Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Little, Brown and Company (2011), Edition: 1, 544 pages
Description
Presents a history of the most famous secret military installation in the world, assembled from interviews with the people who served there and formerly classified information.
Media reviews
Area 51, a U.S. military installation in the Nevada desert about 75 miles north of Las Vegas, has attracted rumor and speculation for decades, fed largely by the government’s refusal to discuss exactly what goes on there. In “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military
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Base,” journalist Annie Jacobsen tries to get to the bottom of these secrets. What she comes up with is an informative history of Cold War spy planes sandwiched between an outrageous -- and thinly sourced -- tale involving Josef Mengele, Josef Stalin and flying saucers. Show Less
Armed with numbingly intensive documentation, Ms. Jacobsen has put together a set of strong allegations about Area 51’s covert history... “Area 51” is liable to become best known for sci-fi provocation. But the book is noteworthy for its author’s dogged devotion to her research.
User reviews
LibraryThing member autumnblues
A shocking book every U.S. citizen should read, you will never look at our government the same way again.
AREA 51 is an eye opening look of the Nevada test site that the U.S. government refuses to acknowledgement. Jacobsen begins with when and how this Nevada land parcel started being used by our
In an early chapter of the book Jacobsen explains how our government acquired Adolf Hitler's Nazi scientists at the end of the Cold War and used them to build the atomic bomb. I felt this was like taking evil from the devil himself and using it for our benefit. It is understandable that our government is trying to keep us safe, but how safe are we when they are contaminating our soil and our planet. You can certainly read about the nuclear testing that went on after World War II in the Marshall Islands, anywhere on the Internet and Jacobsen also goes into many of these details. At least the Japanese where only using it as an outpost and not destroying it. The U.S. takes it from the Japanese then after the war is over destroys all the wildlife, including causing the extinction of many birds and who know what other animals, while testing nukes. Also in the process ruining the lives of all those who lived there then, and until this very present day. I learned how our government allowed two of those former Nazi scientist's in 1947 to oversee the testing of a twenty-five-foot-long, three-thousand-pound rocket dubbed Hermes. One of the German Scientist, Wernher Von Braun had invented the rocket the other Dr. Ernst Steinhoff had designed the rockets brain and guidance controls. Dr Ernst Steinhoff was also best equipped to recognize errors during the test. On that fine spring day in 1947 that rocket was launched and was supposed to head toward uninhabited terrain inside the Nevada testing ground, instead unexpectedly, it reversed course and headed south toward downtown El Paso, Texas. Dr. Ernst Steinhoff who was supposed to alert Army engineers if a problem should arise, so they could shut of the fuel to the rocket motors via remote control said nothing. How crazy is that! This rocket continued toward Mexico where it crashed-landed into the Tepeyac Cemetery, there miles south of the heavy populated city of Juarez, leaving a crater twenty-four feet deep and fifty feet wide. Mexican officials were silenced by the Army who rushed in and classified it top secret. Even while an investigation was under way for this incident they continued to allow these scientists to test-fire three more missiles all which crash-landed outside of the restricted facility.
This book is amazing and there are so many interesting facts in this book including highlights about the pilots who flew during the wars and others who worked at area 51 and the surrounding land. However one has to remember it is information that has been declassified, which makes sense considering how deceptive those that run Area 51 are. It does not surprise me in the very least how conveniently they allow declassification of events after 50 years, when most of those that had been involved are either elderly or already dead. You can look upon how far our government has advanced as Jacobsen explains in chapter 20 "From Camera Bays to Weapons Bays," including the present day drone and other weapons and feel some satisfaction in what they do at Area 51 in regards to these advancements. However chapter 21 "Revelation," with information on experimentation that was done on crippled children and the mentally disabled, including what may really have crash landed at Roswell and I am not speaking of UFOs here, is creepy as heck and not for the faint at heart. I always debate whether I should read books like this one or just go along with my head in the sand, as if these events never happened or Area 51 does not exist, but I find it bothers me as I cannot walk around blindly to what goes own in our country. If you really want to know part of what has gone on at Area 51 then you must read this book. I say part because although this book is over 374 pages and that is not including the epilogue or the notes, Jacobsen makes it a point at the end of the book to explain this information she has acquired is only a pin in the haystack.
