheed-Martin, which operates the Tonopah Test Range under an Air Force permit with the National Nuclear Security Administration
National Nuclear Security Administration
The United States National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy...
. The range is part of the Great Basin Desert
Great Basin Desert
The Great Basin Desert is an area of nearctic high deserts across parts of Nevada, California, and Utah that extends into the Colorado River watershed , but which is mostly a portion of the central Nevada desert basins of the Great Basin.It along with the Escalante Desert, Mohave Desert, the...
and lies mostly within the Cactus Flat valley, consisting of horst and graben
Horst and graben
In geology, horst and graben are terms referring to regions that lie between normal faults and are either above or lower than the area beyond the faults. A horst represents a block pushed upward by the faulting, and a graben is a block that has dropped due to the faulting.-See also:* Horst *...
geology. It is flanked by the Cactus Range
Cactus Range
The Cactus Range is a mountain range in Nye County, Nevada....
hills to the west and the Kawich Range
Kawich Range
The Kawich Range is a mountain range in Nye County in southern Nevada in the United States, just south of the Hot Creek Range. The southern part of the range lies on the Nellis Air Force Range. The mountains cover an area of about and contain Kawich Peak, at above sea level. The Bureau of Land...
to the east, which is home of Silverbow, one of the largest mining ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
s in Nevada. The vegetation consists mostly of black sagebrush and creosote bush
Creosote bush
Larrea tridentata is known as Creosote bush as a plant, chaparral as a medicinal herb, and as "gobernadora" in Mexico, Spanish for "governess," due to its ability for inhibiting the growth of nearby plants to have more water. In Sonora, it is more commonly called "hediondilla." It is a flowering...
. It holds a sizable wild horse
Wild Horse
The wild horse is a species of the genus Equus, which includes as subspecies the domesticated horse as well as the undomesticated Tarpan and Przewalski's Horse. The Tarpan became extinct in the 19th century, and Przewalski's Horse was saved from the brink of extinction and reintroduced...
and burro
Burro
The burro is a small donkey used primarily as a pack animal. In addition, significant numbers of feral burros live in the Southwestern United States, where they are protected by law, and in Mexico...
population, closely monitored by the Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
. Common denizens of the TTR include the gray fox
Gray Fox
The gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
, pronghorn
Pronghorn
The pronghorn is a species of artiodactyl mammal endemic to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is often known colloquially in North America as the prong buck, pronghorn antelope, or simply antelope, as it closely resembles the true antelopes of the Old World and...
, coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
, and mule deer
Mule Deer
The mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, along with the native birds sage thrasher
Sage Thrasher
The Sage Thrasher is a medium-sized passerine bird from the family Mimidae, which also includes mockingbirds, tremblers and New World catbirds. It is the only member of the genus Oreoscoptes. This seems less close to the Caribbean thrashers, but rather to the mockingbirds instead .O...
, sage grouse
Sage Grouse
The Sage Grouse is the largest grouse in North America, where it is known as the Greater Sage-Grouse. Its range is sagebrush country in the western United States and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada. A population of smaller birds, known in the U.S. as Gunnison Sage-Grouse, were recently...
, and sage sparrow
Sage Sparrow
The Sage Sparrow is a medium-sized sparrow of the western United States and northwestern Mexico.Sage Sparrows are indeed often tied to sagebrush habitats, although they can also be found in brushy stands of saltbush, chamise, and other low shrubs of the arid Interior West.The most widespread...
.
Airfields
One of the primary facilities on the TTR is a large airfield (Area 10), consisting of a 12000 feet (3,657.6 m) runway and numerous hangars. This facility is described in detail in the article Tonopah Test Range AirportTonopah Test Range Airport
Tonopah Test Range Airport , also Senior Trend project site PS-66, is located near the center of the Tonopah Test Range, southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination...
. About five minor abandoned airfields exist throughout the TTR which were primarily used during World War II by units based at Tonopah Army Air Field
Tonopah Army Air Field
Tonopah Army Air Field was a World War II United States Army Air Force training airfield located seven miles east of the central business district of Tonopah, a city in Nye County, Nevada, USA. It was active between 1942 and 1945.- Origins :...
(now serving as Tonopah's municipal airport). Only Mellan Airstrip, 11 miles (17.7 km) southeast of Tonopah Test Range Airport, survived past the 1960s, upgraded to a 5000 ft (1,524 m) concrete runway. A US Air Force assessment published in 2000 indicated it was a minimally adequate airfield which was used to support tactical C-130 and C-17 training.
