d5e66a76   
   From: lumpy@digitalcartography.com   
      
   obviouslydelusional wrote:   
      
   > Remember that the glory days of most of the "serious guys" (and by   
   > that I mean black aircraft aficionados) were the early to mid 1990s.   
   > It was during this period Popular Science, Wired, AvWeek and more all   
   > had major stories about Area 51.   Books were written.   What caught   
   > everyones imagination was that virtually NOTHING was known about the   
   > place.  Maybe there WERE aliens!!  So much was a mystery.   
      
   I don't think that the early "serious guys" felt like   
   "so much was a mystery". At least not "mystery" in terms   
   of aliens and grays and caputred saucers. Those guys were   
   fascinated by the planes, the unique security hardware and   
   the black budget. I think it was the sensationalistic   
   rags (pop mechanics et al) that played up the UFO aspect.   
      
   > Now welcome to the new millennium.  We have Google Earth with high res   
   > coverage of most of the Nellis Range. Private websites like DLR can   
   > hire out for even higher resolution satellite pics.  Flightaware   
   > tracks Janet flights.  Environmental impact statements detailing what   
   > happens where.   Quality night vision stuff is cheap.  There is   
   > fantastic radio scanning and DF gear.  This has all pushed back the   
   > boundaries of the unknown to the point where many have lost interest.   
   > People aren't gonna go squat out in the desert for days on end if   
   > there aren't aliens...   
      
   People never did squat out in the desert for days   
   for aliens or otherwise. A tiny handful of people   
   camped out there. But my guess is that the vast   
   majority of them did it because Glenn and the   
   old timers did and they wanted to do the same   
   before the boundaries got pushed even further.   
   Those very limited few that continued to camp   
   out, take photos etc, typically focus on the   
   same thing they always did. Same thing in my   
   first paragraph - planes, hardware, budget.   
      
   And now that we have Google Earth and satellite pics and   
   all the other legit research, STILL, the DLR kids   
   "want to believe".   
      
   So nothing at all has changed. The base still does what   
   the base always did. The young explorers are now older   
   and don't have the energy and joint health to physically   
   hang out at the border. The sharks are still trying to   
   make a buck off the place. And the die hard UFOers probably   
   still believe Lazar disassembled space ships at S4.   
      
   Here's my suggestion, to you. Figure out what YOUR personal   
   interest is in the base. Focus on that. Do good, honest,   
   responsible, ethical, legal research to try and disprove   
   or support your interest. Don't worry about what others   
   believe or have gotten "burned out on". Present your   
   evidence to the world and let people make up their   
   own minds about everything.   
      
      
   Craig 'Lumpy' Lemke   
      
   www.n0eq.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)