AREA 51 is an eye opening look of the Nevada test site that the U.S. government refuses to acknowledgement. Jacobsen begins with when and how this Nevada land parcel started being used by our
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government and who those users were, ending with some disturbing revelations. This book review has been very hard to write as there is so much information in this book. So I will take a few events that I learned and stick with those. The Nevada land parcel now known as Area 51 had originally been an animal sanctuary and wildlife reservation in the 1930's. With the beginning of World War II the War Department withdrew public access to the use of this land. Later after the war ended the Army kept the land rights and parceled off an area for their use and on January 27, 1951 they dropped the first atomic bomb on this land parcel on U.S. soil, not to be the last. Jacobsen explains that by 1956 a total of 85 atmospheric nuclear explosions had already happened on our U.S. soil, it was shocking to read chapter 6 "Atomic Accidents." This book, Area 51 helped me understand what went on and goes on at this Nevada land parcel and why it is kept so secretive. The spying of other countries is one reason and it has been a problem since World War II. It is true that the less that one knows about what new planes or weapons the U.S. is building in Nevada the better for our countries safety. But the fact that our environment was and is yet being destroyed and the soil and fowl contaminated to do this testing is appalling. I also understand how secrecy is needed when it comes to Area 51 in regards to the testing of these weapons and planes. Those which included the engineering of the first spy planes, the CIA U-2 and the Oxcart, which was the first Mach-3 stealth spy plane. It was in fact the CIA-U2 that brought film footage to president John F. Kennedy. These photos showing Cuba had nuclear missiles supplied by the Soviet Union and they were set up on missile stands in Cuba. These missiles aiming for the U.S, which is what brought on the Cuban Missile Crisis. However, there has to be a limit. That our own president or Congress "does not have a need to know" of what goes on at Area 51 or the surrounding land, which is the catch phrase they use at Area 51, is really scary. In an early chapter of the book Jacobsen explains how our government acquired Adolf Hitler's Nazi scientists at the end of the Cold War and used them to build the atomic bomb. I felt this was like taking evil from the devil himself and using it for our benefit. It is understandable that our government is trying to keep us safe, but how safe are we when they are contaminating our soil and our planet. You can certainly read about the nuclear testing that went on after World War II in the Marshall Islands, anywhere on the Internet and Jacobsen also goes into many of these details. At least the Japanese where only using it as an outpost and not destroying it. The U.S. takes it from the Japanese then after the war is over destroys all the wildlife, including causing the extinction of many birds and who know what other animals, while testing nukes. Also in the process ruining the lives of all those who lived there then, and until this very present day. I learned how our government allowed two of those former Nazi scientist's in 1947 to oversee the testing of a twenty-five-foot-long, three-thousand-pound rocket dubbed Hermes. One of the German Scientist, Wernher Von Braun had invented the rocket the other Dr. Ernst Steinhoff had designed the rockets brain and guidance controls. Dr Ernst Steinhoff was also best equipped to recognize errors during the test. On that fine spring day in 1947 that rocket was launched and was supposed to head toward uninhabited terrain inside the Nevada testing ground, instead unexpectedly, it reversed course and headed south toward downtown El Paso, Texas. Dr. Ernst Steinhoff who was supposed to alert Army engineers if a problem should arise, so they could shut of the fuel to the rocket motors via remote control said nothing. How crazy is that! This rocket continued toward Mexico where it crashed-landed into the Tepeyac Cemetery, there miles south of the heavy populated city of Juarez, leaving a crater twenty-four feet deep and fifty feet wide. Mexican officials were silenced by the Army who rushed in and classified it top secret. Even while an investigation was under way for this incident they continued to allow these scientists to test-fire three more missiles all which crash-landed outside of the restricted facility.
This book is amazing and there are so many interesting facts in this book including highlights about the pilots who flew during the wars and others who worked at area 51 and the surrounding land. However one has to remember it is information that has been declassified, which makes sense considering how deceptive those that run Area 51 are. It does not surprise me in the very least how conveniently they allow declassification of events after 50 years, when most of those that had been involved are either elderly or already dead. You can look upon how far our government has advanced as Jacobsen explains in chapter 20 "From Camera Bays to Weapons Bays," including the present day drone and other weapons and feel some satisfaction in what they do at Area 51 in regards to these advancements. However chapter 21 "Revelation," with information on experimentation that was done on crippled children and the mentally disabled, including what may really have crash landed at Roswell and I am not speaking of UFOs here, is creepy as heck and not for the faint at heart. I always debate whether I should read books like this one or just go along with my head in the sand, as if these events never happened or Area 51 does not exist, but I find it bothers me as I cannot walk around blindly to what goes own in our country. If you really want to know part of what has gone on at Area 51 then you must read this book. I say part because although this book is over 374 pages and that is not including the epilogue or the notes, Jacobsen makes it a point at the end of the book to explain this information she has acquired is only a pin in the haystack.
Show Less
LibraryThing member TobinElliott
I have to say, I admired how the author attacked the subject matter of this book, and it seems she had mulitple sources for most of the material. And even if a fifth of this book is close to the mark, it's terrifying. The amazing tests (almost blowing a hole in the ozone layer, pilots flying
As I read this book, I kept thinking a Hollywood producer should snap this up. There's at least three different sections that would make for riveting television series.
