Area 51 is sort of an enigma. It is a top secret military installation out in the Neveda desert, that the federal government just recently admitted even existed as such. Now it is being talked about a lot, by everyone it seems. In fact you have so called "experts" coming out of the woodwork now to discuss what happened at Area 51.
Now one man Thornton D. Barnes who supposedly worked at Area 51, a top-secret government facility where many of the CIA's spy planes were tested during the Cold War has come out of the shadows as it were. Who is Thorton D. Barnes? I did a quick check on the internet to find out.
I ran across a biographical reference at the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame that was somewhat . It lends some credibility I guess to his story of working on top secret stuff for the military and Central Intelligence Agency. To give you a flavor of what is said about him I wanted to quote a part of it:
"Cleared at both “Q” and “Top Secret” security levels, at the Groom Lake facility Barnes, operated under a code name, serving as cadre for ultra secret projects of the CIA, National Defense Agency, National Air and Space Intelligence Agency, Air Defense Command, Tactical Air Command, U.S. Air Force Foreign Technology Division, the Air Force Flight Test Center, the Naval Air Test Center, Naval Weapons Center, and the Air Tactical Command, most of which remains classified today. The few declassified activities that can be disclosed include CIA A-12 Project OXCART and the Soviet MiG exploitation projects Have Doughnut, Have Drill, and Have Ferry. The Soviet MiG exploitation projects were instrumental in reversing the 9-1 kill ratio against U.S. pilots in air combat in Vietnam and were the genesis of the Navy’s Top Gun and the Air Force’s Red Flag exercises that continue today. Following the MiG projects Barnes participated in Project Have Blue, the development of stealth technology introduced by the Air Force F-117. Details of Project Have Blue and the identity of other projects in which Barnes led or participated cannot be disclosed as they remain classified today."
Alien autopsies aside what went on there was so secret few inside government had clearance to know what went on there. As Barnes tells it no one was supposed to know: "It was over 40 years before I could tell my wife where I worked or what I did," Barnes said. "The CIA has been very supportive on letting us honor the accomplishments in Nevada, but there are some things that will never be declassified."
Barnes it seems like to talk a lot about his past working on secret projects.
Barnes is said to have had a varied career in the military, mostly in things he couldn't speak about, like I said.
That is until now it seems. What changed?
Now he has been given the clearance to talk, according to him. And talk he is. So much so that he is being written about in a number of different magazines.
One article compared him to "an uncorked bottle, spilling out stories so fast it's hard to keep up with him."
Now Barnes is revealing all to the public.
Everything you might ever want to know about Area 51.
Where is this secret debriefing happening you might ask?
Its not the place where you might expect, like the Pentagon among selected mainstream journalists. No, instead its at the "Cora Coleman Senior Center", 2100 N. Bonnie Lane. Which is the last place you might expect such a man to give a debriefing. The cost is $2 and the post on the website indicated a light lunch will be served. Registration is required however. After all you can't be too careful...
To register or to obtain more information, call 455-7617.
I know what your thinking " a freaking senior citizen center?"
Ya that's right.
Did I mention that includes lunch and kool aid served in a dixie cup?
Barnes is set to speak to the public on the subject "Area 51 -- Facts and Fiction" from 11 a.m. to noon Dec. 6.
A Mr. Hall-Patton , who nobody has ever heard about is "excited by the information Barnes is releasing", according to the Las Vegas review Journal article.
"T.D. (Barnes) has a real wealth of information," Hall-Patton said. "We're getting stuff that we didn't expect to find out about. And we're getting it from a firsthand source, which is a great thing."
I asked some friends in Charlotte, N.C. with the Mutual UFO Network of North Carolina about Barnes. They indicate he is considered a credible source of information about Area 51. "Sure we have heard of Barnes. We will contact our sources in Las Vegas and have a representative there in case he reveals anything about real UFO's", said Anne Hooper of Charlotte (more information on MUFON http://www.mufon-nc.com/).
I also talked with Fred Dosher of Charlotte a retired intelligence analyst about Thornton D. Barnes. He was most intrigued and said "I know of no person who ever held a secret "Q" clearance before ever being allowed to talk about their job, duties or responsibilities with CIA. This is rather unprecedented as far as I can tell."
I don't know in light of what certain freinds have said it may be worth the $2.00. Make sure to bring your notebook and pencil. Cameras will be allowed. I think you can even get an autograph and pose for pictures for an extra couple of bucks, if you ask real nice.
Robert Tilford
Charlotte, N.C.
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