Area 51 to be revisited at museum
In a two-day event next week at the Atomic Testing Museum, historians will join former pilots and engineers who conducted spy plane operations at Area 51 in panel discussions to separate myths from realities about Cold War work at the Groom Lake installation.
Sponsored by the Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation, the museum will host a presentation by aerospace historian Peter Merlin, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday followed by a panel discussion moderated by Channel 8 investigative reporter George Knapp from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The panel will include Central Intelligence Agency historian David Robarge and former pilots and engineers from the Groom Lake installation.
On Thursday, historian Annie Jacobson will moderate a second panel of former Groom Lake pilots and technicians from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
The museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is partnering with the pilots' group Roadrunners Internationale and the Central Intelligence Agency to the hold the "Spy Planes of Groom Lake" programs in conjunction with the Roadrunners' 21st biennial reunion.
The museum is located at 755 E. Flamingo Road, between Paradise Road and Swenson Street.
General public admission to each program is $10 per person but free for museum members.