And then, toward the end, Jacobsen seems to veer off into the conspiracy theories she seemed so careful to avoid for the majority of the book. When she gets to the Roswell incident of 1947, it's almost all conjecture. It's fascinating conjecture, but conjecture all the same. And it seems to defy logic.
Jacobsen spends most of the book detailing the various espionage efforts of the US to get intelligence from Russian flyovers. Great. Fine. We all know about how that turned out for Gary Powers. But then to indicate that Russia had hover and fly capabilities in a flying saucer vehicle...in 1947...and never ever expanded on it or ever used it again? For the next 70 years? Nah. Don't buy it.
But read the book. It's fascinating stuff.
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through the mushroom clouds of exploded atom bombs), the stupidity of politicians and others in charge, the total disregard for the planet and life on it.As I read this book, I kept thinking a Hollywood producer should snap this up. There's at least three different sections that would make for riveting television series.
And then, toward the end, Jacobsen seems to veer off into the conspiracy theories she seemed so careful to avoid for the majority of the book. When she gets to the Roswell incident of 1947, it's almost all conjecture. It's fascinating conjecture, but conjecture all the same. And it seems to defy logic.
Jacobsen spends most of the book detailing the various espionage efforts of the US to get intelligence from Russian flyovers. Great. Fine. We all know about how that turned out for Gary Powers. But then to indicate that Russia had hover and fly capabilities in a flying saucer vehicle...in 1947...and never ever expanded on it or ever used it again? For the next 70 years? Nah. Don't buy it.
But read the book. It's fascinating stuff.
Show Less
LibraryThing member abbot
A seemingly well-researched history of top-secret U.S. military and surveillance aircraft, bracketed by a cock-and-bull story about Joseph Stalin, Josef Mengele, and a flying saucer crash at Roswell.
LibraryThing member ecw0647
Annie Jacobsen is obsessed with secrecy. Her other book, Operation Paperclip, deals with the hidden machinations of the US government after WW II to find and import Nazi scientists who had special expertise in rocketry and chemical weapons.
This book details the hidden history of Area 51, an
Jacobsen’s entry into this world came by chance when she met Edward Lovick, an 88-year-old physicist, who suggested he might have an interesting story for her and connected her with other elderly pilots, engineers and scientists regarding the plane known as Oxcart (the A-12) which had been created half a century earlier.
Some of the secrecy was arguably quite necessary since it related to aerial surveillance that ostensibly helped keep the world from nuclear holocaust. Whether even in hindsight this kind of secrecy justified keeping the president (President Clinton was not privy to Area 51 affairs) out of the loop is problematic and certainly undemocratic.
The UFO conspiracy theories emanating from Area 51 she attributes to some seriously awful human research being done there during the early cold war and the whole UFO nonsense became useful for the Air Force as a cover for its own nefarious activities. Who needs nasty aliens when we have the Air Force?
Area 51 was where the U-2 was developed. Richard Bissell (of later Bay of Pigs fame) was put in charge and everything was so secret and control of the money providing so much power that Curtis LeMay, the Air Force general and SAC commander, was royally pissed off and he was not someone to mess with. Eisenhower insisted that the pilot be CIA so as to avoid charges of military complicity should one of the pilots ever be captured. The last thing he wanted was to risk charges of hostile action. Yet hundreds of Air Force personnel were assigned to the program (by Bissell) since they had all the expertise. Eisenhower, when pushed by LeMay, insisted it remain under CIA control so he could have plausible deniability.
Secrecy could cause problems. Since they wanted no one to drive to Area 51 or live in Las Vegas, the closest town, a shuttle between Burbank and the area was initiated and workers lived in Burbank. No flight plan was listed nor any record of the flights kept. So when, inevitably, the C-54 became lost in a snowstorm, and asks for help finding their position, controllers were completely flummoxed; they had no record of any plane being in that area. The plane crashed on the top of Mount Charleston north of Las Vegas killing some all on board. Several interesting side-effects resulted from the crash. It was the first time the U-2 was used on a mission (to help pinpoint the exact location so they could retrieve briefcases and classified documents), and the CIA learned how easy it was to use the public’s preconceptions and the media’s desire for a story - any story -- to manipulate publicity. The press, denied access to the site, made up a story that those killed on board were working on a secret nuclear weapons program, hence all the security.
It’s no wonder UFO sightings proliferated. The U-2 was originally silver in color, had an extraordinary wing span, and flew at 70,000 feet during a time when commercial aircraft flew between 10,000 and 20,000 feet. The sun glinting off the plane made it look like some kind of fiery cross. You have to remember this was a time of great paranoia. Americans were terrified of nuclear holocaust and a Russian induced Armageddon. I remember being on my uncle’s farm in Wisconsin in the late fifties scanning the sky every time we heard a plane, jotting down the characteristics and its direction of flight, so the information (my uncle volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol) could be phoned in and checked to make sure it wasn’t some Russian bomber. (Even then we thought it odd that a Russian bomber would make it all the way to Wisconsin without dropping any bombs, but logic never plays much of a role in paranoia.)