Mancamp
About six miles (10 km) north of the airfield is a large housing area called Mancamp. It contains about 50 twin-level dormitories. A cafeteria called the "Wild Horse Cafe" exists, but is currently closed. A recreation center houses a bar, a library, game room, weight room, Olympic size stainless steel indoor pool, racquetball courts, a two-lane bowling alley, a barbecue pad, and an ATM. There is also an athletic track, tennis courts, and softball fields. Just outside of Mancamp a small civilian compound existed, but was mostly dismantled by 2000. Google Earth imagery indicated that Mancamp's streets were renovated sometime between 2003 and 2007.Sandia National Laboratories
Operations by Sandia are controlled at the TTR Operations Control Center (Area 3), just southeast of the main airfield, which houses the range safety officer, test director, and key engineers. Activities are monitored with video, high-speed cameras, and radar tracking devices. Though nuclear weapons have never been detonated on the TTR, the 1963 test Project Rollercoaster involved the destruction of four weapons, which caused some plutonium to be dispersed into the soil north of Antelope Lake.History
Caliente, Nevada
Caliente , formerly known as Culverwell and Calientes is a town in Lincoln County, Nevada, United States. Its elevation is 4,300 feet . The population was 1,123 at the 2000 census...
and Tonopah
Tonopah, Nevada
Tonopah is a census-designated place located in and the county seat of Nye County, Nevada. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95 approximately mid-way between Las Vegas and Reno....
via Rachel
Rachel, Nevada
Rachel is an unincorporated portion of Lincoln County, Nevada. As the closest habitation to the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51, Rachel enjoys a modest celebrity, particularly among aviation enthusiasts and UFO hunters....
, which ascended Cedar Pass and crossed through the northern part of the future Tonopah Test Range. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
directed the establishment of a US Army Air Corps training range in this area. During the 1950s, weapons design research had been conducted largely at the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
testing base, but haze problems forced the Department of Energy to seek another location. The Tonopah Test Range was withdrawn from public use in 1956 and testing began in 1957 for United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
weapons programs. For most of its life, the range was administered by Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
. In 2008 the National Nuclear Security Administration proposed to move its facilities on the Tonopah Test Range to White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range
White Sands Missile Range is a rocket range of almost in parts of five counties in southern New Mexico. The largest military installation in the United States, WSMR includes the and the WSMR Otera Mesa bombing range...
, a move that local and state politicians say would cost the area jobs and lost revenue.
Constant Peg
From 1979-1988 Tonopah hosted a MiGMikoyan
Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG , or RSK MiG, is a Russian joint stock company. Formerly Mikoyan-and-Gurevich Design Bureau , then simply Mikoyan, it is a military aircraft design bureau, primarily designing fighter aircraft...
air combat training program code named Constant Peg. The brainchild of Colonel Gail Peck
Gail Peck
Colonel Gaillard R. Peck Jr. was a career officer in the United States Air Force. He is best known as creator of the Constant Peg training program that trained United States airmen against a collection of MiG fighter jets.-Decorations:* Silver Star* Legion of Merit...
, the program was run by the 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron, "Red Eagles", and allowed American aircrews the opportunity to fly – and to fly against – the fighter aircraft of their Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
rivals. Constant Peg was formally declassified on November 15, 2006, though it had been discussed by name in various media since the mid-1980s. At the height of the operation, the Red Eagles flew 14 MiG-21 Fishbeds and 9 MiG-23 Floggers (with additional airframes of both types available for cannibalization), and had also operated the MiG-17 Fresco until 1982, when the type proved too dangerous to continue flying. Between July 1979 and its final sortie in March 1988, 5,930 aircrew were exposed to Constant Peg.
Stealth
- For full information on F-117 operations at the TTR, see the article Tonopah Test Range AirportTonopah Test Range AirportTonopah Test Range Airport , also Senior Trend project site PS-66, is located near the center of the Tonopah Test Range, southeast of Tonopah, Nevada and northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is a major airfield with a runway, instrument approach facilities, and nighttime illumination...
and F-117 NighthawkF-117 NighthawkThe Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk was a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force . The F-117A's first flight was in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983...
.
F-117s of the 4450th Tactical Group
4450th Tactical Group
The 4450th Tactical Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, and operationally located at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada. It was inactivated on 5 October 1989.-History:...
operated from Tonopah in secret from 1982 through 1989 while the program was still classified. During this period Mancamp was connected to the airfield by shuttle bus service, while the airfield in turn was connected to Nellis Air Force Base
Nellis Air Force Base
Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is under the jurisdiction of Air Combat Command .-Overview:...
by between five to twenty Key Air Boeing 727
Boeing 727
The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...
and/or Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
flights per day from Nellis to Tonopah. The airfield was also serviced by one or two JANET
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
Boeing 737
Boeing 737
The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...
flights daily, which were presumably from McCarran International Airport
McCarran International Airport
McCarran International Airport is the principal commercial airport serving Las Vegas and Clark County, Nevada, United States. The airport is located five miles south of the central business district of Las Vegas, in the unincorporated area of Paradise in Clark County. It covers an area of and...
and served Sandia National Laboratories
Sandia National Laboratories
The Sandia National Laboratories, managed and operated by the Sandia Corporation , are two major United States Department of Energy research and development national laboratories....
employees. In early 1991, Key Air lost the contract and the service was taken over by American Trans Air Boeing 727 aircraft.
