Newsletter: The Lay of the Land: Archives: Winter 2000"Modern industries are
handling the forces of nature on a stupendous scale . . Woe to the
people who trust those powers in the hands of fools." - John
Wesley Powell
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INDEX In the Gallery: Nellis Range Complex: Landscape of Conjecture CLUI Conducts Tour As Part of Route 126 Program 4 Busloads of Students Forced Into CLUI Vortex The Nellis
Range Perimeter: Nellis
Range Clickable Map Boron:
The Element of Place
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The Nellis Range Clickable
Map
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MAP KEY: |
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on white: The Nellis Perimeter 1.
Nellis Live Load Area |
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White
on black: 1.
Luxor Casino |
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The Nellis Perimeter
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75% of the live ordnance expended
by the Air Force on continental American soil is dropped
on the Nellis Range Complex. At the east side of the Nellis
Air Force Base in North Las Vegas is the "live load
area," where all of these munitions are loaded onto
aircraft that fly out over the Range. |
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Range 63 A is a series of targets
and ground forces training sites with tanks, firing ranges,
and small support facilities, accessed by a dirt road
from the main highway. It is near the security forces
training area called "Terrortown", and the live
fire demonstration areas where bombing can be watched
from the public highway, US 95. |
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The access road to the EC South
area, south of Tolicha Peak, is rarely used, and is generally
locked at a cattleguard located on the perimeter. EC South
is a stripped down electronic warfare range, and is used
for training and tactics related to electronic countermeasure
"anti-radiation" missiles. Access to this range is from
other locations inside the Range. |
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The gate to the Tolicha Peak
area is manned 24 hours a day, and the gate is rarely
closed. The facilities around Tolicha Peak have a number
of functions, some which are clear and others that are
not discussed. In addition to the electronic warfare training
infrastructure are other R&D elements reportedly managed
by Lockheed Martin. This gate is the main entrance to
these facilities, and traffic is fairly heavy during commuting
times, with many white jeep Cherokees with government
license plates coming and going. |
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Access within the Range is permitted on
a dirt road that leads to Stonewall Spring, on the north
flank of Stonewall Mountain, on the west side of the Range.
A saw-toothed indent into the otherwise north-south running
perimeter allows hunters to access a Bighorn Sheep hunting
area. The road passes through the range perimeter only
briefly. |
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This fence intersection, in the
middle of dry Mud Lake, delineates the exact northwest
corner of the Nellis Range. |
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Gate 73, the Cedar Pass entrance
to the Tonopah Electronic Combat Range and the Tonopah
Test Range, is manned during normal operating hours. The
county road to this gate has recently been paved, suggesting
an increase in activity on this part of the Range. |
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The Groom Lake Road cuts across
the Tickaboo Valley from Highway 375 and leads 13 miles
to the perimeter, and then over a hill and into Area 51.
The perimeter at this point cuts across the road diagonally,
and is marked with small metal posts in the brush. The
area is not fenced or gated, but |
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Along with cameras, and roving
security patrols in white Jeep Cherokees, a network of
hidden road sensors help keep an eye on visitors in the
Tickaboo valley. The self-contained transmitters detect
vehicular traffic on public land outside Area 51. |
Tour Highlights
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The bus departed the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas, due to
the proximity to some of the Las Vegas area sites on the
tour. |
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After seeing some Nellis Range
related sites in Las Vegas, the bus headed up Highway
95, passing by sites in the southern ranges. The tour
then stopped at Peace Camp, outside of the Nevada Test
Site, where Corbin Harney, the spiritual leader of the
Western Shoshone Nation addressed the group. The bus then
headed into the Test Site, guided by Nancy Harkess of
the Department of Energy, for a brief visit at the town
of Mercury and the famed Frenchman Flat. |
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Lunch on day one was had at the ruins of Rhyolite, a
ghost town outside of Beatty, Nevada, still as scenic
as when it was photographed by Ansel Adams. |
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The group stopped at the Community Center in the town of Goldfield, where a version of the Nellis exhibit was on display, and cocktails were served. CLUI photo by Lize Mogel |
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The group stayed the night at
the Station House resort in Tonopah, the half-way point
on the two-day tour. Dinner in the uniquely decorated
SportsmanÕs Lounge was followed by slide presentations
by civilian Range authorities Phil Patton and Agent X. |
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On day two, after visiting the
edge of the Tonopah Test Range, and before embarking on
the Extraterrestrial Highway portion of the tour, the
group took a break at an abandoned warm springs resort. |
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Range experts leading the group included Phil Patton,
New York Times writer and author of Dreamland, a recent
book on Groom Lake, secret aircraft programs, and the
alien cult of Area 51. |
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At the famous Groom Lake Road, the bus stopped within
a few hundred yards of the perimeter, and the group proceeded
on foot to the edge of the Range. |
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The group posed for a photo at the perimeter of Area
51, under the watchful eye of the security forces (in
white Jeep on hill above group). |