Politics. money and the media all symbiotically created the perfect storm of paranoia in the fifties. Time Magazine was terrifying readers with stories of Soviet ICBMs crashing down on American cities; Curtis LeMay was locked in a battle with the Defense Department over whether manned bombers were better than ICBMs (they could be recalled, missiles could not while he called for a pre-emptive strike on Russia and even ordered massive test launches of B-47s** from Alaska and Greenland taking them just to Russian airspace risking a Russian missile launch.) He disdained the overflight research being done at Area 51 but continued to lose officers to both that program and the missile initiative promoted by the Paperclip scientists imported from Germany.
Those wanting a specific focus on Area 51 will be disappointed as Jacobsen uses it more for a springboard to discuss the history and background of such things as the U-2 flights, etc. Personally, I loved those details and once again was amazed that we survived the twenty years after WW II without descending into WW III. Our arrogance and self-righteous behavior was on display over and over. Can you imagine the Congressional reaction had the Soviets flown a U-2-like plane over the U.S.?
One interesting, if scary, tidbit is that the physical experiments for the U-2 pilots were designed by Paperclip doctors, i.e., German doctors who had conducted experiments on concentration camp victims. Many of those tests buggered the imagination.
Project 57 involved another kind of test. Assuming that someday an Air Force plane would crash in the United States carrying a nuclear bomb, the scientists wanted to see what would happen. (Today we would call that a dirty bomb.) The only area that could guarantee secrecy, was outside the area normally allocated for open air nuclear testing, and wouldn’t be used for 25,000 years (the half-life of plutonium) was in Area 51.
The book abounds with scientists, who, had they conducted the experiments they did for the other side, would have been labeled evil. James Killian, for example. Former president of MIT, Kennedy asked him to be head of a super-secret internal agency that was hidden even from Congress. Killian authorized two extremely dangerous atmospheric 3.2 megaton hydrogen bomb tests, one at a height of 140,000 feet, over the Pacific, i.e. in the midst of the ozone layer. In order to see what the effects would be on eyesight, hundreds of monkeys were flown, their heads locked into a position where they would have to look at the explosion. Their retinas were burned, blinding them painfully. The effect on the ozone layer wasn’t recorded (although I suspect it was far more deleterious than aerosol chloroflourocarbons) and damage was observed 250 miles away.
I could go on. Let’s just say Jacobsen uses Area 51 discuss a wide range of topics and people related to work done at Area 51. to I won’t spoil anything by discussing the flying disc that crashed in 1947, but will whet your curiosity only by suggesting you research the Horton Brothers and Operation Paperclip. Or, you could read the book. It’s a depressing page-turner. I won’t ever believe again anything coming out of Washington or the media. I’ve always said that if you really want to find out what happened, forget the daily news and wait a decade for the book, or, in this case wait fifty years for some things to be declassified..
**LeMay sent some flights over Russia to test their radar defense. Some of these were shot down and those pilots who survived spent the rest of their lives in the Gulag. When asked about the provocative nature of the flights, he replied, “With a little more luck we could have started WW III.” The CIA was not happy and reported his clandestine activities to Eisenhower in 1956. LeMay’s actions, ironically, provided an extra boost to the push for the U-2 as the CIA argued it could provide necessary intelligence about Russian capabilities at far less risk. Still Eisenhower worried that one might be shot down triggering a nuclear holocaust. Bissell assured the president that could not happen. Well, we all remember Gary Powers. The CIA, as I note from recent headlines, has a long history of continuing to lie to the president (and probably itself.)
This book details the hidden history of Area 51, an
Show More
ultra-secret location (officially it doesn’t exist) in the Nevada desert just next to the atomic weapons testing area. Supposedly created by the CIA in 1955 for U-2 flights, Jacobsen discovered it had been set up by the Atomic Energy Commission to conduct tests some might consider to be unethical on animal subjects. The secrecy of the Manhattan Project, an effort unknown to Congress and even the Vice-President --Truman was briefed on it only after he assumed the presidency, -- was adopted as SOP by the CIA, NSA, and AEC to the point where one might argue the United States had a shadow government run by the military.Jacobsen’s entry into this world came by chance when she met Edward Lovick, an 88-year-old physicist, who suggested he might have an interesting story for her and connected her with other elderly pilots, engineers and scientists regarding the plane known as Oxcart (the A-12) which had been created half a century earlier.
Some of the secrecy was arguably quite necessary since it related to aerial surveillance that ostensibly helped keep the world from nuclear holocaust. Whether even in hindsight this kind of secrecy justified keeping the president (President Clinton was not privy to Area 51 affairs) out of the loop is problematic and certainly undemocratic.
