Beyond Area 51

by Mack Maloney

  CE3 IN THE DESERT

  Quite possibly the strangest UFO incident in the Tonopah, Arizona, area occurred on July 1, 2009. Around ten thirty p.m., four young people, two males and two females, driving near the Palo Verde nuclear plant spotted a triangle-shaped UFO.

  When the UFO slipped behind a mountain, the witnesses pursued it. Coming around the mountain, they saw a flashing light.

  The witnesses drove to within one thousand feet of the light and realized it was coming from the object they’d just seen. It was close to the ground and huge. At this point, the two males approached the craft. One recorded the events on video.

  The object had numerous windows, through which occupants were seen. Some were small with big heads. Others were tall and thin. The craft landed and the pair drew closer. A doorway opened and two aliens appeared. The terrified witnesses tried to run but could not move.

  The aliens, one short and one very tall, came within twenty feet and communicated telepathically. They explained their mission was to prevent us from destroying the Earth.

  Their next message was chilling: A horrible event was going to happen in the Middle East, which had to be stopped.

  After saying they would meet again, the aliens returned to their craft. It vanished in an instant.

  The shocked pair made it to their vehicle. The witnesses stated that as they drove away, three military helicopters descended on them. Moments later, two military Humvees appeared and, via a loudspeaker, ordered them to immediately pull over.

  They were asked what they’d seen, for how long, and if they’d had any contact with the craft. The military confiscated the witnesses’ camera and took one of the young men with them for questioning. He was later dropped off at a local diner, where his friends picked him up.

  Back in Nevada

  After years of secret operations at the TTR and following their deployment to the Persian Gulf in 1992, the Tonopah Stealths were eventually sent to Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico.

  This redeployment began the Stealths’ road to decommissioning. While it’s hard to believe that such a magical airplane would ever become obsolete, America’s newer fighters, like the F-22 Raptor and the F-35 Lightning II, not only inherited many of the F-117’s secrets, but they also improved on them. In April 2008, the Stealth Fighter fleet was quietly deactivated and put in mothballs.

  But it had cost millions to house the F-117s at Tonopah and millions more to operate the base, support the personnel and keep it all secret. Keeping secrets is expensive, and in the world of black ops, the government tends to stay on familiar ground. So, what took the Stealths’ place?

  As one former fighter pilot who used to fly all over the Nevada Weapons Range told us, “If something moved out of Tonopah, that only means that something else even more secret moved in.”

  The question is, what?

  The latest official line, courtesy of a Department of Energy website, is that Tonopah is currently being used for “nuclear weapons stockpile reliability testing, research and development of fusing and firing systems and testing nuclear weapon delivery systems. These capabilities allow Tonopah to support directed stockpile work, the ability to perform surveillance testing on nuclear bombs and compatibility with the Air Force bombers and fighters. Stockpile surveillance is vital.”

  But when we ran this explanation by someone who works with the U.S. intelligence community, their blunt reply was: “That’s bullshit—whatever they are really doing there, that’s a cover story.”

  Leaving Clues in Plain Sight

  Foreign-made weapons systems are scattered all over the Tonopah Test Range these days.

  A number of websites featuring satellite imagery show Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems and so-called MAZ artillery trucks dotting the TTR’s landscape. Other photos show large radar dishes, Scud missile launchers and even Russian military helicopters at the TTR as well. Like the Soviet fighters that once flew the TTR’s skies, these Russian weapons came into U.S. possession—we can only assume—via backroom deals with so-called unknown suppliers.

  And we have to assume, as these images are readily available on the Internet, these foreign-made weapons must surely show up on spy satellites belonging to rival superpowers.

  But maybe that was the plan all along.

  * * *

  Remember the A-7 Corsairs that were operating out of Tonopah when the Stealths were flying?

  They were left out of their hangars in the daytime to fool Russian satellites passing over into thinking that nothing too grand was happening at the TTR. Now, thirty years have gone by and the Stealths have been deactivated, yet we can still see interesting things scattered across the Tonopah range, essentially in full view.

  But past experience tells us that what can be seen in the daytime at Tonopah is most likely part of a cover story. And like those vampire personnel of the 1980s, whatever is happening at the TTR these days probably only comes out at night.

  As confirmed by a friend in the intelligence community, the base’s extra long, twelve-thousand-foot runway is still active, along with its navigation aids. The strict rules of behavior for all personnel assigned to the TTR are still in place. Everyone on the base must be a U.S. citizen and have no felonies on their record. No private vehicles are allowed anywhere on the base. No recording devices, no cameras, no laptops, no handheld devices.

  So, the base is still set up as if something supersecret is being done there.

  What could that be?

  We know that if there was ever a place to teach U.S. pilots to fly unusual aircraft, or to have those same pilots fly against unusual aircraft, Tonopah is probably that place. But beyond that would be mere speculation.

  However, the bigger question might be, why do UFOs avoid this place but are very active around a place of the same name, just in a different state? As we will see, nearly every secret base around the world is the site of at least some UFO activity, real or imagined.

  Why is Tonopah, Nevada, different? Why does it have zero UFO activity?

