Hidden Truth/Hidden Truth.iso/data/misctexts/desertrat/desert.4.txt

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Date: Tue, 15 Mar 94 11:02:59 EST
Subject: Groom Lake Desert Rat #4
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THE GROOM LAKE DESERT RAT.   An On-Line Newsletter.
Issue #4.  March 6, 1994.
-----> "The Naked Truth from Open Sources." <-----
AREA 51/NELLIS RANGE/TTR/NTS/S-4?/WEIRD STUFF/DESERT LORE
Written, published, copyrighted and totally disavowed by
[e-mail]. See bottom for subscription/copyright info.

In this issue...
     REPORT ON LAS VEGAS LAND GRAB HEARING

[Note: This file ends with "#####".  Check for truncation.]

----- VAUDEVILLE IN VEGAS -----

LAND GRAB HEARING UPSTAGES CASINOS AS "BEST ENTERTAINMENT VALUE"

About 200 citizens, four television crews and a gaggle of print
reporters packed a large meeting room at the Cashman Field Center
for the March 2 public hearing on the Groom Lake land withdrawal.
Although the two hour meeting went pretty much as expected, there
was nothing dull about these proceedings.  Speakers from all
walks of life bared their inner passions before the microphone,
and the three minute time limit assured they didn't reveal too
much.  The event was far superior to any floor show on the Strip:
a lively theater of humanity occasionally spiced by the burlesque
of the absurd.

The meeting began with the AF and BLM representatives providing
their expected introductions.  Neither deviated much from their
comments at the Caliente hearing.  Col. Bennett offered an almost
exact word-for-word repetition of his Caliente remarks, which
emphasized the importance of the Nellis Range for training
military pilots.  He said nothing to acknowledge a base at Groom
Lake.  There was no opportunity for the BLM or AF to take
questions, and the four AF reps sat silently in the audience for
the remainder of the meeting.

After that slow start, the fireworks began.  About 25 citizens
exercised their privilege of public comment, with only two
offering lucid support for the Air Force.  Of course, there
weren't many lucid opponents, either.  The majority of the
arguments presented were entirely irrelevant to the land grab
issue, but these were by far the most entertaining.  Hideous
genetic experiments conducted on missing children were revealed
at Groom Lake, and one wild-eyed radical, reading from the Koran,
invoked the wrath of Allah on the BLM.

About a third of the speakers managed to remain on topic.  As a
group, they were soft-spoken and not nearly as colorful as the
others, but these comments will have a most lasting effect.  The
most promising challenges focused on the limited areas where BLM
has jurisdiction.  BLM has neither the resources nor the mandate
to evaluate UFO stories, hazardous waste claims, underground
genetic experiments, evil world-wide conspiracies or any of the
other charges made concerning Groom Lake.  It can only evaluate
the legal adequacy of the application and the direct
environmental and land-use impacts of the withdrawn land itself.

Below are the comments of some of the more memorable speakers,
transcribed from tape.  We will start with the most germane then
disintegrate toward chaos.

----- A LAWYER SPEAKS -----

Steve Hofer, a consumer and public interest attorney from
Indianapolis, has been working with the White Sides Defense
Committee to lay the foundation for a legal case should it become
necessary.  His comments:

   "This land as a matter of law, the law set by Congress, has
the presumption of the preferred use of public multiple use.  Any
of us, we can use it for livestock, we can use it for recreation
--that's the preferred use of the land.  The Air Force has the
burden to show that its use is more important.  And the law
specifically says what the Air Force must do, the standards the
Air Force must follow, to meet that presumption.  I've reviewed
the Air Force's application, and they have not met that standard.

   "The Bureau of Land Management should reject that application
as legally insufficient, the reason being that the Air Force must
state the purpose of the withdrawal.  The Air Force has not
stated the purpose of the withdrawal.  The only purpose that
they've stated is that the land is needed to be withdrawn because
of [public] safety [and] for the safe and secure operation of
activities on the Nellis Range.  Well, that's not a use of the
land.  The Bureau of Land Management has no way to evaluate
whether or not that's true.  Because they don't have any way to
evaluate it, then by necessity that application is arbitrary and
capricious, and it must be rejected as a matter of the law, and
[if not] it can be challenged on judicial review.