The UFO conspiracy theories emanating from Area 51 she attributes to some seriously awful human research being done there during the early cold war and the whole UFO nonsense became useful for the Air Force as a cover for its own nefarious activities. Who needs nasty aliens when we have the Air Force?
Area 51 was where the U-2 was developed. Richard Bissell (of later Bay of Pigs fame) was put in charge and everything was so secret and control of the money providing so much power that Curtis LeMay, the Air Force general and SAC commander, was royally pissed off and he was not someone to mess with. Eisenhower insisted that the pilot be CIA so as to avoid charges of military complicity should one of the pilots ever be captured. The last thing he wanted was to risk charges of hostile action. Yet hundreds of Air Force personnel were assigned to the program (by Bissell) since they had all the expertise. Eisenhower, when pushed by LeMay, insisted it remain under CIA control so he could have plausible deniability.
Secrecy could cause problems. Since they wanted no one to drive to Area 51 or live in Las Vegas, the closest town, a shuttle between Burbank and the area was initiated and workers lived in Burbank. No flight plan was listed nor any record of the flights kept. So when, inevitably, the C-54 became lost in a snowstorm, and asks for help finding their position, controllers were completely flummoxed; they had no record of any plane being in that area. The plane crashed on the top of Mount Charleston north of Las Vegas killing some all on board. Several interesting side-effects resulted from the crash. It was the first time the U-2 was used on a mission (to help pinpoint the exact location so they could retrieve briefcases and classified documents), and the CIA learned how easy it was to use the public’s preconceptions and the media’s desire for a story - any story -- to manipulate publicity. The press, denied access to the site, made up a story that those killed on board were working on a secret nuclear weapons program, hence all the security.
It’s no wonder UFO sightings proliferated. The U-2 was originally silver in color, had an extraordinary wing span, and flew at 70,000 feet during a time when commercial aircraft flew between 10,000 and 20,000 feet. The sun glinting off the plane made it look like some kind of fiery cross. You have to remember this was a time of great paranoia. Americans were terrified of nuclear holocaust and a Russian induced Armageddon. I remember being on my uncle’s farm in Wisconsin in the late fifties scanning the sky every time we heard a plane, jotting down the characteristics and its direction of flight, so the information (my uncle volunteered with the Civil Air Patrol) could be phoned in and checked to make sure it wasn’t some Russian bomber. (Even then we thought it odd that a Russian bomber would make it all the way to Wisconsin without dropping any bombs, but logic never plays much of a role in paranoia.)
Politics. money and the media all symbiotically created the perfect storm of paranoia in the fifties. Time Magazine was terrifying readers with stories of Soviet ICBMs crashing down on American cities; Curtis LeMay was locked in a battle with the Defense Department over whether manned bombers were better than ICBMs (they could be recalled, missiles could not while he called for a pre-emptive strike on Russia and even ordered massive test launches of B-47s** from Alaska and Greenland taking them just to Russian airspace risking a Russian missile launch.) He disdained the overflight research being done at Area 51 but continued to lose officers to both that program and the missile initiative promoted by the Paperclip scientists imported from Germany.
Those wanting a specific focus on Area 51 will be disappointed as Jacobsen uses it more for a springboard to discuss the history and background of such things as the U-2 flights, etc. Personally, I loved those details and once again was amazed that we survived the twenty years after WW II without descending into WW III. Our arrogance and self-righteous behavior was on display over and over. Can you imagine the Congressional reaction had the Soviets flown a U-2-like plane over the U.S.?
One interesting, if scary, tidbit is that the physical experiments for the U-2 pilots were designed by Paperclip doctors, i.e., German doctors who had conducted experiments on concentration camp victims. Many of those tests buggered the imagination.
Project 57 involved another kind of test. Assuming that someday an Air Force plane would crash in the United States carrying a nuclear bomb, the scientists wanted to see what would happen. (Today we would call that a dirty bomb.) The only area that could guarantee secrecy, was outside the area normally allocated for open air nuclear testing, and wouldn’t be used for 25,000 years (the half-life of plutonium) was in Area 51.
The book abounds with scientists, who, had they conducted the experiments they did for the other side, would have been labeled evil. James Killian, for example. Former president of MIT, Kennedy asked him to be head of a super-secret internal agency that was hidden even from Congress. Killian authorized two extremely dangerous atmospheric 3.2 megaton hydrogen bomb tests, one at a height of 140,000 feet, over the Pacific, i.e. in the midst of the ozone layer. In order to see what the effects would be on eyesight, hundreds of monkeys were flown, their heads locked into a position where they would have to look at the explosion. Their retinas were burned, blinding them painfully. The effect on the ozone layer wasn’t recorded (although I suspect it was far more deleterious than aerosol chloroflourocarbons) and damage was observed 250 miles away.
