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Thinky thoughts on Area 51
Feb. 10th, 2009 02:25 pmI like conspiracy-theories. I like airplanes. And I like aliens. That, all taken together, equals a special love for conspiracy-theories about Area 51.
I don't think anyone alive in the western world doesn't know Area 51. Alleged final restingplace for the UFO that crashed at Roswell. More-or-less confirmed (by the CIA, no less *eyerolls*) as the testing-site for top-secret aircraft of all kinds since it's inception. Conspiracy-theorists have it that Area 51 is no longer home to much of the top-secret research it once was, simply because it has become too known. I don't know about that. What I do know, is that the Air Force did a remarcable 180 on it's position of 'confirm or deny' Area 51 over the course of very few years during the mid-90's.
Allow me to explain.
In 1995, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich began making Independence Day (ID4), which has, as one of it's pivotal points, both the positive portrayal of the Air force and Area 51 as a place where alien tech is hidden and studied. The Air Force (or, as Wikipedia records it: the US Military) had initially agreed to support ID4 - a clever choice, you'd think, considering just how big the final aerial battle turned out to be (not to mention the popularity of the movie). However, when they realized that Area 51 was going to play a major part in the movie, they asked that it be removed. When Devlin and Emmerich refused, the Air Force withdrew it's support from the movie entirely.
Fast forward a couple of years, to the summer of '97, when the first episode of Stargate SG-1 rolls over the screen. Stargate SG-1 (again, for those of you who don't know), is a sci-fi show set in the depths of NORAD where an alien device (cleverly called a stargate) can transport people near-instantly to distant planets. Stargate SG-1 is famous for it's positive portrayal of the Air Force, and has indeed over the years had a great deal of support from the Air Force. Where else would you go to get footage from inside NORAD, for example? The interesting thing in this case, however, is that Stargate SG-1 uses Area 51 as a place where alien artifacts are stored and examined.
So... one must wonder what happened between early 1995 to mid-1997 for the Air Force to so totally change it's stance on supporting a fictional creation that mentions Area 51 as a place where aliens are investigated?
I don't think anyone alive in the western world doesn't know Area 51. Alleged final restingplace for the UFO that crashed at Roswell. More-or-less confirmed (by the CIA, no less *eyerolls*) as the testing-site for top-secret aircraft of all kinds since it's inception. Conspiracy-theorists have it that Area 51 is no longer home to much of the top-secret research it once was, simply because it has become too known. I don't know about that. What I do know, is that the Air Force did a remarcable 180 on it's position of 'confirm or deny' Area 51 over the course of very few years during the mid-90's.
Allow me to explain.
In 1995, Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich began making Independence Day (ID4), which has, as one of it's pivotal points, both the positive portrayal of the Air force and Area 51 as a place where alien tech is hidden and studied. The Air Force (or, as Wikipedia records it: the US Military) had initially agreed to support ID4 - a clever choice, you'd think, considering just how big the final aerial battle turned out to be (not to mention the popularity of the movie). However, when they realized that Area 51 was going to play a major part in the movie, they asked that it be removed. When Devlin and Emmerich refused, the Air Force withdrew it's support from the movie entirely.
Fast forward a couple of years, to the summer of '97, when the first episode of Stargate SG-1 rolls over the screen. Stargate SG-1 (again, for those of you who don't know), is a sci-fi show set in the depths of NORAD where an alien device (cleverly called a stargate) can transport people near-instantly to distant planets. Stargate SG-1 is famous for it's positive portrayal of the Air Force, and has indeed over the years had a great deal of support from the Air Force. Where else would you go to get footage from inside NORAD, for example? The interesting thing in this case, however, is that Stargate SG-1 uses Area 51 as a place where alien artifacts are stored and examined.
So... one must wonder what happened between early 1995 to mid-1997 for the Air Force to so totally change it's stance on supporting a fictional creation that mentions Area 51 as a place where aliens are investigated?
