The Secret Airline of Area 51 - JANET
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- Опубликовано: 7 окт 2023
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Driving to work, or relying on public transport to get there, can be a big hassle, that many of us can relate to. But… what if your workplace is a little bit different, and secretive?
How would you get to work, if your… office just happens to be at Area 51? Well, today we are going to talk about Area 51 and about the unusual commute of many of those working there, which involves a pretty unusual airline, called JANET!
Stay tuned!
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Below you will find the links to videos and sources used in this episode.
• The US Government say ...
• Janet inbound to Area ...
• A close up for you Jan...
• UNITED STATES ATOMIC E...
• Boeing 747-8 undergoes...
• Global aircraft in Asp...
• Area 51 Government Bas...
• Big Underground Explos...
• Operation Tumbler-Snap...
• Las Vegas 1950s: What...
• Roswell: The UFO myste...
www.airandspaceforces.com/PDF...
• Ask a Skunk: All About...
• F-117 and Stealth
• Angels in Paradise: Th...
• Inaugural WestJet flig...
• Behind The Scenes At T...
• UFO enthusiasts gather...
• The Truth About Securi...
• F-117 Nighthawk Stealt...
www.state.gov/security-cleara...
www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone...
www.businessinsider.nl/janet-...
web.archive.org/web/202107312... 
Развлечения
Visit our sponsor betterhelp.com/mentournow today to receive 10% off your first month of therapy
Huge fan of your channel, but regarding the sponsorship with better help, I think that they were caught selling users mental health data so I am not sure if it’s the best sponsor to have.
In fact it even got a fine by FTC because of this
They are more committed to getting sued because of how garbage it is. Have you not heard it? lol
Indeed -- I hadn't heard about this...
www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2023169-betterhelp-complaint_.pdf
Why better help again???
This "secret airline" was so "secretive" that on Flight Simulator X there was a mission where you would fly Janet to Area 51 and after landing a UFO would take off right beside you. One of the most interesting game missions ever.
I loved that mission! Remember when the Pilot said: „If I tell you why we switched our callsign, I would have to kill you“ 😅
And that UFO that took off once you were taxiing next to the other JANET aircraft, was a TR series craft.
I came here to comment that. What an amazing game that was. I played that mission at least 10-20 times it was a great one man
@@mcwiesniak7000 There will be a similar or new campaign in the upcoming MSFS2024 flight sim.
They have to reveal everything in some fashion, they use Hollywood for that in wholesale. and, you have the sim devs having a little fun with them I think also.
Locating Janet at the airport instead of at Nellis has a few pretty important causes:
- Nellis is an extremely busy base, servicing a constantly rotating cast of American and foreign aircrews training at the Nevada range. That's a lot of eyes, way more than you'd ever get on the GA side of an airport.
- During Red Flag and other exercises, it's functionally a military base in a combat zone in terms of operational tempo. Adding a quasi-scheduled small airline to that mix is just an unnecessary complication.
- Nellis sits on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by relatively low desirability neighborhoods on one side and literally nothing on the other. The airport is more central, and is easier to reach from the sort of neighborhood well paid specialists are going to want to live in.
- If it were on the air base, all the deniability of its operations goes away, and you may as well slap military registrations on the planes and use Air Mobility Command crews to operate them.
It also means that they can have civilian staff access the base more easily
Yes its quite residential up that way!
@@mihalyfreeman5928Some of these bases have chain motels and hotels on the base now. JANET mostly transports civilian or non-military DOD employees. They service China Lake, Dugway Proving Grounds, US Army Proving Grounds, Holoman, Kwajalein, Kirtland, etc. They used to service White Sands Missile Base too. I think all that stuff is out in the south Pacific at Kwaj now. Talk about remote! I forget, but I think the mail came throung APO Samoa for Kwaj. Kwaj is now The Ronald Mc Reagan Missile Test Range.
Any deniability of the operations has gone away. Everyone knows what the JANET airline does.
Nellis is not even a 1/100th as busy as McCarran.
Reminds me of a joke, where a civilian pilot accidentally lands at area 51.
He is detained for several days, and finally released as he wasn't doing anything nefarious.
Two weeks later, the same pilot lands at area 51 again. He is promptly arrested again.
When asked why he came back, he said "you guys have to vouch for me, my wife thinks i am having an affair!"
I thought the punchline was going to be "well last time I was here you told me to forget this place existed" :)
This happened to Bob Lazar
@@IngieKerr What do you mean, I swear I've never been here before... but those dark sunglasses and light up flashy pen look vaguely familiar.