I could go on. Let’s just say Jacobsen uses Area 51 discuss a wide range of topics and people related to work done at Area 51. to I won’t spoil anything by discussing the flying disc that crashed in 1947, but will whet your curiosity only by suggesting you research the Horton Brothers and Operation Paperclip. Or, you could read the book. It’s a depressing page-turner. I won’t ever believe again anything coming out of Washington or the media. I’ve always said that if you really want to find out what happened, forget the daily news and wait a decade for the book, or, in this case wait fifty years for some things to be declassified..
**LeMay sent some flights over Russia to test their radar defense. Some of these were shot down and those pilots who survived spent the rest of their lives in the Gulag. When asked about the provocative nature of the flights, he replied, “With a little more luck we could have started WW III.” The CIA was not happy and reported his clandestine activities to Eisenhower in 1956. LeMay’s actions, ironically, provided an extra boost to the push for the U-2 as the CIA argued it could provide necessary intelligence about Russian capabilities at far less risk. Still Eisenhower worried that one might be shot down triggering a nuclear holocaust. Bissell assured the president that could not happen. Well, we all remember Gary Powers. The CIA, as I note from recent headlines, has a long history of continuing to lie to the president (and probably itself.)
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LibraryThing member FKarr
interesting history, lots of great facts & history, many questionable inferences; I really enjoyed it- right up there with Skunk Works
LibraryThing member marshapetry
I loved reading about the early history of Area 51. It had some interesting events (example, an airplane crash in the CA mtns where they had to race to shut off the roads and keep it quiet) and appears well-researched. And then... it fell apart. I was hoping (probably unrealistically) that there'd
Summary, first 1/2 (early history) great read, interesting; second 1/2? meh ... I could have closed the book and been just as informed as having read it.
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be more "recent history" revelations. Ended up reading a lot of "this is still classified but it looks like this is what happened..." - oh well. Summary, first 1/2 (early history) great read, interesting; second 1/2? meh ... I could have closed the book and been just as informed as having read it.
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LibraryThing member jpporter
This is a well researched discussion of one of the great "mysteries" of life in the good ol' US of A - or at least as well researched as something can be when 600 million pages of documents remain classified, and likely never to see the light of day. (Jacobsen relied on 260,000 pages of recently
Jacobsen gives reasonable accounts for a variety of "conspiracies" and "urban legends" ranging from UFOs at Roswell to Francis Gary Powers to why the US did not go to war with North Korea over the Pueblo incident. At the same time, she gives us a picture of covert US activities that managed to remain covert despite the idiots, ego-maniacs, and politically motivated bureaucrats who were involved in these activities.
Jacobsen apparently interviewed many of the principals involved, although most of them are now quite old. I can't help but wonder the extent to which those memories have been corrupted by the decades that have intervened.
I do not envy Jacobsen the effort it must have taken to try to organize this material - there is so much of it, and disparate events seem ultimately so closely related and intertwined that any structure would have been, in the end, unable to successfully convey the story she tells. She seems to have opted for an approach that brings up dramatic/surprising/exciting events on a regular basis, with the bulk of the narrative then weaving the complex stories behind those events. On the plus side, this keeps the book interesting throughout; on the negative side, there is some repetitiveness (but this would seem unavoidable in nearly 600 pages).
The last two chapters and the epilogue of this book are absolutely disturbing and frightening in some of the observations and implications made.
There is a plethora of documentation provided by Jacobsen, and a detailed list of the communications she's had with the principals. She is also careful to point out where the documentation trail comes up short, and where the still-classified documents would help resolve some issues.
UFO-logists, conspiracy theorists, and the just-plain-cynical readers will find this book entertaining, although it does shoot down some popular theories. For everyone else, it would be a fascinating look at some of the things ordinary people tend to discount as rumor or "urban legend."
Very entertaining reading.
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declassified documents for the book - that means there's at least 200 times that much material still being kept secret.)Jacobsen gives reasonable accounts for a variety of "conspiracies" and "urban legends" ranging from UFOs at Roswell to Francis Gary Powers to why the US did not go to war with North Korea over the Pueblo incident. At the same time, she gives us a picture of covert US activities that managed to remain covert despite the idiots, ego-maniacs, and politically motivated bureaucrats who were involved in these activities.
Jacobsen apparently interviewed many of the principals involved, although most of them are now quite old. I can't help but wonder the extent to which those memories have been corrupted by the decades that have intervened.
I do not envy Jacobsen the effort it must have taken to try to organize this material - there is so much of it, and disparate events seem ultimately so closely related and intertwined that any structure would have been, in the end, unable to successfully convey the story she tells. She seems to have opted for an approach that brings up dramatic/surprising/exciting events on a regular basis, with the bulk of the narrative then weaving the complex stories behind those events. On the plus side, this keeps the book interesting throughout; on the negative side, there is some repetitiveness (but this would seem unavoidable in nearly 600 pages).
