Hidden Truth/Hidden Truth.iso/data/misctexts/desertrat/desert.5.txt

Internet Message Format | 1994-05-11 | 23.6 KB

From: [e-mail]
X-Mailer: America Online Mailer
Sender: "psychospy" <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 94 21:51:34 EST
Subject: Groom Lake Desert Rat #5
Status: R

THE GROOM LAKE DESERT RAT.   An On-Line Newsletter.
Issue #5.  Mar. 21, 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...
     SECRET BASE CHEATS LOCAL TAX ROLLS
     SHERIFF'S CONTRACT
     TOXIC WASTE UPDATE
     PATRIOT REVEALED
     INTEL BITTIES

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

----- SECRET BASE CHEATS LOCAL TAX ROLLS -----

A DESERT RAT MUCKRAKING INVESTIGATION

What do Lincoln County residents think about having "America's
Most Popular Secret Base" within their borders?  Like other rural
denizens of the Wild West, we are conservative, patriotic folk
who proudly wave the flag at every opportunity while cursing the
federal government in any form.  Like citizens anywhere, our
strongest loyalties tend to run along economic lines.  We love
the federal government when it gives our people jobs and pays our
local government lots of money.  We despise it when it takes away
our money, makes us fill out forms and forces us to obey a lot of
irritating rules.  We also hate the federal government when it
does unpleasant things to us, like kill our friends and
neighbors, which it has done in Lincoln County in the past.  In
the years of the above-ground atomic testing at the Nevada Test
Site, local residents were the closest "Downwinders"--the first
to receive the fallout--and it seems that nearly everyone who was
living here then has witnessed someone close die a long and
painful death from some mysterious cancer.  "You are perfectly
safe here," the government officials said as they fled the area
themselves.

But that is water under the bridge now, and what it comes down to
today is dollars and cents.  We love the feds when they give us
business and hate them when they kill us or otherwise interfere
with local commerce.  In any other part of America, it is common
to find the most vehement supporters of defense spending to be
clustered around military bases and the factories of government
contractors.  Local folks know which side of the butter their
bread is on and usually have no desire to kill a gold laying
goose.

Such passions are not strong in Lincoln County, however.  The
Groom Lake base, unacknowledged by the Air Force, also hardly
exists in the Lincoln County economy.  The bulk of the jobs and
contracts for the base are sucked up by wealthy Las Vegas, 90
miles to the south.  Workers from there are whisked to Groom
aboard a private fleet of 737 aircraft while the few Lincoln
County workers are condemned to a longer trip in their own cars
or in a no-frills, military style school bus.  A handful of low-
level jobs and a piddling contribution to taxes are all that this
dirt-poor county gets for hosting the production facilities and
hazardous waste dumps of a billion dollar facility.

>From time to time, Psychospy drops in on the bi-monthly meeting
of the Lincoln County Commissioners as they try to hunt up the
funds to repair the sagging school buildings or breath some life
into the dying economy here.  (They're also scrambling to feed
the Jail That Ate Lincoln County--See DR#1.--but that's another
story and the county's own damn fault.)  In the past few months,
the subject of the Freedom Ridge/White Sides withdrawal has come
up a few times.  The commissioners are dead opposed to the land
grab--but only, it seems, as a way to needle the Bureau of Land
Management.  Given the almost complete invisibility of the Air
Force in daily county affairs, BLM is perceived as the main Darth
Vader around here, and the commission has taken the stand that
the BLM has no right to negotiate the future of public lands.

The Air Force has been mentioned only in passing.  In the course
of one meeting in which the land grab was discussed, a county
employee cautioned the commissioners about acting too
aggressively.  He was concerned that if the Air Force was feeling
too much pressure in Lincoln County, they might just close up the
base and combine that operation with the semi-secret Tonopah Test
Range in the next county over.  If that happened, Lincoln County
would lose the tax revenue for the base that it is now getting
from the Air Force.

Wheels began to turn in Psychospy's suspicious little mind.  What
tax revenue?

