NT(T)R....photos from 1996 until Now(with a few jumps between years :) )

HI folks.
I've been Dormant way too long. I felt like it was time to show my face around here again, especially after just visiting the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson today. Sadly, there were no Touch & Gos.
So I decided to share some things I found when I pulled out a big box in my dads house last year, labeled
"Homey's AREA 51 stuff"
after having a small freak out, I opened the box and discovered quite a few treasures inside said box from the "bitter years" a time which began immediately after White Sides & Freedom Ridge were closed to the public.
Heres a small list of small of the things discovered:
a portrait in front of a garbled parts missile and not a barb wire fence. Circa 1997.
a photo from an anonymous photographer (I'm pretty sure this came from an Early edition of Desert Rat. If so, Thanks to Glenn Campbell and the Photographer who I will gladly credit if anyone can give me a heads up on who to credit)
my favorite photo of the bunch. Dad challenged me to a Stare down contest with the O.G Cherokees back when they would pull up 5 feet away from the border and just watch you. Guessing Circa 1996?
Funny story about this photo, after it was taken, we left and headed back towards 375 on GLR, with the Camo Dudes in hot pursuit, (about 100 feet behind us. but remember, this is 20+ years ago, and i was +-10 years old, so bare with the estimation. though I have confirmed the stories with my pop). My dad finally arrived at one of the BIG dips in GLR (slightly after you pass at campfire hill when departing the border).
When he hit the base of the dip, he hit the brakes, and waited until the dudes almost rear ended us thanks to the dust plume we had kicked up. Made us laugh so hard when they slammed on their brakes 15 feet away from us and hit the gas in reverse. we've got no military experience in our family at all, and my dad made these guys high tail it with their tail between their legs.
Since then, It's given me nerves of steel when respecting the authorities and their rules(I respect the laws of keeping said installation protected due to national security reasons, I don't have any kind of NDA, and I also do not plan on sharing anything about this area that is not readily available publicly or is just my own thoughts or opinions. If I had footage of anything in this area or anywhere else, I'd "Chuck Clark" that cassette, and place it in a safety deposit box until the day comes when said bird has been declassified.
Whoops, got off subject there. pardon my ramble.

I dont know HOW I got this.
All I know is, I also have the "Aurora" Micro Machine Trading card too. Both with "detailed" flight capabilities
The photo from that one time I Arrived at the front gate with my girlfriend and was the first to report the change in signs.
No Drone Policy in "Full" effect (Still waiting to point that drone in the opposite direction, Gariac & FosterVS )
The same day. Clearly this was a truck from Stephen King's "Maximum Overdrive" that was running amok and trying to infiltrate "the box" last two photos taken a day or two after Thanksgiving, 2015
one of the first "ET Highway" sign, Circa: before everyone started shooting/defacing these signs (aprx 1996)
yours truly, 10 years later, graffiting my face to blend in with the signs defacing. November, 2015
Does anyone else have a photo of Janet approaching/departing TTR before this? Please note: this photo is cropped to the max, if youd like to see the original(with main gate in BG) please let me know. Circa July, 1997
Circa: a few months after the time capsule got buried. And many, many years before the towed flying saucer in front of this awesome bar. That was our parking spot, dadgumit!
thats enough for now.
Wait. Two more:
What would happen when we would show up to the front gate in 1996.
What happens when I arrive now in 2015.
Hope you enjoyed the memories. more to come, and many more surprises left in the box

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

I'm bad at logging dates, but I think the TTR sign got fenced in during the GW Bush administration. Maybe 2002?

Around 1996, the Area 51 (dis)Information Center would have still been around. I got my visitor's guide there. No disinformation in the guide, but the guy in the store would tell odd stuff. It has been too many years to remember what exactly.

Now the Little Aleinn has taken over the task of misleading the public. This being more recent, I can remember the actual disinformation. The bar has a copy of the Jeremiah Weed crash story. Fine, but they say the Little Aleinn is the bar in the story. Um no. I have the crash report and it crashed near Alamo. I eventually found the crash.

www.lazygranch.com...