@@Victor-wy7yc that liar lol😂
The entire point of the Top Secret background check is to see how easily you are to blackmail or manipulate. Someone with debt problems might be easier to bribe. With "sexual activity", they are interested in whether you are doing things you're ashamed of that could be used to blackmail you. Having a mistress your spouse doesn't know about is a MUCH bigger problem than an - alternate lifestyle - that your family or friends are are aware of. One of my close friends got a top secret clearance. I know he's into some - extreme - things and asked "was that a problem?" he said "no, my wife's involved and my friends know, so there's no blackmail potential, which is all the government cares about".
At one time my mother-in-law called my wife to ask if I was in trouble because a government investigator had seen her and was asking some very personal questions about me. Fortunately my wife knew I was being investigated for the Top Secret clearance required by my job in the US Navy.
@@peterhobson3262 I was in a relationship with someone with a Top Security clearance who worked as a security consultant for Lockheed. A year or so after we lost track of each other, the doorbell rang. It was the classic FBI look - two guys in black suits wearing aviator sunglasses driving a nondescript dark sedan with government plates. They didn't ask to come in and I didn't invite them in. Instead, I stepped outside and we talked there. They asked tons of questions about her. I figured they were investigating her for something and I didn't want to get involved so I gave a bunch of technically truthful non-answers. They gave me their cards and asked me to call if I heard from her. They never contacted me again and I never contacted them. It was a surreal experience.
It's like the spiritual teachings. You don't have to be Jesus, you need to be comfortable with who you are, what you are, and what you do, and trust that everything happens for your highest good.
Hmm.. so i might have to disclose my erectile dysfunction to my close family, friends... BEFORE I apply.. for them to not be able to use that 'lack of' sexual behaviour.. to blackmail me later.
This was a major problem for the military in the days of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". It created a huge blackmail threat for cleared personnel. It's one reason the military was out in front on getting rid of this policy. It's safer for everyone involved.
My dad worked for the "Skunk Works" in 1955. At that time it was located in Burbank adjacent to the Lockheed A-1 Plant at the airport. The personnel shuttle flights to "Paradise Ranch" were originally operated by the USAF. When a C-54 crashed in bad weather on Mt. Charleston west of Las Vegas with the loss of all aboard and the investigaton revealed that the pilot in command had relatively low time on the C-54, Kelly Johnson insisted that Lockheed take over the shuttle flights. They used Super Constellations owned by the company leasing arm in a rotating shell game to disguise which aircraft they were using at any time. They supported the overflights of the Soviet Union with frequent flights to bases in.Britain and Europe where those flights operated.
This is some history that needs to make it's way into a book
Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen published 2011 goes into astonishing verified detail, well worth reading!@@PsRohrbaugh
Wow.. thanks for sharing.
And i assume that Uncleji told all of you about this.. in his younger days.
.
Hope he had a fulfilling life and has had good health.
Some of AirChina fleet has Oxygen breathing tanks for every passenger onboard (not just an oxygen chemical generator).
This is to provide oxygen for everyone onboard in case if depressurization happens flying over the Himalayas mountains with no possibility to dive down to safe altitude.
Interesting!
Source/s.. if any please.
@@sailaab ruclips.net/video/XESkuyWomqc/видео.htmlsi=p_h-aNdYBnTAnRRx&t=571 EMERGENCY OXYGEN system for PASSENGERS! Explained by CAPTAIN JOE at ~9:40
I probably messed up about exactly AirChina and Boeings, but Captain Joe mentioned that some of airliners has such O2 bottles installed for every passenger.
Yah, flights that aren't specifically going to Tibet tend to avoid the Tibetan Plateau, _because_ they can't get low enough there in a depressurization. Normal procedure with loss of cabin pressure is to get below 10,000 feet ASAP -- but most of Tibet is _higher_ than that.
@@sailaab He is correct. All Tibetan aircraft are modified, A319/737s all have additional 6 oxygen tanks, capable of providing oxygen for about one hour. They also use CFM56-5B7 or CFM56-7B26E/B2F engines, which provide over 20% more thrust than the normal version. Most of them are also equipped with RNP-AR 3D approach to make things a bit easier.
Well this is an unexpected but very interesting story
Thank you, I hope you enjoyed it!
absolutely fantastic!@@MentourNow
I'm no. 44 comment 😂
In the game "Microsoft Flight Simulator X" (2003), there was a mission from Las Vegas to Groom lake. Once at Groom lake, one could explore the base unharrassed (in the game of course). The details that you mentioned, the call sign, the blacked out windows, were mentioned.