  Whatever secret weapons the United States is testing there, could the weapons be so unusual that even UFOs stay away?

  Maybe the only way to know for sure is to catch a glimpse of what’s inside those mysterious hangars when they open up exactly one hour after sunset—but maybe not even then.

  As our Spook friend told us, “People in the intelligence community talk about Area 51 all the time. But no one ever talks about Tonopah.”

  7

  Homestead Air Force Base

  Unlikely Friends

  Jackie Gleason was born February 26, 1916, in Brooklyn, New York.

  After a rough childhood, during which his only brother died and his father walked out on the family, young Gleason joined a street gang at age fourteen and began hustling pool. Though he would eventually drop out of high school, a part in a class play went well enough for him to get an MC job at a local theater. He then went on to work as a stunt diver, a daredevil driver, a disc jockey and a carnival barker, among other things.

  By 1935, Gleason was a professional comedian, working nightclubs in New York City. Within five years he was in the movies. By this time, to say the rotund entertainer was gregarious would be an understatement. Gleason threw such loud and raucous parties in his LA hotel suite he had to soundproof it at the insistence of the management.

  In 1954, Gleason made it onto television, hosting a variety show. He also enjoyed a musical career, recording more than thirty-five albums, and would eventually win a Tony for acting on Broadway.

  But Gleason was probably best known for his hit TV show The Honeymooners, in which he played big-dreaming bus driver Ralph Kramden.

  The show was so popular, an eight-foot-tall bronze statue of Gleason’s Ralph Kramden character still stands today outside the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.

  * * *

  Richard Nixon was born on January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California.

  The product of a strict father
and a Quaker mother, Nixon saw two siblings die at a young age, both of tuberculosis. After high school, Nixon attended Whittier College and then went on to Duke University School of Law, graduating in 1937.

  After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, Nixon was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1946 and then to the U.S. Senate in 1950. Known as an ardent anti-Communist, he became vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and then again four years later. Though Nixon barely lost his own bid for the presidency to John F. Kennedy in 1960, he ran again in 1968 and won.

  Nixon dramatically escalated the Vietnam War before finally ending America’s involvement in 1973. Though still touted as a virulent anti-Communist, he made a historic visit to Red China in 1972 and improved relations with the Soviet Union as well.

  Nixon was also in office when men first walked on the moon. Speaking by phone to astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin while they were on the lunar surface, Nixon enthusiastically called the conversation the “most historic phone call ever made from the White House.” However, when NASA proposed plans to establish a permanent base on the moon, as well as a trip to Mars by 1981, Nixon vetoed both, essentially killing America’s manned exploration of outer space.

  Nixon’s second term as president was rife with troubles, not the least of which was his involvement in the Watergate scandal. On August 9, 1974, he resigned the presidency in disgrace.

  Often portrayed as unshaven and sweaty, Nixon was also overly secretive and awkward. He was so straitlaced he wore a suit coat and tie even when he was home alone. Historians have called him the most peculiar of all the presidents, someone who assumed the worst in people and brought out the worst in them.

  So it’s strange, then, that these two men—Jackie Gleason, the heavy-drinking, chain-smoking, boisterous wise guy from Brooklyn, and Richard Nixon, the dark, self-conscious, corrupt politician from California—would be good friends. Yet they were.

  But even stranger is the adventure many claim they shared at a place called Homestead Air Force Base.

  A Historic but Stormy Place

  Located approximately twenty-five miles south of Miami, Florida, Homestead Air Force Base was established in 1942 as a major stopover point for U.S. combat aircraft going to the Caribbean and North Africa.

  In November 1955, the U.S. Air Force’s 379th Bombardment Wing was assigned to Homestead and consisted of four squadrons of nuclear-armed bombers. In an ironic twist, Homestead’s 379th Bombardment Wing inherited the colors of the World War II–era Army Air Force 379th Bombardment Group whose pilots and crews had encountered many “foo fighters” over Europe in World War II.

  In the ensuing years, Homestead became home to a number of USAF units, many of them nuclear-armed. This was crucial during the Cuban missile crisis in October 1962 due to the base’s proximity to the Communist-controlled island, just two hundred miles to the south, or about twenty minutes’ flying time in a modern jet fighter.

  At present, Homestead is home to number of U.S. military units, including those belonging to the Air Force Reserves, the Florida National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard. Because of its location, though, Homestead has been a frequent victim of hurricanes. An especially violent one hit the base in 1945. But in 1992, Hurricane Andrew, one of the most powerful storms to ever hit the United States, virtually wiped Homestead off the map.

  But back in the early 1970s, Homestead was a sprawling installation operated by the USAF’s Tactical Air Command. It had several extra long runways, dozens of hangars and support buildings, and many areas considered classified and off-limits to individuals without high security clearance.

  This is what Homestead looked like when the following story is said to have taken place.

  A Trip at Midnight

  Gleason and Nixon shared a love of golf. They would play together when both were in Florida, which was frequently. Gleason spent the latter part of his career living in the Miami area, and Nixon had a home in nearby Key Biscayne.

  As the story goes, during one such golf outing in early 1974, the subject of UFOs came up.