   "How do we know that the [AF reason] is insufficient?...  What
evidence have they presented that there is any public safety
risk?  Have they presented any evidence that people have been
hurt there?  Air Force planes have crashed all over the place.
An Air Force National Guard plane crashed into a Ramada Inn in my
home city of Indianapolis; that doesn't mean that the Guard
should not be allowed to do take-off and landings there.  There's
a little bit of risk in all of it...

   "How do we evaluate the importance of the security [of
operations on the Nellis Range] if they won't tell us what the
operations are there?  There's a provision that says that they
don't have to tell us; they can say the reason is secret.  Then
they've at least got to tell the Secretary of the Interior.  But
the Air Force in their application didn't say that this was
secret.  They didn't say anything.  That's why the [BLM] should
reject it out of hand, and we should continue to talk to our
elected representatives to make sure they do it."

The provision for secrecy that Mr. Hofer mentions is contained in
federal regulations governing the withdrawal (43 CFR, Section
2310.1-2, Part 7).  According to this, the applicant must state
"the public purpose or statutory program for which the lands
would be withdrawn.  If the purpose or program for which the land
would be withdrawn is classified for national security reasons, a
statement to that effect must be included..."

As we understand Mr. Hofer's argument, the AF has not stated on
its application to the BLM that the purpose of the withdrawal is
classified.  Therefore it is liable for a complete and open
accounting of its purpose and intentions, which it has not
provided.

----- THE 5000 ACRE LIMIT -----

Several speakers pointed out that the AF wasn't trying to take
all the viewpoints into the Groom Lake base, only the most
convenient ones that could be neutralized with under 5000 acres.
According to federal law ("The Engle Act"), a withdrawal or
aggregate withdrawal "for any one defense project or facility"
requires Congressional approval, a process that the AF is loath
to consider.  Congress could demand more accountability or turn
down the application if the reason isn't good enough.

Peter Merlin of Los Angeles testified that he had climbed Tikaboo
Peak, a tall mountain to the east of Freedom Ridge, and found a
full view of the Groom Lake base, albeit from much further away.
Glenn Campbell of the WSDC, private citizen Steve McKelvey and
another speaker from the government oversight group Citizen Alert
expressed the concern that the 4000 acres being sought now would
not be the end of the AF's land needs.

In a flyer distributed at the hearing and submitted into the
record on behalf of the WSDC, Campbell said:

   "The public has a reasonable right to protect itself from the
possibility of future 'piecemealing.'  To fulfill this need, BLM
must require the AF to openly state, in writing and on the
record, the true and obvious reason for the withdrawal:  to hide
the Groom Lake air base from public view.

   "Once the real reason is stated, the public may see that the
AF is not doing the whole job.  Seizing ANY of the viewpoints
makes sense only if they seize ALL the viewpoints, even if it
requires more than 5000 acres.

   "This withdrawal raises broad issues about defense priorities
and government oversight that should be openly debated in
Congress.  Only in Congress can the voice of the people be
heard."

----- SECRET BASE REVEALED -----

If anyone doubted that there was a base at Groom Lake, "Black
World Investigator" Mark Farmer from Juneau, Alaska, displayed
for the audience an eight foot panoramic photograph of the Groom
Lake base, apparently taken from Freedom Ridge.  Photocopies of
the March POPULAR SCIENCE article were also available to the
audience.  A couple of speakers alluded to the recent reports of
a hazardous waste dump at the base, and many others expressed the
need for greater openness and accountability in military affairs.

Steve McKelvey of Las Vegas quoted from the Uniform Commercial
Code:  "Lack of full disclosure is grounds for fraud in any
contract."

----- AIR FORCE SUPPORTERS -----

Only two people spoke clearly in favor of the Air Force, with a
couple of others seeming to lean that way.  We are embarrassed to
report that the two supporters were heckled by some members of
the audience.  We regard the catcalls as unwarranted and
undemocratic.  Those hard-line anti-Soviet folks are so rare
these days that we think the few remaining should be respected
and treasured, like National Historic Landmarks.