You could also see an UFO take off once you where near Groom Lake. Great mission
I remember doing this mission. I would love to have such missions in the Microsoft Flight Simulator(2020)
FS2002 then FS2004, then FSX (2007).....I only remember add ons for FS2004, i dont think FS did any missions like that, just flight lessons....you must of played with add-ons......
@@juliusbentheimer2130 This was one of the first things i recreated for myself in FS2020.
@@johndoe-el5ic No, he is correct. FSX had Missions. Maybe 1 hour or so long, with a bit of a twist. They were all kind of entertaining.
I had a relative who was doing work for a government agency have to get such a clearance many years ago. The process was... kind of absurd. They even asked his second grade teacher questions about him. Absolutely nothing was not checked, re-checked, and then verified via a third source. We still don't know what he really did. Lol.
One of my friends had to go through deep vetting and as one of his friends, I was interviewed by a person skilled at befriending people and getting them to say more than they intended. The sexual behaviour section is likely related to use of prostitutes and such like activities which could be used against you for blackmail purposes.
I can neither confirm nor deny the intensity of the investigative process...
I can attest that this is absolutely true. The investigative process isn't secret. I went through it when I was in the Navy and that was just for 'confidential'. I had people I didn't even remember contacting me asking why the .gov was interviewing them about me. They then kept all my personal info on an unsecured server that wasn't even behind a firewall and the Chinese hacked it. I vowed that was the last time I would ever jump through their hoops.
I've been pressured repeatedly to get a 'secret', but I always refuse. I have CCI and that's all I need to do my job.
@@davidduganne5939 🤣
You probably don't want to know. Ignorance keeps you safe. You can't slip and say something that affects national security if you don't know anything.
I was in Vegas in the summer of 2021. I drove fairly near to the Janet terminal trying to get a good photo of the 747SP parked outside the Sands hangar next door to the Janet terminal. The gate I stopped at that had what I reckoned to be the best view of the 747 had an armed guard, but he was cool enough to let me get right up next to the gate to take an unobstructed photo through the chain-link fence. He was very adamant that I was not allowed on his side of the gate, though.
I cannot confirm or deny that I fly that particular SP….but I hope you like my profile picture. 👀
747-SP is such a cool plane.
They need to make the 747sp again…. With GE 9X engines.
@rtbrtb_dutchy4183 how often does that plane (there's 2 right) actually fly?
@@computermusicguy one got destroyed in a hurricane while in maintenance. A 737 was blown into it and breached the pressure vessel and a big hole in a wing. Wasn’t worth it to repair.
We used to fly it a lot. I remember one year, from Thanks giving till the end of Chinese New Year, both flew over 350 hrs.
In 2013, some “gambling” rules changed and the flying dried up, but the airplanes had already paid for themselves multiple times over.
Now it just does maintenance flights. It will be done soon. The slides are close to their operational live span and need to be replaced. But there are no more slides available. Yes, the airplane will end up being grounded due to slides. ☹️
You're not kidding about the investigation process for a clearance. When I was in aerospace it was reported that a typical secret clearance cost the company $100,000 in the 1980's, with special access clearances costing far more. The FBI often gets involved and interviews your friends, family, and neighbors (my neighbors confirmed this). The questions about sexual orientation, foreign influences, even financial stability, are all about assessing your risk to potential blackmail or bribery. If you're looking for work within the aerospace industry then having a current security clearance is a valuable thing to list on your resumé.
A security guard where I used to work was a mathematician in the closed area. He used to fly out of San Jose on Friday morning to Tonopah where he was picked up by another plane that took him to his work place. Each evening they flew him back to Tonopah to his hotel. On Friday they stuck him back on a white plane and flew him back to San Jose. Why was he a security guard? He said nobody would hire a fifty something mathematician. What he worked on was the F117.
A security guard was a mathematician? That’s odd.
@@fairyprincess911 These days he would be an Uber driver.... (Well, actually not. Because as a mathematician, he would calculate his cost per mile and know better....) LOL
@@cstacy What I actually thought was odd is that he worked as a security guard on an F117 and that being a security guard or mathematician were oddly placed details (if he worked on the F117).
@fairyprincess911 He was a security guard at my employer, long after he worked in the closed area. Sorry that was hard to understand.
@@fairyprincess911 Try getting old and see what happens. Mathematicians aren't in that much demand, especially old ones.