The last two chapters and the epilogue of this book are absolutely disturbing and frightening in some of the observations and implications made.
There is a plethora of documentation provided by Jacobsen, and a detailed list of the communications she's had with the principals. She is also careful to point out where the documentation trail comes up short, and where the still-classified documents would help resolve some issues.
UFO-logists, conspiracy theorists, and the just-plain-cynical readers will find this book entertaining, although it does shoot down some popular theories. For everyone else, it would be a fascinating look at some of the things ordinary people tend to discount as rumor or "urban legend."
Very entertaining reading.
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LibraryThing member noblechicken
Slogged through this one. Great opening chapter and some pretty interesting information about the place, and not in the alien kind of way. It REALLY made me check out Area 51 on Google maps and be befuddled by all the test site bomb craters there, but I digress. This book isn't the story of Area 51
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you might think it is. This is probably more accurate than those books touting alien bodies and spacecrafts (though I would LOVE to read those as well!), this book addresses Area 51 as a testing ground for the most top secret aircraft on the planet; the U-2, X-15, OXCART --lots of military chatter. And yeah, then it really makes it one of those books that I am not really interested in so much. Also, there has been some discrepancy as to whether the book is accurately written when it comes to some of those technicalities that military historians have flagged. I shrug and say yeah the book is okay for it's approach to an enigmatic place, but a little dry. I want the aliens back. Show Less
LibraryThing member scottapeshot
UFO and conspiracy books are a particularly guilty pleasure of mine. I believe nothing, but am entertained and thrilled by all of it. Jacobsen didn't fail me in this regard. She has piled up a fast, heated history of Area 51 and the elements of the "Military-Industrial Complex" which bred the
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secret base (and its matching mystery installations around the world and country). Much related here must be true, and most of it is quite reasonable and revelatory (stolen technologies, blundering atom bomb and h-bomb testing, and the grand architecture of great secrets). Jacobsen shows that everything is connected in this vicious and weird world of clandestine Nazi technology, spy planes, satellites, and radiation of all types. However, the knot in which she ties this squirming bundle of secrets with one more version of the Roswell Crash is unconvincing and arrived at with far less authority than any other part of the book. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sullywriter
A consistently fascinating chronicle of the wide range of clandestine activities at the most secrective of all U.S. government operations from the 1950s to the present day. Many taxpaying readers like myself will no doubt be deeply troubled at how our hard earned money is spent in the pursuit of
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"national security." Due to the nature of the subject, Jacobsen has to sometimes resort to speculation that, despite its weirdness, rings of plausibility. This is a book Special Agent Fox Mulder would love. Show Less
LibraryThing member jimocracy
Although there was an enormous amount of detailed information in this book, the detail did not bog me down as a reader. On the contrary, it was fascinating and a page turner! I really enjoyed the author's efforts to explain the history of Area 51 and all related areas of government involvement.
LibraryThing member nmele
If the title of this straightforward attempt to write the history of the secret, celebrated government base suggests alien visitors to you, you will be disappointed. Jacobsen does write much of her book about advanced technologies, however: the U-2 spy plane's development, the work on stealth
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planes, unmanned planes, and a nuclear-powered rocket engine. The famous Roswell crash plays a role in the narrative but really, it is not the main story and Jacobsen's account of the airship that crashed and its "crew" are fragmentary and dependent on a single anonymous source. Her research adds detail to such Cold War incidents as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the U-2 overflights of the Soviet Union, and less well-known U-2 reconnaissance flights over China as well as recounting the story of Area 51 and the technologies developed and tested there. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mego_Walsh_
Even though this book is quite long and didn't tell me that there are indeed other-worldly creatures at Area 51, I still enjoyed it for the most part. This is the first nonfiction book of this sort that I have ever read and I don't really remember most of the names, dates or locations that are in
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the book given it's length and details. It didn't help my case that the book didn't keep a particular timeline but instead grouped similar projects that took place at the Nevada Test Site together no matter what point in history they happened in. For the most part, the story telling was amazing, even though I have long forgotten most of the finer points, and you can definitely tell that Jacobsen put a lot of time and effort into uncovering some of the events that have happened at this secret military base. People reading this book to learn about aliens, space ships and faked moon landings will be disappointed while those who love secret military planes and nuclear tests will be very happy. Show Less
LibraryThing member Mrs_McGreevy
Superior documentation, a thorough yet casual writing style and a real “Holy F___balls!” moment make this a treat to read. Jacobson tries to find a balance between the times when secrecy really did save lives and the times when it was simply used to sweep embarrassing (and lethal) failures
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under the carpet. Is the grand reveal true? I don't know. But it's certainly possible, and I wouldn't put it past anyone involved. Show Less
LibraryThing member PDCRead
Some glaring errors in here. But is an interesting read for all those intersted in conspiracy theories and secret stuf. Worth a read but don't buy it!