After the meeting, we went upstairs in the County Courthouse to
chat with the tax assessor and the county treasurer.  Nearly all
county records are open to the public--as they should be in
democratic government--and we wanted to know what property the
Air Force was paying taxes on and how the valuation of it was
determined.  With the assistance of some helpful county workers,
we delved into the tax records and gave ourselves a crash course
in property tax assessment--not a sexy subject to us until now.
Our findings remain tentative, since we are still unfamiliar many
areas of tax law, but we have the feeling we are on the trail of
something big.

The state and local government cannot tax the federal government
and vice versa.  This exemption is guaranteed in the supremacy
clause of U.S. Constitution.  If the federal government owns the
Groom Lake base and all the buildings there, then it cannot be
directly taxed for that property.  However, there are limits to
this exemption, as described in the Nevada Revised Statutes
(NRS), section 361.157:

   "When any real estate which for any reason is exempt from
taxation is leased, loaned or otherwise made available to and
used by a natural person, association, partnership or corporation
in connection with a business conducted for profit, it is subject
to taxation in the same amount and to the same extent as though
the lessee or user were the owner of the real estate."

For example, if the Lockheed Corporation had an aircraft assembly
plant at Groom Lake, the building it occupied would be subject to
property taxes even if it was owned by the U.S. Government.
According to annotations in the NRS, this provision has held up
in court, and it is also consistent with common sense:  Although
the federal government itself may be exempt, it cannot shelter a
private, profit-making corporation from its tax liability.
Lockheed cannot be allowed to escape property taxes simply by
moving its operation onto federal land.

Groom Lake is apparently run by contractors.  Lockheed has
obviously had a big "black aircraft" assembly and testing
operation there for years, while many support services, like the
737 shuttle jets and perimeter security, are operated by EG&G and
its REECO subsidiary.  At the adjoining Nevada Test Site, which
was once engaged in a mission that was almost as secret (i.e.
blowing up the world), the vast majority of workers are employed
by contractors, not the government.  Since the government doesn't
build planes or develop weapons technology on its own, we can
reasonably assume that most of those buildings along the dry lake
bed are housing the operations of private, profit-making
contractors.  If so, the assessment of that property ought to
appear on county records.  According to the NRS, the taxes could
be paid directly by the contractor or as an equivalent "in-lieu"
payment by the federal government.

In the treasurer's office, we looked up the latest tax bill for
the U.S. Air Force.  It is one of the county's few large tax
assessments and the only entity the Groom base could fall under.
The bill covers all of the Air Force's installations in Lincoln
Country, without specifying location.  In the 93-94 tax year, the
Air Force paid taxes of $65,517 on a property assessment (for
"Buildings and Improvements" plus "Other Personal Property") of
$2,517,781.  The fact that the Air Force is paying this bill
implies that it agrees that certain of the buildings and property
on its land should be taxed.  Previous years' assessments were
not much different, and next year's will increase only modestly.

We never went to tax assessor school and have only a vague idea
of how much industrial property is worth, but it seems to us that
$2.5 million wouldn't buy a LATRINE at a facility like Groom
Lake.  (It would be, after all, a CLASSIFIED latrine.)  For
comparison, a single copy of the B-2 Stealth Bomber is said to
cost something in the neighborhood of $1 billion.  It is
reasonable to guess, then, that the base is also worth at least a
billion.  In that context, $65,517 in taxes is only a trivial
drip of revenue, a token payment that in no way reflects any real
assessment.

Could it be that the secret base is cheating on its taxes?

That is one of the advantages of having a secret base.  Since it
doesn't exist, the local tax assessor can't go there to inspect
the property; the county has to accept whatever assessment the
Air Force hands out.  This is like asking a homeowner to assess
his own property and choose his own tax, without any threat of
audit.  Naturally, "national security" dictates that the Air
Force give the smallest possible assessment so as to not tip off
the "enemy" about the true scale of the operation at Groom.

Now that the base and its facilities are being widely
publicizing, it is becoming obvious that the Air Force has been
less than frank in its assessment of the property and has shorted
the county on property taxes for years.  We don't know what legal
recourse the county may have, but we believe that a lot of money
is due.  Instead of $65,517 annually, we suspect that the proper
contribution should be more like $1 million annually, or about a
third of the county income.  That doesn't include BACK TAXES and
INTEREST.  We don't expect the Air Force to voluntarily come
clean and pay its proper due--That's not the Air Force way.--but
forcing them to publicly acknowledge the base would certainly
advance the cause.