I haven't been in the Little Aleinn in lately, but I recall those crappy Kathleen Ford UFO photos were on the wall.

a reply to: gariac


Ahhhh, the research center. It was like I was a kid in a candy store.
I remember the employee being somewhat interesting. Was he bald? or short shaved?
I still cannot find Glenn's guide around....yet.
Never met my hero Glenn when we were galavanting out that way, but I saw him once filling up his SUV in Tonopah whilst we were stuck in Tonopah after the cars transmission blew 30 miles out of Tonopah.
After that, I will never stay at the clown motel again.
I think I still Have Chuck Clark's guide, signed by him as well. like i've recanted, I think he was happy to see this kid who was hiking with his dad, teasing dudes, coming back at least once or twice a year.
And whilst I was home, I was printing out classified 1997 budget reports using a 28.8K modem.
That took longer than we're used to now, thats for sure.
the original photo of Janet.
I actually have photos of mancamp as well, i'm pretty sure I wasn't ballsy enough yet to take those kinds of photos, so i'm assuming my mother (RIP) took the picture because me and my dad we're scared. Not going to post those quite yet. lol.
But unfortunately, my mind is jumping between focusing on the southwest right now, and what I just saw inside "area B"
Check your PM's

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

Very cool, thanks for sharing! And what a great and novel experience they brought you to as a kid! - obviously, it affected you enough to remember and have interest in today. Parenting Win!!

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

Climbing the hill (Mt. Diablo) is very intimidating. You can see the base, but you are right in their face.

There is a small hill north of the TTR that I believe is the actual Monitor hill for which the Monitor Valley is named. You might get a Janet shot from that hill, but you can also get those shots from the Town Center in Vegas, depending on the wind.

There are few towns where I stay at the best hotels, but Tonopah is one. ;-) The Mizpah is fine. Don't accept the economy rooms, which for some reason they save for walkins. Clown Motel....I've seen the photos on the interwebs. Nope!

originally posted by: HomeyKXTA
The photo from that one time I Arrived at the front gate with my girlfriend and was the first to report the change in signs.
No Drone Policy in "Full" effect (Still waiting to point that drone in the opposite direction, Gariac & FosterVS

)

Nice pics! I've never seen 3 camo dudes trucks on their perch, the most they brought out for me was two when I showed up at the border on a dirt bike, then my quad the next year. Somehow I thought they only had 2 trucks... obviously they have more in their fleet.

Not quite sure what you are getting at about "pointing a drone in the opposite direction"? If it is what I think you are implying, I'm neither that courageous or foolish enough. All I want is to go to altitude and get some video of the base. The POS drone I had this year couldn't manage it. Next year, I will be bringing a DJI Phantom...

www.lazygranch.com...

I converted the TTR night panoramic djvu image to jpg for easier viewing. There is a 1200 pixel wide image on the page and one about 8000 pixels wide to download.

I also discovered an older black and white night shot of the TTR. There is a jpeg2000 version that won't convert. However I also had a jpg version, though not full size. I put that on the page as well. It is a big wider, so it shows the DOE facilities that are east of the main base.

To get a grip on these odd image compressors, you need to put your mind back circa 2000. Some people were still on dial up back then. Hosting companies had tight limits on storage and transit. If anyone said you would be buying 5Tbyte drives at Costco for around $100, they would have thought you were smoking dope.

originally posted by: gariac
www.lazygranch.com...

I converted the TTR night panoramic djvu image to jpg for easier viewing. There is a 1200 pixel wide image on the page and one about 8000 pixels wide to download.

Your website was the reason I got djvu in this first place, good sir I have the jumbo shot stored away, it's my learning guide for TTR for the next time I'm out there. Very excited to traverse brainwash butte and see a base with so much history.
I'm also excited to try shooting with an 800-1400mm lens with a telecom vertex attached to it whilst out there. just need to figure out the right time to go.

a reply to: HomeyKXTA

If that lens is a mirror telephoto, don't bother. They lack contrast. When you shoot these bases from miles away, the images are "thin." If you look at a histogram, all the pixels are clustered in the center. Black at the scene will look dark grey though miles of atmosphere. White becomes light grey. You need a refractor telescope and either eyepiece projection or a barlow. And then lots of image enhancement.

If you don't have a telescope, you are almost better off just shooting video. Or use binoculars and enjoy the view.