One offered the following:

   "You know, just recently we witnessed the arrest of a
notorious spy in Washington, D.C., a CIA agent who was spying for
the Soviet Union.  He provided them with some of the most
essential, critical intelligence information that I think we've
ever known to go to them.  I think it should be noted that on
their list of targets and collection items, one of the highest
priorities is stealth technology.

   "Back in the days of the missile build-up, there was a writer
for Aviation Week and Space Technology who roamed the halls of
the Pentagon getting all the intelligence data concerning missile
force development, and he wrote [it] in Aviation Week and Space
Technology.  The Soviets thought that document was so important
to them that they bought a proof copy of that document,
translated it enroute while they were flying it back to Moscow,
and this writer provided the Soviet Union the biggest
confidential intelligence on the United States that their
intelligence agencies could not collect.

   "Now we find the situation in our back door.  We have citizens
and also foreign agents... comes into our country, goes to the
vantage point, does the same thing that the CIA spy did, spies on
the government activities, sells that to the Soviets.  This
gentleman who had the photographs [Mark Farmer], I'd like to ask
him, did he take those pictures or did he buy those from
somebody?  If he had those pictures, why does he have those
pictures?  He's going to sell them to somebody.  He's going to do
the same thing the CIA agent has done, I guarantee you that.

   "We have citizens of this country who have sons, daughters,
brothers, sisters and grandchildren who wear the uniform of
United States military services.  They want to know that the
people they ask to go into battle will be the best equipped, the
best trained that they can possibly be.

   "You know, at one time we had a great advantage on the Soviets
in the air-to-air missile capability, air-to-air take-outs.
American citizens stole all the technology--a company in
California sold it to the Soviets.  Instead of our airmen, who
represent everybody in this room...  [Heckling begins]... at one
time or another they themselves were Joe Blow citizen in high
school someplace [and now] they're wearing the uniform.  And yet
these people want them to go out and defend them and have the
enemy know everything about their capabilities.  It doesn't work
that way.  I tell you right now, I've learned two things in my
life that are absolutes, and there are very few absolutes in this
world.  One thing, There is a God.  The second thing, I ain't
him."

Another speaker said he was a former chairman on the National
Investigating Committee on Aerial Phenomena (NICAP), an early UFO
group.

   "I think that many of you people are doing yourselves quite a
disservice, and I am proud in this case to defend the Air Force.
I am also a USMA West Point graduate, Class of '56, classmate of
Schartzkopf, and, for one, I don't appreciate people who laugh at
the risk of lives because of secret information being given out.
And if you think it's a game we're playing here, well you're
mistaken.  I've had more experience investigating and looking
into these things than 90-some percent of you people out there,
and I think, frankly, you're screwing yourselves.  The reason
this land is being taken is because the issue has been made of it
and [people are] always conducting tours on the top of those
hills that look down on the base, whether it exists or doesn't
exist.  We know it exists.  The stealth work was done down there;
there could be other stuff going on there.  Hey, this is the same
war we're in.  If you think the Cold War stopped, you're
mistaken.  We can investigate things that are of interest without
having to climb on top of mountains and look down and see the
government space here, if you like it or not, to defend the U-2.
[Heckling begins.]"

----- BLM BASHERS -----

As happened at the Caliente hearing, a number of speakers seemed
to have no direct complaint about the withdrawal itself but were
only upset with BLM.  One older gentleman, apparently a rancher,
told a richly emotional but entirely irrelevant story of the AF
setting fire to his friend's grazing allotment, and the BLM
forcing the friend to herd his cattle by hand all winter long to
keep them off the burned area.  The acting was "B" quality but we
would give him an "A" for effort as he verged on tears recounting
the heartbreaking abuse the friend had suffered at the hands of
that NEFARIOUS FEDERAL LAND AGENCY.