LibraryThing member Castlelass
Annie Jacobsen takes a journalistic look at the history of Area 51 in the Nevada desert using declassified documents, Freedom of Information requests, and interviews. Well, it is mostly journalistic and mostly history, avoiding many of the well-worn conspiracy theories. There is at least one
I enjoyed the history of the Cold War, nuclear testing, military vehicles, espionage, pilots and their various experiences, and disputes between the CIA and the Air Force. Where it falls down is the sensationalistic inclusion of the Roswell Incident and an account from one of her interviewees. Since there is no way to corroborate his statements, one questions the advisability of including it in a journalistic account, though it probably helps sell books.
The audio book is read by the author. Her pronunciation is occasionally off. I liked some parts of the book, primarily the history, and rolled my eyes at others.
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outlandish claim that cannot be proven. I enjoyed the history of the Cold War, nuclear testing, military vehicles, espionage, pilots and their various experiences, and disputes between the CIA and the Air Force. Where it falls down is the sensationalistic inclusion of the Roswell Incident and an account from one of her interviewees. Since there is no way to corroborate his statements, one questions the advisability of including it in a journalistic account, though it probably helps sell books.
The audio book is read by the author. Her pronunciation is occasionally off. I liked some parts of the book, primarily the history, and rolled my eyes at others.
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LibraryThing member NatalieRiley
I was drawn to learning more about Area 51 for a couple of reasons. First, I have an innate curiosity to know about places that are restricted, abandoned, or off limits to the general public. When I see a “keep out” sign, I automatically want to know more about that place and to find out what
Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen is incredibly well researched and well written. I commend the amount of time and energy Annie has put into this book. The length alone is a huge feat, but to collect the amount of documentation, the time spent interviewing people, and the effort to compose this book is unimaginable. Honestly, I was primarily hoping to learn about the Roswell incident and the truth about J-Rod. I ended up learning SO MUCH MORE!
Annie starts at the beginning of Area 51’s development; back when there was only the Nevada Test Center out in the desert. If you’re interested in learning about spy planes, this is the book for you. Annie thoroughly describes the progression from the U-2, to the Oxcart, and the SR-71. As I was reading this book, I kept sharing information I learned with my husband. Of course, he already knew most of what I relayed. He was kind enough to dig out a picture of a U-2 that had landed at the Air Force base he was stationed. We have visited the Air Force Museum in...
I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog
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someone doesn’t want me to know. Books and television documentaries have been a great resource to gain at least some knowledge to satisfy my curiosity. Secondly, my husband, an Air Force veteran, views the world similarly to Fox Mulder. He 100% believes in aliens, which has me wanting to believe as well. Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobsen is incredibly well researched and well written. I commend the amount of time and energy Annie has put into this book. The length alone is a huge feat, but to collect the amount of documentation, the time spent interviewing people, and the effort to compose this book is unimaginable. Honestly, I was primarily hoping to learn about the Roswell incident and the truth about J-Rod. I ended up learning SO MUCH MORE!
Annie starts at the beginning of Area 51’s development; back when there was only the Nevada Test Center out in the desert. If you’re interested in learning about spy planes, this is the book for you. Annie thoroughly describes the progression from the U-2, to the Oxcart, and the SR-71. As I was reading this book, I kept sharing information I learned with my husband. Of course, he already knew most of what I relayed. He was kind enough to dig out a picture of a U-2 that had landed at the Air Force base he was stationed. We have visited the Air Force Museum in...
I have photos, videos, and additional information that I'm unable to include here. It can all be found on my blog, in the link below.
A Book And A Dog
Show Less
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
An okay book. Basically a history of the Cold War through the lens of Area 51 and the secret projects, and secret areas, that surround it. Secret planes, nuclear bombs, CIA, NASA, etc., etc., etc. It all seems pretty good, except for the asinine idea that the "Roswell incident" was some secret (and
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highly effective) saucer-shaped jets made by the Russians and piloted by freak-child-midgets created by Josef Mengele for the Soviets. You're going to tell me the Russians had these awesome jet-saucers that could hover and they never used them again or developed them further? Or that the Nazis had not just prototype flying wings, but prototype flying discs? Or that Stalin had his hands on Mengele but let him go because they had some sort of handshake deal? Yes, I really see Stalin as a stand-up guy whose word you can trust. If Stalin had Mengele, he would have kept Mengele. It's just so far-fetched and dumb, it makes me doubt Jacobsen's other research and assertions, which knocks this down to 3.5 of 5 stars. Show Less
LibraryThing member ArtRodrigues
If you are remotely curious about what goes on at Area 51 this book is a must read. It also solves the mystery of the Roswell Incident.
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011
Physical description
9.63 inches
ISBN
0316132942 / 9780316132947
UPC
884631807494