Fascinating glimpse of the murky world of Janet 😮
Derek
Maybe I can help a little bit, but nothing I've got to add to the conversation is interesting! Here's the thing about government, like all big organisations they do occasionally look to save money. Why do they operate out of a specific airport can be as boring as they got good lease terms on the buildings, or they bought the buildings outright and did it so long ago that it's just cheaper and easier not to change. You said it in the video, this started in the 1950's. The buildings at the Las Vegas airport are probably fit for purpose, with appropriate electronic surveillance and hardening tech installed. Why spend money moving when they don't need to?
For the security clearance it's all about leverage. They ask about your sexuality, financial position, alcohol and gambling because they need to know that you can't be blackmailed. If you are having an affair and a foreign entity finds this out, they could say "hey, let us have a look around or we tell your spouse!" same thing if you're gay but your very religious family doesn't know. The government really doesn't care if you're promiscuous, they don't mind who you sleep with, what your kinks are or how frequently you do these things - just as long as no one else important to you minds. Gambling problems mean someone could get the better of you and hold it over you, want that gambling debt cleared? Then just give us the secrets! Alcohol means maybe all the foreign influencer has to do is to get you drunk and you spill the beans. It's all about the government knowing that you can't be influenced by someone else.
Boring right? Just like most things in government.
All very good points -- thanks!
There is also the theory of "hide in plain sight". What looks like any other private/corporate jet draws far less attention when mixed in to the hustle bustle of a busy commercial airport. Scheduled flights like that at an airbase would draw far more attention. Additionally, if the staff being transported are civilians and knowing top secret clearance is based on "need to know", why let these civilians onto an airbase to possible see things they "don't need to see".
Wife and I watched a few of the Janet 737’s take off from McCarran, from the Jack in the Box conveniently located near the end of the runway on Las Vegas Boulevard, around 15 years ago.
It was my impression that they were climbing hard as soon as they could, and waiting to turn until they were nearly out of sight.
Interesting to get to actually see them in action, after having first heard about them on Art Bell, years before.
I remember spotting one of these JANET Boeing 737s back in Piarco International Airport on the ramp, really looking forward to see the insight into them for this video!
Great video this week! I’m a civilian that works with the US IC/DoD. The main reason why they use LAS airport instead of the nearby base, is to make it easier for civilian workers to fly into and out of LAS from wherever they may be living/flying out of.
Employees will fly to LAS from their own home states and cities, and then work for several days or more at Groom Lake before flying back home for some days off. This just makes it easier in terms of employees being able to find commercial flights straight to LAS instead of dealing with military transport that have tighter schedules and not as much flexibility.
The OPSEC is overall better as well, when you can just have personnel all funneling into one secure location, instead of having to travel through two or more to get where they need to be.
And, don't forget bout the Lush bath and body products store at Reid, so you can stop there before your shift and buy something that smells nice - this is very important to the overall mission of the USAF. After all, nobody like a stinky employee - and especially a stinky pilot.
I grew up in Idaho (a U.S. State in the U.S. west for my non-U.S friends). Idaho has a very large desert. Out in the middle of this desert, there is a very large nuclear training facility with a couple of dozen nuclear reactors (they are small and experimental). But what I learned early in life, is that is the best stretch of desert road to have a car breakdown. If you happen to have a flat tire, a very kind person will show up within about 10 minutes and help you change the tire. I currently live in Nevada, but nowhere close to Area 51. I don't think their guards are nearly as nice.
INL. Much less secretive these days, but you still wouldn’t want to try and ram the gate with your vehicle. lol
I suspect that they are that nice, provided you're outside the fence, and possibly willing to answer a few questions. As long as you then go back the way you came, without trying to proceed further. See, they kinda don't want you there, and the fastest way to get you to go elsewhere is to make whatever is keeping you there disappear as quickly as possible. And it just looks really bad (to the civilians at least) if unnecessary force is used, particularly if it happens to be lethal. (Of course, using necessary force is always an option for them.)
@@erichusmann5145 They won't stop you on any of the roads leading to the base, and they generally won't prevent you from taking a pic at the gate towards the base (even though this is illegal) as long as no base personnel are in the pic. If you break down someone will come to help you, though they might send a military helicopter to monitor the situation who will be off in the distance, or sometimes even a fighter jet to circle high above. They'll get you going though, and make sure you don't die out there from the sun and heat... BTW, It's just best to be polite and apologetic and keep your hands away from your pockets if you're stopped, and for the love of all that is good in this world, please don't show up at the gate and start screaming, "I am a United States citizen and taxpayer, and I pay YOUR salary so I am YOUR boss and I DEMAND to be taken on a tour of the base - and I want to see how my tax dollars are being spent - and you WILL follow my orders". Just - don't. Don't do that.