Contamination
It was revealed in 2007 that during the 1980s a contractor had dumped up to 1,000 pounds of ureaUrea
Urea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula CO2. The molecule has two —NH2 groups joined by a carbonyl functional group....
at a pond on the TTR, resulting in the die-off of 61 horses in 1988. The fluid had been used as a de-icing agent. The Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
investigated in November 1988, and imposed remedial actions and assessed a $15,000 fine. In 2007 over concerns that the chemical was infiltrating groundwater, a whistleblower unsuccessfully attempted to get the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene, leading to an August 2007 inquiry with the Department of the Interior by Senator Harry Reid
Harry Reid
Harry Mason Reid is the senior United States Senator from Nevada, serving since 1987. A member of the Democratic Party, he has been the Senate Majority Leader since January 2007, having previously served as Minority Leader and Minority and Majority Whip.Previously, Reid was a member of the U.S...
.
Popular culture
"Area 52" has been featured in television news casts, such as presented by Las Vegas Channel 8 News. Area 52 has also been featured on The History ChannelThe History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
's UFO Hunters
UFO Hunters
UFO Hunters is an American television series that premiered on January 30, 2008 on The History Channel, produced by Motion Picture Production Inc., and ran for three seasons....
. In both of these presentations Area 52 is speculated to facilitate the use of highly advanced aircraft technology including craft such as flying saucer
Flying saucer
A flying saucer is a type of unidentified flying object sometimes believed to be of alien origin with a disc or saucer-shaped body, usually described as silver or metallic, occasionally reported as covered with running lights or surrounded with a glowing light, hovering or moving rapidly either...
s or UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
s.
In the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1
Stargate SG-1 is a Canadian-American adventure and military science fiction television series and part of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, is based on the 1994 feature film Stargate by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich...
, Area 52 is actually the code designation for Stargate Command
Stargate Command
The Stargate Program is a fictional top-secret program that plays a key role in the Stargate franchise: it surrounds the operations of the Stargate on Earth. The core of the Stargate Program is Stargate Command , based at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station near Colorado Springs, Colorado...
in the US treasury. In an episode of Total Drama World Tour, Area 52 is visited right before the contestants get to Area 51.
In the Warner Bros
Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical...
movie Looney Tunes Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action
Looney Tunes: Back in Action is a 2003 American live action/animated adventure comedy film directed by Joe Dante and starring Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Timothy Dalton, and Steve Martin. The film is essentially a feature-length Looney Tunes cartoon, with all the wackiness and surrealism typical...
DJ Drake, Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
, Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
and Kate Houghton visit a secret military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
base in The Nevada Desert, used mainly as a storage for extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
lifeforms
Lifeforms
Lifeforms is a 1994 double album by experimental electronica group The Future Sound of London. With time, it has become their best-known album and is considered to be an important and influential classic of avante garde electronic music.-The album:...
and technology and government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
secrets
Secrets
Secrets may refer to:*Secrecy, the quality or condition of being secret or hidden- Literature :*Secrets , a 1985 novel by Danielle Steel*Secrets , a 2002 novel by Jacqueline Wilson...
, called Area 52. The base in the movie was the "real" Area 51
Area 51
Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...
, and the name Area 51 was only a cover
Cover
- Science and technology :* A covering, usually one that completely closes the object** Lid** Mechanical seal* The outside of an object, not necessarily enclosing the object** Album cover** Book cover, or magazine cover** CD and DVD packaging...
for Area 52.
Movie
Screen GemsScreen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
announces New 3-D CGI Computer-animated
Computer animation
Computer animation is the process used for generating animated images by using computer graphics. The more general term computer generated imagery encompasses both static scenes and dynamic images, while computer animation only refers to moving images....
Movie set in area 52 called "Area 52" Aka "Area One", produced and distributed by Screen Gems.
See also
- Aberdeen Proving GroundAberdeen Proving GroundAberdeen Proving Ground is a United States Army facility located near Aberdeen, Maryland, . Part of the facility is a census-designated place , which had a population of 3,116 at the 2000 census.- History :...
- Air Force Flight Test CenterAir Force Flight Test CenterThe Air Force Flight Test Center conducts research, development, test, and evaluation of aerospace systems from concept to deployment. It has test flown every aircraft in the U.S. Air Force's inventory since World War II...
- Dugway Proving GroundDugway Proving GroundDugway Proving Ground is a US Army facility located approximately 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah in southern Tooele County and just north of Juab County...
- Naval Air Weapons Station China LakeNaval Air Weapons Station China Lake- About : is part of under Commander, Navy Installation Command and is located in the Western Mojave Desert region of California, approximately north of Los Angeles. Occupying three counties – Kern, San Bernardino and Inyo – the installation’s closest neighbors are the cities of Ridgecrest,...
- Nevada Test SiteNevada Test SiteThe Nevada National Security Site , previously the Nevada Test Site , is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about northwest of the city of Las Vegas...