----- SHERIFF'S CONTRACT -----

A separate payment to the county from the Air Force supports a
service contract with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department.
At the county courthouse, we looked up the invoice.  The Air
Force was charged $12,477.62 in the last quarter of 1993, or
about $50,000 annually.  This compensates the Sheriff's
Department for the salary of one deputy and the use of a vehicle.
According to the invoice, the Sheriff's Department is required to
"routinely patrol the exterior boundary of the Nellis Air Force
Range" within Lincoln County and "provide an immediate response
to the Nellis Air Force Range when requested by appropriate
authority."  The department must also provide "special assistance
to the applicable on-site security force in case of emergency."

Of course, the "applicable on-site security force" is those cammo
dudes who don't exist.  This contract provides one of the
fascinating junctions between the secret world and open society
that might be exploited for further information.  The Sheriff's
Department, since it accepts federal funds, is now a government
contractor, probably subject to an array of federal laws and
requirements that could make its records more accessible.  At the
same time, since the Air Force has entered into this open
contract with a non-secure local agency, it can no longer claim
that its security operations are secret.  The service contract
could provide a fruitful entry point for a variety of enforceable
FOIA requests.

----- TOXIC WASTE UPDATE -----

Yesterday's Las Vegas Review-Journal (Mar. 20) had a
groundbreaking article on the Groom Lake base and toxic burning
there.  It triggered in Psychospy almost the same convulsions and
hideous cackle we suffered when we first saw the Popular Science
article.  The new article is based on an interview with an
anonymous source who used to work at the base.  He says that
hazardous wastes used in the development of stealth aircraft were
routinely shipped from a Lockheed factory in California for
illegal disposal at Groom.  While these charges have been made
before, this article is remarkable for its detail.

Waste shipments arrived on Mondays and Wednesdays in tractor-
trailer trucks.  None of the parties involved had the proper
permits and documentation for hazardous waste disposal.  The
barrels were placed in trenches, doused with jet fuel and burned.
A widow, Helen Frost, claims that her husband died as a result of
exposure to the resulting fumes, and a law professor at George
Washington University, Jonathan Turley, is preparing legal action
against the Air Force on Mrs. Frost's behalf.  The state
Environmental Protection Division is also looking into the
charges.

In addition to confirming the hazardous waste claims, the source
also revealed many other interesting pieces of information.
Between 1980 and 1990, the budget for the base was between $1
billion and $1.5 billion per year.  The article includes a map of
the core part of the base, with buildings labeled for the
"Lockheed hangers," "burn pits," "Scoot-N-Hide shed" (for
concealing aircraft from Soviet satellites), "Red Hat hangers"
(for captured Soviet aircraft housed at Groom) and "Sam's Place
bar and recreational complex."  A sidebar describes the bar and
the exotic tastes that were entertained at this unacknowledged
"Club Fed."

   "Some colonels, [the source] said, 'had very extravagant
tastes,' including one who had grapefruit flown in from Israel at
$25 a piece and requested deliveries of canned tuna from South
America that he estimates cost the government $26 per can.

   "In the dining hall, prime rib was offered every Wednesday
afternoon and New York steaks were often on the lunch menu.
'They used to serve frog legs, king crab and filet mignon at no
charge,' he said.

   "'They drank bottled water to the tune of $50,000 a month,' he
said, comparing the lifestyles of some base inhabitants to high
rollers in Las Vegas at the government's expense."

To be fair, these may be the exaggerations of a disgruntled
former employee, and some of his examples may be taken out of
context.  Because nothing is confirmable, any such claims by an
anonymous source should be taken with a grain of salt.  Still,
ENQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW, and where confirmable data is
lacking, unconfirmed sources will fill the void.  If the AF
doesn't choose to defend itself, then it has set itself up as the
fall guy, and no kind of dirt digging is off limits.

We will be sending out a copy of this article with US mail and
internet subscriptions to the Desert Rat.  You can also receive a
copy by sending us an SASE.