Not quite so grim these days - INL has some areas open to the general public. Want to see a nuclear turbojet? They've got one on display. Curious about EBR-1? Self-guided tours of the facility are available as well as guided tours.
Obviously, not all of INL is publicly accessible, partly because of secrecy, partly because one could end up inadvertently glowing a faint blue by going into the wrong areas. 😉
Related to Area 51 is Ward Carroll's video, "The Secret Program That Hid an Even More Secret Program" Pretty wild!
I've heard of Janet before, but this gave lots of interesting additional details.
There are a large number of employees of this base that are contractors. They wouldn't be staying at Nellis base, and possibly not permitted on base. Additionally it is likely all of the military personnel get BAH and BAS and live off base anyways. The security clearance also requires what is called an SSBI, since the TS/SCI is a requirement, and as Peter eluded to it is a bunch of very awkward questions... and if you're ever in on don't lie, they likely already know all of your secrets if you're in the interview, or doing the poly.
Contractor in these terms doesn't mean it's not your normal place of employment, so if you work for BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, or similar, then you have a pass that gets you in just like a military ID for someone that belongs there. Polygraph isn't required for secret. The questions are only awkward if you aren't an ordinary above board sort of person. The worst problems any of my friends had were adopted chinese kids and a wife from Kazakhstan who still has a father and siblings there, though she came here with her mother decades ago. Another friend has foreign born friends from college. The defense industry has a lot of people who are naturalized citizens. Much easier to get clearance for the foreign born in the US than in the UK where even living abroad, other than while working for a UK defense contractor, is cause for deep suspicion.
I held a TS/SCI clearance for most of my career and never had to make a polygraph. I also don't remember any of the questions I had to answer to be granted a clearance or for renewal as being awkward. All pretty straightforward. I can imagine that a lifestyle polygraph can be a bit uncomfortable.
A coworker of mine had a son that eventually got a job as a Michigan State Trouper, he told me some of the things his son had to go through to get the job. One of the things he told me was he and his wife were interviewed because of the job he son was going for. He told me they (the ones doing the interview) ask questions about different things that went way back into his family history. I can't begin to imagine the history 'they' know about a person going for a job where that kind of security would be involved.
They didn’t know anything about what happened with that kid back in Reno, and like hell I was going to volunteer that info. People get hung for much less these days. Pop a Xanax before the polygraph and your fine
They wouldn't be allowed to enter Nellis AFB.. but they fly into Groom Lake? You make zero sense
A family member of mine who lived in a place, never took those flights 5-6 days a week (he never worked or did anything one day a week)
So I don't have pictures (the type you had to get printed out) from when I never had to occasionally drive him there
Sorry I didn't make it to work today - I MISSED MY FLIGHT!
A couple of decades ago, the organization I have long been a part of, the International Human Powered Vehicle Association was holding its speed championship races in Las Vegas. Part of the annual races is the 200M top speed for extremely streamlined bicycles that at that time required a 2 mile run-up to the 200M timing traps. The local chapter of our organization had intended that event to take place at a nearby dry lake, but unseasonable rain had made it unusable. Those local organizers had some connections though.
They moved the event to a paved runway at an airfield near Mercury NV. It was well outside the inner security for the Area 51 but still within a checkpoint we were allowed to pass. Unfortunately for our contest that reserve airfield (with no regular traffic at all) had a slope to it that would not allow us to set international records, but because of that slope some of the highest speeds to that date were recorded. We require less than 1 in 200 slope for flatness. We use chase cars for the safety of the contestants, and some of the fastest of our vehicle riders were out accelerating the 3 cylinder sub-compact rental cars that got that assignment:)
Sweet. HPVA is great.
On Flightradar24 it’s fun to track the JANET 737s (those heading to Groom). I’ve done this and the transponder does appear to be deliberately switched off as the aircraft approaches the base. JANET Aircraft flying back to Vegas behave the same and suddenly pop into view well after departing Groom Lake. The real action up there isn’t at Groom Lake, it’s a 25 minute drive away in a bus with blanked out windows ,at the ATS Papoose Lake facility called S-4, The Museum, etc.
And how are you concluding this is due to deliberately switching off the transponder as opposed to just losing line of sight from tracking stations? Sites like FlightRadar24 depend on volunteers putting a receiver on their roof or a mast in exchange for a free business plan subscription, and I think it's safe to assume nobody is volunteering to install one of these at area 51.