We suspect but cannot prove that this speaker was an agent of the
same Throw-BLM-Out movement that dominated the Caliente hearing.
Alas, here in the big city, the visiting revolutionaries were
easily upstaged by all the other fringe groups competing for
attention.  Any momentum generated by the first speaker's
compelling performance was dissipated shortly thereafter by a
woman whose acting was REALLY bad.  She pretended to cry as she
told the audience about movement leader Dick Carver and his "very
special letter" to the Secretary of the Interior.  (This letter
is the group's "Declaration of Independence" from BLM.)  Changing
character almost instantly, she became firm and resolute as she
announced that "the State of Nevada owns the public lands, not
the Bureau of Land Management."  The appeal didn't appear to have
much meaning to the mostly urban audience, who saw only her
theatrics.

A couple of other land-revolt supporters tried to get things
moving again, but to no avail.  By the half-time intermission,
their hope to make a big splash was dead in the water.  Two
scheduled speakers from Lincoln County bowed out altogether and
were seen heading for the door.  They were among only a handful
to leave early; the vast majority of the audience stayed for the
entire riveting show.

----- ANTHONY HILDER -----

Anthony Hilder is a radio talk show host from Anchorage, Alaska.

   "This issue is the withdrawal of freedom, not just Freedom
Ridge, but freedom.  [Applause.]  The issue here is the New World
Order.  This colonel behind me is a representative of the New
World Order.  They are concerned about security, not for you, not
for your nation, not for your interests, not for your children.
They are concerned about the security of those who wish to
surrender the sovereignty of the United States and establish a
One World Government.

   "If you do not take a stand now, surely you will fall.  God
knows what they're testing out there.  Do they have genetic
engineering programs?  Do they have bacteriological warfare
programs?  Did they not, in fact, create a thing called AIDS?  Do
they want to reduce the population of the planet by twenty-five
percent by the year 2000?  You cannot allow them to take your
property.  This is YOUR land.  It is not their spread.

   "Adolph Hitler wrote the book, 'The New World Order,' and he
used the Big Lie.  He could not allow the people to go in and
take a look at the camps at Nordhaus, Auschwitz and Dachau.
There are missing children, a hundred thousand plus across this
nation.  Where are they being taken to?  Are they being used for
medical experiments?  Are there anti-gravitational disks being
flown over there that were first developed under Adolph Hitler?
Yes, yes, yes.  You cannot, you must not allow it."

----- WRATH OF ALLAH -----

If the BLM Bashers had stuck it out for the duration, they would
have gained at least some moral support from an earnest young man
with a crew-cut holding a large green book.  He spoke in an
accent from the Middle East and at a very high decibel level.  He
was identified only as "Moe."  [Editor's note:  Because of Moe's
heavy accent some of his words are unintelligible to us.
Although we may not have transcribed them all correctly, we've
done our best to reproduce at least the sound and fury of this
impassioned speech.]

   "IN THE NAME OF GOD, MY NAME IS MOE.  I'M A PERMANENT RESIDENT
WHO'S BEEN LIVING IN LAS VEGAS FOR OVER SIX YEARS.  BELIEVE IN
YOUR GOD."

[Holds up the green book.]

   "THIS IS THE LAST HOLY BOOK OF GOD.  KORAN.  WHICH HAS ONE
HUNDRED FIFTEEN CHAPTERS.  QUESTION:  WHAT IS THE NUMBER OF THE
AREA WHERE THE SECRET BASE IS LOCATED?  FIFTY-ONE.  LET'S SEE
WHAT GOD SAID IN CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE."

[Opens book.]

   "CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE OF KORAN.  BELIEVE IN YOUR GOD.  PROMISE IN
THE WINDS WHICH BLOW IN HOLY DIRECTIONS.  PROMISE IN THE CLOUDS
THAT CARRY HEAVY RAINS.  PROMISE TO THE ANGELS WHO PERFORM THE
ORDERS OF GOD.  PROMISE TO ALL CORNERS THAT WHATEVER YOU SAY IS
TRUE...