----- PATRIOT REVEALED -----

In DR #4, we recorded the comments of two hard-line, anti-Soviet
AF supporters at the Las Vegas hearing.  According to a reader
([e-mail]), the first of these speakers was
COY PETTYJOHN, a retired Air Force major general and former chief
of intelligence for the Pacific air forces.  The reader says that
in 1992 Pettyjohn ran for Congress against Rep. James Bilbray.

In response to Mr. Pettyjohn's charges, BILL SCOTT of Aviation
Week writes...

   "I had to laugh at the story told by the gentleman who
recounted the Aviation 'Leak' story at that L.V. hearing.  He had
a micro-grain of truth in his story, but I've never seen it quite
that convoluted.  The way the old-timers here tell it, the
Soviets had a few subscriptions to the magazine throughout the
cold war.  As soon as it hit the streets each week, Aviation Week
went into the diplomatic pouch bound for Moscow on an Aeroflot
flight.  Enroute, the magazine was translated into Russian, then
duplicated (the Russian version) and distributed by the thousands
in-country.

   "Far as I know, nothing 'secret' or remotely damaging to U.S.
interests ever fell into Soviet hands as a result of Av Week
spilling the beans.  Our approach has always been that, if an
uncleared reporter can find out what's going on in the
defense/aerospace business--especially on our measly budget!--
then the KGB and its billions of rubles probably had NO problem
getting the same stuff and more.

   "Oh, the story ends in a fairly boring manner.  As soon as our
sales chief heard about the Soviets' scheme, he pitched a fit
over copyright infringement.  A 'major' international incident
was narrowly avoided by the Soviets agreeing to pay for about 500
or so new subscriptions... but they kept on duplicating thousands
of translations.  Although it's a bit unexciting, there was never
any super-secret missile designs revealed in the pages of Av Week
as a result of cagy reporters prowling the halls of the
Pentagon."

----- INTEL BITTIES -----

THE LITTLE A-LE-INN Restaurant/Bar/Motel/UFO Headquarters in
Rachel will be holding what Pat Travis calls a "UFO Friendship
Campout" (downgraded from "UFO Conference") on the weekend of May
20-22.  This is unlikely to be as memorable as last year's
"Ultimate UFO Seminar" where Lazar, Knapp and Lear spoke.  These
three seem unlikely to attend this year, and at present there are
no confirmed speakers and no agenda.  Many attendees at last
year's conference felt burned due to its domination by a Bible-
wielding conspiracy buff, Gary Schultz.  Happily, Schultz has not
been seen in Rachel since, but an unstructured event like this is
sure to attract other conspiracy wacko types to fill the void.
Still, if you are in the right frame of mind and don't expect to
exchange any real information, this event could be a gas.  The
fee is $50 and includes at least five meals, admission to all
bull sessions and abduction testimonials, unlimited use of the
Porta-Potties and the right to pitch your tent near the Inn.
Psychospy has consented to lead an expedition to Freedom Ridge,
but otherwise we have no connection with this event.  As a
courtesy, we have consented to let the Inn use part of our
mailing list (once only), so if we have your US mail address you
may be receiving a flyer from the Inn within the next week.
Otherwise, contact the Inn directly at 702-729-2515 or send an
SASE to: Little A-Le-Inn, HCR Box 45, Rachel, NV 89001.

ROCKETRY MEET AT DELAMAR LAKE.  According to intel gathered by
[e-mail], fanatical hobbyists from around the Southwest
will be coming to nearby Delamar Dry Lake for a "high powered
rocketry" meet this Saturday, March 26.  You may be familiar with
the chinsy toy rockets that some boys play with.  Well, these are
BIG rockets for the big boys (i.e. frustrated techno-nerds with
no life).  The technology achieved by many of these hobbyists
surpasses that of some Third World countries.  Some models, build
from surplus military parts, can be more than 8 feet high and are
almost indistinguishable from military missiles.  Spectacular
failures are said to be common at these events.  The goal of this
particular meet is maximum altitude.  The event runs all day,
starting at about 9:00am until the winds whip up, but the FAA has
granted the group an UNLIMITED altitude window from 11:00 am to
2:00 pm for the really big ones.  We wouldn't be surprised if
rocketry whiz BOB LAZAR turned up as a contender.  The public is
allowed to watch at a respectable distance.  Delamar Dry Lake is
about 2 hours north of Las Vegas.  Take I-15 to US-93, then go
roughly 60 miles to milepost LN 36.1 on US-93, just south of the
town of Alamo.  Turn right (east) on the maintained dirt road
across from Buckhorn Ranch Road (okay for any vehicle).  Go about
13 miles on the maintained road until you reach the lake bed.
The event organizer is the Tripoli Rocketry Association.
Contacts are Mark Hendrickson (702-451-3517) and Les Derkowitz
(702-875-4279).

