pictures from recent area 51 trip

We just got back from once again climbing Tikaboo Peak and surveying the base. This had to have been one of the most difficult trips to date. We arrivated in vegas late after having to wait at the airport due to weather problems. We began our hike around 8:00 pm. I had no idea the mountain was snow covered or that we would be hiking that late. The temp was around 15 degrees...no fun at all. We arrived on top around 10pm after walking a tiring trip in the dark trying to navigate by memory more than hidden trail markers.

The video shows the base lights all turning on, this happened around 2:30 or 3am. It also shows some orange glowing object attempting to land. This was the only time the base lights turned on. The object was glowing orange the entire time and had no blinking lights. It also moved horizontally.


Also displayed are pictures of us building up a shelter. We piled all the rocks around in a nice windbreaker position. Also built a fire pit to funnel heat in. I assume most people do not camp at the very peak like have...probably for good reason lol. Also please ignore the beer cans and bottle, we picked up all of our trash before leaving. Enjoy.

i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...

videos

s131.photobucket.com...

s131.photobucket.com...





[edit on 4-4-2008 by hiii_98]

i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...
i131.photobucket.com...

is that bottom video in the air? or on the ground?

where's the rest of the video? what happened before?...and what did the light do or go after?

reply to post by hiii_98

Cool, thanks for posting. Were you able to get any imaging from your telescopes of anything, be interested in any of those images.

when we woke up in the morning we honestly just wanted to get the hell off the mountain and get some breakfast (little did we know how lost we were going to get!) . The lights in a row are the runway base lights which turned on for 15 minutes at around 2:30 or 3am.

My camera ran out of storage space is why the duration is so short.

That washout in the 3rd photo is actually worse in real life. I logged 3 hazards along the way, though I don't recall which was that big dip.
N37.32471 W115.30549
N37.33081 W115.31796
N37.33126 W115.31922

The only test I ever saw from Tikaboo has a solid white light on the plane. I gather that isn't unusual since they want to spot the plane during a test.

If you observe carefully, the base gets dark before the runway lights are turned on. This is probably to keep stray light from illuminating the plane under test.

When they do these tests, they fire up the radar. When the radar is running, they turn on warning lights so you don't walk by and get your brain fried. You can see the red warning light turn on with your naked eye, though you need binocs to see where it is located. However, I don't think the light on the ground that you videotaped was a radar warning light. It appears to be in the wrong location. That is, the radar is on the north side of the base. It is possible the plane on the ground was illuminated with sodium lighting while the ground crew prepped the plane.

Are you sure it only took two hours to do the climb? That is mighty good since you were carrying a lot of gear.

Tikaboo generally has snow on it even in April. May is the best time to climb Tikaboo. This is before the western fires start. These fires destroy visibility. Also, if you study the sun angle, the A-12 hangars will not be illuminated until May. This is assuming you want to do a panorama.

I've camped out on the peak, but generally camp on the last false summit. You can still see the most of the base from the false summit, and there is much less wind. You can reach the top from the false summit in maybe 10 minutes.

Yeah we did the climb in less than 2 1/2 hours and half way up the mountain we noticed that it is all snow. I think the snow melts on the other side of the mountain but the hard climb was covered. We drank alot of Vodka and i think that gave us the false motivation to keep moving forward. That and the fact that it was already pitch black out really got us moving. That is facinating what your saying regarding the radar lights. We did notice a red flashing light in the middle of the base after the lights all turned on.

Why do the lights turn on, i know this sounds like an ignorant question.. but is it to launch a plane? To land a plane? Are they testing something secret or is it merely for some late night Janet flight coming or leaving?

I think the spotlight you saw illuminating the plane would have been facinating.

Actually most lights turn off for a test, but other lights may turn on. In the case of what you observed, my guess is they brought out work lights in order to prep the plane, but that is just a guess.

I can't find this on the net because I probably don't know the right keyword, but when they activate ground based radar, a warning light is operated. This is to warn those on the ground not to get too close. It's not like the radar is in a hard to reach location. If you are near the radar at the "back gate" when it is operational, you will see a flashing light. In fact, you can detect this light at some distance given the desolation of the area and the darkness.

The radar on the base at Groom Lake has similar warning lights. I've seen lighting turn on for the radar on the north side. However, for a particular test, they may roll out some ground based radar. It could be some "enemy" radar, or perhaps some tracking equipment for the test. In any event, they turn on the warning light.

Regarding lights on the planes, I forgot to mention that military aircraft have lights that are generally used in exercises, but I suppose could be used in a test. If you read "Technical Order 00-105E-9", the location of these lights is shown. There are white lights that could be solid or flashing, as well as IR beacons.

0x4d.net...
This document no longer appears on the internet (at least from the DoD), though it is not classified. You could probably get a current one via FOIA. For an example of such lighting, go to page 27 of
cargo plane documents
Some of the lighting is IR counter measures, but the top mounted strobe is indicated there.

the lights we saw (this trip) were solid orange and would slowly travel left or right. Also the light would only stay on for about 2-3 minutes and would shut off, then sometimes reappear at a different location. My brother thought this could possibly be the front headlights of a airplane coming in for a landing... i disagree and am confused by what i saw.

reply to post by hiii_98

A red light might look orange by the time it reaches Tikaboo. I've done some night photography of Groom Lake with just a 400mm lens
night photography of Groom Lake
You might try this next time. The shots show movement around the base. Low contrast film works best for this purpose. I suppose for digital you would have to take multiple shots and average them together. The CCD tends to bloom otherwise.

I don't believe a headlight from a plane would point towards Tikaboo. Certainly not when it's in a landing pattern. The security chopper might be another story. That is why I always suggest having a scanner. Many lights in the sky can be explained away if you know what is happening.

That new hanger has a fair amount of lights around it at night. When the door was not installed on it, you could see light spilling out of it.

Next time I do a night shot, I think I'll shoot prime from the telescope rather than a 400mm camera lens. There would probably be less flare in the image.

With a bit of work, you can force the camera to meter on a dim image. Crank up the iso on the camera until it can report back a time. Then reset to the desired ISO with the time multiplied accordingly. This isn't perfect, but close enough.