Area 51 is
Edwards DET 3

Here's how it happened...

In DR#35 we connected Area 51 to "Pittman Station, Henderson," site of a defunct post office that once received mail for the base. We also directly linked the Cammo Dudes to the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base*.

Reader R. Stanton (sparky@cwo.com), plugged "Pittman Station" into the Alta Vista web search and came back with a 1990 NASA press release* listing astronaut candidates [local copy]. One of these astronauts, Capt. Carl E. Walz, lists "Pittman Station" as the site of his current employment (as of 1990, when the post office might still have existed). It's amazing how many people worked at this post office! Here is his entry:

NAME:  Carl E. Walz, Captain, USAF, Mission Specialist
BIRTHPLACE/DATE:  September 6, 1955 - Cleveland, Ohio
RESIDENCE:  Henderson, Nev.
EDUCATION:  Charles T. Brush High School, Lyndhurst, Ohio
            BS, Physics, Kent State, 1977
            MS, Physics, John Carroll Univ., 1979
CURRENT POSITION:  Flight Test Program Manager
                   Air Force Flight Test Center
                   Pittman Station, Nevada
PARENTS:  Mr. & Mrs. Carl J. Walz, South Euclid, Ohio
MARITAL STATUS:  Married to the former Pamela J. Glady

The implication, of course, is that Capt. Walz worked at Area 51.

Reader A. Von Retyi (andreas.von.retyi@blitz.de) then did a search for "Walz" on the web and came up with a detailed NASA biography on him [original location*]. Walz is scheduled to fly a Space Shuttle mission this summer*. According to the biography, "In July 1987 he was transferred to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he served as a Flight Test Program Manager at Detachment 3, Air Force Flight Test Center."

AFFTC is not listed as a tenant at Nellis on its web page*, suggesting that their entire presence in the Nellis complex is covert.

DR#35 established that AFFTC has a presence at Groom, and now we know that it is Detachment 3 that is housed there. This is consistant with the designation on the cover of the Area 51 Security Manual of "DET 3 SP," with "SP" perhaps referring to "Security Police."

We still can't prove that AFFTC DET 3 is the ultimate authority at Area 51 as opposed to just being a tenant there, but it is fair to assume, now, that they have a controlling presence.

Good work, fellow operatives! Keep hunting!

Counter started 6/17/96