Why do POTUS never visit Area 51

yep they don't have the clearance Clarence.
What they are cleared for wouldn't be
enough to venture out that far anyway.
What are there, 18 levels above Q ?

Here's what I don't get. The public has heard about Area 51 for decades. If there were really alien whatevers there, who's to say that stuff hasn't already been relocated somewhere else? If I had a top secret stash of anything and the public found out about it, I'd have it moved immediately. Then I'd let people keep talking about the old location of my secret stash, all the while knowing it was safe somewhere else.

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: Slichter
I think JFK did.
There was a story circulating that the A12 aircraft had to be renamed because Kennedy kept bragging about it to the wrong people.

So JFK went to area 51 and then he got shot?

I think you have answered the OP's question.

Thread closed...

Cause and effect not established. That's a silly conclusion. Area 51 is a known and acknowledged testing facility. If a President were to publicly go there, it would draw attention to the area, especially since it is now so famous. This place would light up for months with thread after thread speculating as to why he could possibly want to go there. It's just not worth it to visit the site physically.

a reply to: Wide-Eyes

POTUS most certainly is cleared for access to the National Classified Test Facility (formerly known as Area 51). Many of the test projects taking place there are "presidentially directed special access programs."

There is no real need for the president to actually visit the test site. Even if he wanted to, there is the added complication that his daily schedule is a matter off public record and the press accompanies him on his travels (including media representatives on board Air Force 1). A visit of POTUS to the Area would simply result in "no comment" statements as to the purpose of such a visit, followed by endless speculation and conspiracy theories. Better for him to just stay away.

a reply to: schuyler

And again, simple matter to go to the area, for something innocuous like a speech, take a couple hours out of the day, slip on a regular flight to the base, and no one would ever know. Or fly a C-40 to Nellis, which happens normally, don't tell anyone he's on board, same thing. Car over to the Janet terminal, no one the wiser.

If they could fly the president from DC to Iraq without anyone finding out until after, they can get to Groom with no one the wiser.

a reply to: Shadowhawk

I posted in jest but I agree with you, the president has more important things to do that won't draw unnecessary attention.

Not only would I go there if I were President, but I would swing by in Air Force One and pick up Bob Lazar to go with me.

originally posted by: Wide-Eyes
a reply to: Shadowhawk

I posted in jest but I agree with you, the president has more important things to do that won't draw unnecessary attention.

Such as taping comedy bits with Jerry Seinfeld?

I'm willing to bet my pension they (the Presidents) have nowhere near the clearance.

a reply to: Enochstask

Seinfeld is far more important than Groom Lake.

there is no reason for him to go there any more than any other national lab, research facility or military base.
its a odd question really.

and its the same here there are mil and research sites dotted around the uk but you dont get
the prime minister dropping in for tea and a bun

ETA and indeed i imagine for some sites neither would have need to know or clearance.

originally posted by: 123143
I'm willing to bet my pension they (the Presidents) have nowhere near the clearance.

I think that might depend on which president we're talking about...

JFK would definitely have been a problem, but Nixon say, not so much.

Apparently he and Jackie Gleason may have made a midnight trip to the alien morgue...

"One can only imagine Gleason's surprise when President Nixon showed up at his house around midnight, completely alone and driving his own private car. When Jackie asked him why he was there, Nixon told him that he wanted to take him somewhere and show him something. He got into the president's car, and they ended up at the gates of Homestead Air Force Base. They passed through security and drove to the far end of the base, to a tightly-guarded building. At this point, I will quote directly from Gleason himself, from an interview he gave to UFO researcher and author Larry Warren:

"We drove to the very far end of the base in a segregated area, finally stopping near a well-guarded building. The security police saw us coming and just sort of moved back as we passed them and entered the structure. There were a number of labs we passed through first before we entered a section where Nixon pointed out what he said was the wreckage from a flying saucer, enclosed in several large cases. Next, we went into an inner chamber and there were six or eight of what looked like glass-topped Coke freezers. Inside them were the mangled remains of what I took to be children. Then - upon closer examination - I saw that some of the other figures looked quite old. Most of them were terribly mangled as if they had been in an accident." LINK

Jackie Gleason's Wife Talks

originally posted by: Ceeker63
I have often contemplated this question. Why do the POTUS never visit Area 51? I just know that in some form or another the Area has been used by the military since WW2.

I know the answer to this :

Plausible deniability.

a reply to: Murgatroid

Sounds like hearsay to me.

How would we know whether POTUS visited Area 51 or not ? Not exactly sure why he would want to go to Area 51 either but I suppose if he did go he could do so without anyone knowing.

a reply to: Ceeker63

Really nobody knows if presidents have visited Area 51. The same people who say, "how do you know he hasn't visited Area 51?" Probably are the same people who say "those lights people are seeing are not UFO's."

We can all speculate and give reasons why or why not, but what it comes down to is the public is not privy to a lot of government secrets. Our government decides what we should or shouldn't know. President Eisenhower warned us about the industrial military complex and I think were witnessing some of his concerns today.

Having said that, you would think since government is "supposedly" by and for the people, and our taxes go toward paying for all these "secret programs," we should at least have some verification that our president has some oversight and knowledge about these programs. A simple statement like "I've personally visited Area 51 and for America's security it must remain secret." At least than the public would know our president isn't left out in the dark. If the POTUS is denied access to secret military bases, whose to say a base like Area 51 couldn't be used as a possible place to plan a government take-over?

Nope I don't know for sure where he has or hasn't been. I certainly have no idea where the most secure secret facilities are and I can't even begin to fathom the places they are hidden. I am sure he gets to see cool military hardware no doubt. However the cream of the crop is kept under a lock and key need to know compartmentalized basis.

Area 51 I am sure held/holds it fair share of secrets but that's just the tip of the ice berg. Hell if I was president I would certainly try and see some cool stuff wouldn't you?

Now not publicly acknowledging his visits is smart as posted before so I'll have to recant my pervious statement of him most likely never being at Area 51 it's very possible in hindsight.

The Op doesn't ask about other facility's however I firmly believe that there are some off limits even to the president.


a reply to: Zaphod58

originally posted by: schuyler

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: Slichter
I think JFK did.
There was a story circulating that the A12 aircraft had to be renamed because Kennedy kept bragging about it to the wrong people.

So JFK went to area 51 and then he got shot?

I think you have answered the OP's question.

Thread closed...

Cause and effect not established. That's a silly conclusion. Area 51 is a known and acknowledged testing facility. If a President were to publicly go there, it would draw attention to the area, especially since it is now so famous. This place would light up for months with thread after thread speculating as to why he could possibly want to go there. It's just not worth it to visit the site physically.

Yes I admit it was a silly thing to say.

My honest thought was similar to yours, if they were to announce a public visit it would cause all manner of problems.

a reply to: WeRpeons

We do know that every year the President does declare the Area 51 Test Site exempt from all local, state, and federal environmental laws. I bet if I was to dig far enough that there would be a routine Executive Order issued each year declaring the site as Top Secret by each President.

lasvegassun.com...

a reply to: DJMSN

There are a number of very interesting things buried out there that would cause a mushroom cloud over the EPA offices if they weren't exempt.