  Gleason had long been interested in UFOs. Not only did he possess nearly two thousand books having to do with UFOs and other paranormal subjects, but the comedian’s home in Peekskill, New York, was actually shaped like a flying saucer. By Gleason’s orders, everything inside the house was also saucer-shaped, including the furniture. Gleason called this house the “Mothership” and its garage, which also looked like a flying saucer, the “Scout Ship.” (Ironically, Gleason had a fear of flying and mostly traveled by train.)

  Gleason’s biographer, William Henry III, confirmed in his book The Great One: The Life and Legend of Jackie Gleason that Gleason had a lifelong fascination with the paranormal. And as Gleason was an insomniac, to pass the time at night he would read his UFO books.

  But Gleason kept his fascination with UFOs more or less to himself, knowing if any celebrity gossip magazines knew the extent of his interest, he’d be labeled as a UFO nut.

  And while Nixon most likely knew of Gleason’s curiosity about UFOs, they’d never had a deep discussion about the subject, probably because Nixon was usually surrounded by presidential aides and Secret Service men.

  But that day on the golf course, they talked about the phenomenon at length.

  * * *

  Later that night, when Gleason was back at his Florida home, Nixon suddenly appeared at his door. It was around midnight, and the chief executive was alone, with no Secret Service agents in sight. (This was not so unusual; Nixon was famous for giving his Secret Service detail the slip.)

  Still, Gleason was shocked to see Nixon. The president told Gleason he wanted to show him something. With that, they drove to nearby Homestead Air Force Base.

  By at least one recounting, when they arrived at the base’s main gate they were challenged by an MP, who initially stopped the car from going any farther. On looking inside and seeing Nixon, though, the astonished MP turned pale, then saluted and let the car pass.

  The president and the comedian drove to the far end of the facility, finally stopping at a well-guarded building. Aware by now that Nixon was on the base, the security police simply parted the way for them.

  Nixon and Gleason entered the building to find a large number of laboratories and such, but nothing too unusual. But then Nixon brought Gleason to one room where he showed the comedian what he described as the remains of a flying saucer. Gleason later told friends that he was sure this was all some kind of joke, because he and Nixon had spoken about UFOs on the golf course earlier that day. But Gleason quickly realized Nixon was serious.

  Nixon next brought Gleason to an inner chamber where a half-dozen freezers were located. They had glass tops, allowing Gleason to look down into them.

  What the comedian saw, he thought at first, were the mangled remains of some children—perhaps victims of some kind of accident.

  But then Gleason took a closer look and realized whatever he was looking at appeared extremely aged, with large oval eyes and gray skin—and certainly not human.

  Gleason was so shocked that he and Nixon left the classified facility almost immediately.

  No Stranger to Aliens

  This was not the first time that Homestead Air Force Base had been mentioned in connection with UFOs—the place has an interesting past when it comes to extraterrestrial craft and their occupants.

  There is a story, famous in UFO folklore but with a surprising amount of documentation, that claims on the weekend of February 20–21, 1954, then President Dwight D. Eisenhower went missing. The official story was he’d gone to a dentist’s office under the guise of having chipped his tooth earlier that day. But many UFO researchers claim he was actually meeting a delegation of extraterrestrials to talk about how humans and an alien race could coexist on Earth.

  True, this story is far-fetched and probably belongs in the Dulce file. Besides, in its many retellings, some claim it actually happened at Edwards Air Force Base in Californ
ia.

  But other UFO researchers insist this meeting between Eisenhower and the aliens took place at Homestead Air Force Base. True or not, it seems that Eisenhower was indeed unaccounted for during the night in question.

  To the Moon, Beverly

  Jackie Gleason never spoke openly about his strange visit to Homestead Air Force Base. In fact, most of the information about the incident comes from Gleason’s second wife, Beverly.

  She spoke to Esquire magazine after she and Gleason separated later in 1974. At the time she was considering writing a book about their marriage.

  The UFO story came up in that interview and she confirmed Gleason had been out late one night and when he returned home he had told her that he’d been to Homestead Air Force Base with President Nixon—and that he had seen some dead alien bodies, an event that traumatized him for the next several weeks. Beverly Gleason also confirmed that her husband and Nixon were frequently in touch, and whenever they wanted to play golf together someone on Nixon’s staff would set it up.

  But the ex–Mrs. Gleason soon knew she’d made a mistake by talking to Esquire about the Homestead incident, because not too long afterward Jackie called to tell her he didn’t appreciate her giving the interview—and was especially upset that the UFO story had gone public.

  Some reports say this was the incident that finally led to their divorce.

  “Jackie’s Right….”

  Gleason died in 1987, Nixon in 1994. With his passing, Nixon was remembered by most to be the only U.S. president to resign the office, his legacy one of deception and dishonor.

  Gleason on the other hand was remembered not just for his TV celebrity and The Honeymooners but also for making a comeback in movies, playing a good-old-boy sheriff named Buford T. Justice in the Burt Reynolds Smokey and the Bandit films and then going on to star with the likes of Tom Hanks and Richard Pryor in two highly successful big-screen comedies.