   "GOD SAY TO MOHAMMED, 'HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT THE ESTER OF
ALCOHOL AND ANGELS?  HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT THAT?'  THEY GO TO
HIM AND SAY HI.  THE ANSWER MOHAMMED TOLD THEM, 'YOU ARE VERY
STRANGE PEOPLE.'  ALIENS!

   "ABRAHAM TOLD THEM COME TO EAT.  THEY REFUSE TO EAT.  THAT
WEAPON WHAT THE ALIEN EAT.  IN THE MOMENT, ABRAHAM GOD SAW IN
FRONT OF HIM.  HE SAY ABRAHAM, 'DON'T BE AFRAID.  WE ARE HERE TO
TELL YOU THAT YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A VERY INTELLIGENT SON.  IN
THE NAME OF YOUR NATION.  IN THE NAME OF YOUR NATION.'

   "ABRAHAM SAID, 'WHAT IS YOUR DUTY HERE?'  TO THE ALIENS, 'WHAT
IS YOUR DUTY HERE?'  THE ANSWER, 'WE ARE HERE TO DESTROY THE BAD
CRIME!'"

[Points accusingly at BLM officers on the stage.]

   "THE TERRIBLE TRUTH!  THE STONE RING OF STONE.  THE STONE IS
YOUR SUFFERING TO GOD, AND THERE'S A SPECIAL PART IN THERE FOR
CRIMINALS!"

[Points again at BLM.]

   "ALL ALIENS!  ALL ALIENS!  THE WORD OF GOD FIVE THOUSAND YEARS
AGO.  WE WANT TO SEE THE FREEDOM OF THOSE CAPTURED ALIENS,
BECAUSE WE ARE HERE TO SAVE THE GOOD FROM THE BAD ONE MORE TIME.

   "FREEDOM, FREEDOM OF CAPTURED ALIENS!  WE ARE HERE TO SAVE THE
GOOD FROM BAAAD!"

[Points again at BLM.]

   "FEAR IN YOUR GOD!"

----- ANALYSIS -----

Our advice to BLM officials:  Now that you know which side God is
on, we want you to think about this decision very, very
carefully.  Remember what happened to Salman Rushdie.

----- MEDIA COVERAGE -----

The Las Vegas hearing was covered by three local television
stations.  One of them, KLAS Channel 8, reported live from the
hearing on their evening newscast.  One of the other local
stations came at the request of a MAJOR NETWORK NEWS MAGAZINE,
which is considering doing a story.  A crew from CNN was also on
hand, and their report, including a visit to Freedom Ridge, aired
world-wide the following evening.  Reporters from the two major
Las Vegas newspapers were in attendance, as well as some
miscellaneous out-of-town press and this reporter from the GROOM
LAKE DESERT RAT.

----- WHAT'S NEXT? -----

It is not entirely clear what the sequence of events will be
following the hearing.  The hearing marked the end of the
official public comment period, but the public will also have 30
days to review the draft version of the AF's Environmental
Assessment report.  According to the BLM Area Manager, it could
be two weeks before the draft report is ready for review.

We asked the Area Manager what was the soonest the land could
possibly be closed if the withdrawal is granted.  His most
conservative estimate, if everything went unrealistically well
for the AF, is 45 to 60 days after the hearing, which would mean
mid-April or early May.  Needless to say, things are NOT going
well for the AF, and further delays are possible.

Further follow-up on the hearing should appear in DR#5.

----- IN BRIEF -----

TRESPASSER TRIAL DATE SET.  The trial for four of seven accused
trespassers who drove past the border on Groom Lake Road Jan. 2
has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Apr. 18 at 2pm in Alamo
Justice Court (County Annex Building, Alamo, Nevada).  This
otherwise minor misdemeanor trial has the potential to become the
next big media event, since it involves the anonymous CAMMO
DUDES, dubiously deputized by Lincoln County, who patrol the
perimeter and public lands near the Groom Lake base.  The same
MAJOR NETWORK NEWS MAGAZINE that covered the hearing is also
interested in the trespassers' story.

----- SUBSCRIPTION AND COPYRIGHT INFO -----

(c) Glenn Campbell, 1994.  ([e-mail])

This newsletter is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any
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