GROOMLAKE TIMELINE

Area 51 - Dreamland
By Tom Mahood
Latest Revision: July 1996

April, 1955
Lockheed test pilot, Tony LeVier, under orders from Kelly Johnson, searches for remote site to test the U-2. He finds Groom Lake and returns with Kelly Johnson and a representative of the CIA. Johnson decides to place the runway at the south end of Groom Lake. Work begins on the facility there under the direction of Lockheed Skunk Works. (1)

July, 1955
Work on "The Ranch" is complete at a cost of $800,000. It consists of three hangars, control tower, mess hall, runway, and numerous mobile homes. The first U-2 was shipped out on July 23.

Aug 4, 1955
First flight of the U-2 at Groom Lake. Nov 17, 1955 A C-54 transport, enroute to Groom from Burbank, crashes into Mt. Charleston killing all aboard, 9 civilian workers and 5 military. (5)

Fall, 1956
Six pilots from SAC start training at Groom in the U-2.

April 1957
A U-2 with radar spoofing equipment crashes during testing near Groom, killing the pilot. (1)

Jun 20, 1958
Public Land Order 1662 is enacted by Roger Ernst, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, withdrawing 38,400 acres (60 square miles) for use "..by the Atomic Energy Commission in connection with the Nevada Test Site." The area, 6 miles North/South and 10 miles East/West, form the first "box" around the Groom base.

Sep 21, 1959
The USGS snaps a photo (13-146) of Groom as part of a routine mapping program, which is still available.

Nov, 1959
A full scale mockup of an A-12 is shipped to Groom, via truck, for radar signature testing. (4)

Sep, 1960
Construction begins on a major expansion of the Groom Lake facility to accommodate the A-12 (OXCART) program on behalf of the CIA. This period of construction would not be complete until mid 1964. (4)

Sep 7, 1960
Work begins on lengthening and strengthening the existing 5,000' runway to 8,500'. It was completed Nov 15. (4)

Late 1961
Colonel Robert J. Holbury, USAF, is named Commander of the Groom base. (4)

Early 1962
The fuel tank farm is completed with a capacity of 1,320,000 gallons. (4)

Jan, 1962
The existing restricted airspace over Groom Lake is expanded. (4)

Feb 26, 1962
The first A-12 Blackbird is brought to Groom via truck for testing. (4) (Ben Rich says Jan, 1962)

Apr 26, 1962
First flight test of the A-12 Blackbird at Groom Lake. (4)

May 24, 1963
An A-12 (#123) crashes due to pitot icing 14 miles south of Wendover, Utah. (4)

July 9, 1964
An A-12 (#133) crashes on final approach to Groom. The pilot ejects at an altitude of 500'. (4)

Beginnig of 1965
The OXCART construction project is now complete and the base population has reached 1,835. (4)

Feb 27, 1965
First flight test of the D-21 drone launched from a Blackbird at Groom Lake. (1)

Dec 28, 1965
An A-12 (#126) crashes immediately after takeoff from Groom. (4)

Jan 5, 1967
An A-12 (#125) runs out of fuel 70 miles from Groom, crashing, and the pilot killed after ejecting. (4)

Aug 28, 1968
The US Geological Survey snaps an aerial photo of the Groom Lake complex as part of a routine high altitude survey. This photo, since published in numerous places, was available to the public until early 1994, when it was withdrawn from release by the government.

Nov, 1977
Have Blue", the F-117A Stealth fighter prototype, is shipped to Groom Lake for flight testing. (1)

Dec 1, 1977
First flight of the "Have Blue" at Groom Lake. (2)

May 4, 1978
One of the two "Have Blue" prototypes crashes at Groom. (2)

July 11, 1979
The second "Have Blue" prototype crashes 35 miles from Groom. (1)

May, 1981
First production F-117A airlifted to Groom for testing. (1)

June 18, 1981
First flight of the production F-117A Stealth fighter at Groom. (1)

Feb, 1982
First flight of "BLUE" (demonstrator for stealth technology) at Groom. (7)

Apr 20, 1982
The first production model of the F-117A crashes at Groom during Air Force acceptance tests. (1)

Oct 15, 1982
Beginning of acceptance flight tests with second production model of F-117A. (1)

Early 1984
The Air Force seizes 89,000 acres to the north and west of Groom Lake, pushing the border far from the base.

1984
First Stealth fighter squadron moves from Groom into new facilities at Tonopah Test Range. (1)

Aug, 1984
In Congressional hearings concerning the land seizure, the Air Force representative (John Seiberling) makes the statement that while the Air Force had no legal authority to seize the land (as far as he knew) the decision to do so was made at a much higher level than his. He would only go into the details in a closed session. (5)

1985
Tacit Blue program ends. (7)

1987
Congress finally authorizes the Air Force's land seizure. (2)

Jul 17, 1988
A Soviet spy satellite takes a photo of the Groom Lake area destined for release in a number of publications, including "Popular Science" and "The Lazar Poster".

May, 1989
Robert Lazar's first interviews are broadcast on KLAS-TV in Las Vegas. Lazar stated he had been hired to reverse engineer extraterrestrial craft at a facility at Papoose Lake, just southwest of Groom Lake. Lazar's appearance focused the first widespread public interest on the Groom Lake area.

Oct 18, 1993
The Air Force files a notice in the Federal Register seeking to withdraw another 3972 acres from public use to curtail public viewing of the Groom base from Freedom Ridge and Whitesides Peak. (3)

April, 1994
"Popular Science" magazine appears, featuring a satellite photo of the Groom Lake base on its cover and containing a lengthy article on the base and its history, thus igniting mainstream media interest in the facility.

Apr 10, 1995
Freedom Ridge and Whitesides Peak are officially closed to all public access. (3)

Jan, 1996
The Bechtel Corporation is reported to have begun work lengthening the secondary runway (14L-32R) by 5,000'. (3)

Sources:

1. "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich, published by Little, Brown & Company, 1994.

2. "Dreamland - the Air Force's remote test site" by Peter Merlin, an article in "Aerotech News and
     Review" 4/1/94.

3. "Groom Lake Desert Rat" by Glenn Campbell, various issues.

4. "The OXCART Story" by Thomas P. McIninch, a declassified history of the program from the
     CIA.

5. "Los Angeles Times", Nov 19, 1955.

6. "Alien Contact", by Timothy Good, published by Morrow, 1993.

7. Air Force press release 01-04-96.