GREEN FLAG EXERCISES.  Tim Gerlach, editor of the Whiskey Alpha
Report (a newsletter for aviation watchers at Nellis AFB),
reports that the current major air exercise on the Nellis Range
is GREEN FLAG, Mar. 12 thru Apr. 23.  GREEN FLAG is a series of
war games similar to RED FLAG but with an emphasis on electronic
warfare.  Observers on the ground can expect to see similar
activities:  dogfights, bombing runs and lots of flares.  The
exercise will consist of three two-week rotations, with new crews
for each period.  The typical pattern with these exercises is
that the first Saturday of each period is arrival day, when a
steady stream of aircraft flow into Nellis AFB.  Actual exercises
usually take place Monday through Friday.  [For information on
the Whiskey Alpha Report, write to Tim at: 1973 N Nellis Bl #112,
Las Vegas, NV 89115.]

RACHEL DAY.  The annual town celebration in Rachel will be held
Sat., April 9.  The parade begins at 11am, followed by games and
a buffet dinner at the Inn.  Games will include the famous
Chickenshit Contest.  (A grid of squares is drawn on the floor of
a chicken cage, and people place bets on where the chicken will
shit first.)  Everyone's invited!

VIEWERS GUIDE EDITION 2.02 has just been released.  The changes
from 2.0 and 2.01 are mostly minor or cosmetic.  However, 2.02
does add a detailed road map of the Tikaboo Valley, including
locations of road sensors and the proposed withdrawal area.
There is also some basic information about Tikaboo Peak, the
viewpoint into Groom Lake that was ignored by the AF in the
current withdrawal, and on the 4WD road to Freedom Ridge.  If you
own edition 2.0 or 2.01, you can obtain these pages free by
sending us a stamped, self-addressed envelope.  If you own any
edition prior to 2.0, your book is seriously out of date, and we
recommend that you get the new edition before visiting this area
again.  The current upgrade price is $7.50 plus $3.50 priority
mail postage (or $2 for book rate).  Be sure to specify your
current version number and the copy number in the lower right
corner of the cover.

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

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

This newsletter is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any
form without permission, EXCEPT FOR THE FOLLOWING:  For six
months following the date of publication, you may photocopy the
text or send or post this document electronically to anyone who
you think might be interested, provided you do it without charge.
You may only copy or send this document in unaltered form and in
its entirety, not as partial excerpts.  After six months, no
further reproduction of this document is allowed without
permission.

This newsletter is published on an irregular basis whenever
conditions warrant.  Email subscriptions are currently available
free of charge to any internet user.  To subscribe (or
unsubscribe) to current and future editions of THE GROOM LAKE
DESERT RAT, send a message to [e-mail].  We will
acknowledge your request within a few days; if you receive no
reply it may indicate an addressing problem.  In that case, call
the human at 702-729-2648.  Hard copy subscriptions to this
newsletter are available for $1.50 per issue, ordered from the
address below.  (e.g. $15 for the next 10 issues, mailed anywhere
in the world.)

For a free catalog of documents and products relating to Groom
Lake and government secrecy, send us your US mail address.  An
email version of the catalog is also available (no pictures, size
13K).  Among the documents available is the "Area 51 Viewer's
Guide," the definitive 110-page visitors and reference guide to
the border and its lore.  (Available for $15 plus $3.50 postage.)
Also available is the popular Groom Lake cloth patch.  ($8, plus
$1 total postage if ordered separately.)

The US mail address for psychospy, Glenn Campbell, Secrecy
Oversight Council, Area 51 Research Center, Groom Lake Desert Rat
and countless other ephemeral entities is:
     HCR Box 38
     Rachel, NV 89001 USA

#####