Area 51: STFU, I know more about it than you.

The Latin translates to "Tastes Like Chicken"

Counter cultural bullshit and occult-ish hoo-ah interest me as much as they do the next person. Yeah, I am being precise, seriously about that much. So, of course my interest fluctuates with my company, but if you are going to talk about this kind of stuff, it would be so helpful if you had a clue. Really, even just a small one. I would suggest to you that the most serious government conspiracies are the ones taking place right in front of your face everyday… they taste like chicken, yo.

I became interested in Area 51 after spending a year or so studying atomic history, specific to the western US (if you are interested, this is an awesome introductory site.) My area of study at that time was the Nevada Test Site, a specifically designated area within the extensive Nellis AFB, which lies outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. As I learned more and more about the Manhattan Project and the ramifications of Teller’s dreams of glory I became more and more fascinated by the power of rhetoric and cartography in the geopolitical context.

There is something wonderful about maps – I am not sure what it is, but I have always had a deep appreciation for them. I suppose initially it had to do with how powerful they are as an informative tool. You know, like the secret treasure map concept. The there is the aesthetic value of cool maps. But in more pragmatic terms, I am amazed at the power of maps to lend legitimacy, nee existence, to places and spaces. The idea that by taking something off a map you actually somehow make it “go away” is radical and crazy and, apparently, real.

The desert regions of the American West were always the first selected for the most secret (and egregious as I have mentioned before) military and scientific activities in the history of the US. It is my belief, along with people like Bernard DeVoto, Carole Gallagher, Valerie Kuletz, Rebecca Solnit, Dina Titus, Don Worster, and maybe most personally significantly to me, one of my advisors, the amazing Peter Goin, that the geography of this area and the potential for manipulative cartography made it the dream destination for Dreamland (see really recent 0.5 meter resolution sat image here) and dropping bombs. My eventual thesis project was called The Importance of (In)Visibility and the specific subject area was Area 51. I spent a year doing research and fieldwork in some of the most bizarre places in Nevada – and as Nevada is already totally bizarre, just imagine.

It turns out that the veil of secrecy serves everyone, save for native peoples, flora and fauna. The creation of a non-existent place, while totally counter-intuitive and seemingly paradoxical, is the most ingenious way to create a place within a place where through a series of cleverly placed filters all activity is diffused to the point of total obfuscation. What this does, to cut to the chase, is allow for unlimited budgets (yeah, the infamous Black Budget stuff) and total safety from environmental oversight (so here is to more superfund sites – hooray!)

Of course, as with all things there are two sides to the coin, even if one is slightly more tarnished than the other, and the experiments and projects that were developed at Area 51 have been some of the most awesome in avionics and stealth design ever. Simply put, nowhere else in the world has even come close to conceiving and producing the kinds of things that have emerged from Area 51. So amazing in fact, that many people who come from all over the world to little spots in the deserts of Southern Nevada, like Rachel and Steve Medlin’s mailbox – yes, seriously, the man’s mailbox (btw, it is no longer black, now white…) believe they are seeing something altogether alien when they witness the late night flight tests of these projects. Unidentified and flying and certainly objects they are… but that is as much of the crazy as I am going to give you, forgive me Robbie Williams. You can no longer get close enough to watch the base over the hill at Whitesides Mountain because the DOE and DOD were able to extend the classified boundary of the non-existent area for reasons of national security under the Clinton Administration, but I have a pretty good idea that the hundreds of workers that are flown to the ‘base’ everyday from a special terminal at Las Vegas’ McCarran airport, are the ones responsible for putting those things up in the night sky. Under the blanket of “The Science” and questionable consistency in cartography it all continues, for better or worse. Trevor Paglen recently wrote a book on the subject that I cannot wait to get my hands on called Blank Spots on the Map. He seems to be speaking my language.

A few weeks ago I stood next to this guy at a party (who was not speaking my language) listening to him go on and on about Area 51 and extraterrestrials and reverse engineering and all these “known facts” he had amassed. I no longer argue with guys like this. But I am also less inclined to contribute to the conversation in any respect because it seems to always become some sort of loud-talking contest, and the fact is, people WANT to believe what they WANT to believe. So, okay. A large part of my thesis had to do with the need for perpetuating this kind of thinking. And to be sure, there is some nutso shit going on out there. But if you want to know the really crazy stuff, don’t look up… Look into the geography. Look at the maps.

They tell amazing tales.

ps: if you are really interested in this stuff, please check the links in this post, they kick ass. If you are still interested let me know, I have several hundred pages of a thesis I can discuss with you…

~ by Amanda on July 19, 2009.