The abandoned bowling alley east of Tonopah, NV on US-6 is a meet up area for facilities contractors that carpool through the north gate to "Watertown". Contractors from L3, Lockheed, etc are a regular sight catching the van in.
Gate entry has a AGM-45 shrike mounted over a Sandia missle range sign. Two lane road heads south down a sealed 2 lane farm road (AR 504) to the main hanger complex at Groom North.
Great research and wonderful presentation! I retired from the Air Force from Nellis in 1988. At that time, some, and maybe all, of the JANET aircraft flew out of Nellis. I don't remember what type the aircraft were at that time. In those days, getting on base was pretty easy. If I remember, you just had to show your military or civilian ID card as you passed through the gate, or had to have a "base sticker" on your bumper or windscreen. That all changed on 11 September 2001. After that, you stopped, gave your ID card to the armed guard at the gate, your card was compared against a list (and years later electronically scanned) before you were allowed to enter the base. I'm guessing that the much higher security level and ID checking, and thus much slower base entry, led to off-loading several hundred people per day to a dedicated facility at KLAS.
I am an airline technician that has worked almost every 737 model produced by Boeing. With the exception of the-400, -600, -7MAX, and -10MAX. The last 2 haven't been certified by the FAA yet. It is my understanding that the 737-600 didn't have the range or capacity that airlines wanted. Those short hops JANET takes is probably perfectly suited for the -600.
Actually, because the -600 is smaller with the same fuel capacity, it has more range than all the others. The problem with “shortened” airplanes is that the airplane is most efficient around its base model, which was the -700. So the airplane is most efficient per passenger with the -700. The 800 and -900 are less efficient, but can carry more passengers, so it’s worth it. The -600 is less efficient and carries less passengers. So for an airline, they might as well buy the -700 over the -600, even if it’s on flights that won’t fill up every seat.
So effectively the -600 may as well have been specifically designed for that specific run in mind!
@@stephenhunter70 no, Boeing didn’t design it for that reason. They don’t care about a handful of airplanes that usually get bought used. Before the -600, they flew the -200. They fly old crappy airplanes.
What a great video! This is what RUclips needs more of! Creators using their knowledge and passion to do research and create interesting videos about topics that the watcher already knows about but never even thought about the details the creator is focused on in that particular topic. I love it. Thank you for sharing your expertise and research! ❤❤
So, why fly people to work from Vegas to Groom Lake? First, denyibility. Some of the US government's most secret programs are run out of there. New personnel are told they're going to be working at Nellis, and aren't made aware of this or the program until after arrival. Second, road traffic into Groom Lake looks suspiciously like road traffic into Groom Lake; a 737 from McCarran just gets lost into local air traffic. Third, civilian personnel look less obvious boarding a civilian aircraft from a civil airport. Temporary duty military personnel were often flown from Nellis to Groom Lake on a military C12... a Beech King Air variant. Remember, these are highly secretive projects being run out of Area 51.
9:50 EG&G an inconspicuous name?! Really. Some 35 years ago yours truly was studying, among others things, EG&G optoelectronics. Their civilian products were classroom stuff - on the other side of the globe, in what was then the Soviet Union. The Perkin Elmer (part of EG&G) brochures are still on my essential reading list.
Great video. Love the lighthearted approach. A nice change of pace. Of course very informative, as usual!
Glad you liked it!
Always enjoyable, very informative, and super interesting. Thank you Petter !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Who is "Petter"?
@@kurtvanluven9351Um... the guy who makes all these videos?
to 𝐊𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐮𝐯𝐞𝐧.. Petter is a robot made possible with the use of generative A.I., machine learning tools.. which has effectively replaced Saint Nicholas/Santa Claus.
Santa Claus aka Saint Nicholas is almost retired now on health grounds and aging related ailments.
My next door neighbor was sent to Groom Lake to train as a QC guy on the HARM project. They were escorted onboard KNFW and boarded a 737 with no cabin windows. When the got there, they debarked through a flexible conduit to mount a bus with its windows whited out.
So I asked, what he saw. "Nothing." He was disappointed too thinking he'd actually see at least part of the facility.
he he he - so they trained him well, if you believe he saw "nothing" ))) That's how it's supposed to work mate)
Need-to-know is enforced for regular classified systems. It's still enforced at these special facilities. There are likely multiple classified efforts going on at these facilities, and you can't have people from one project seeing other projects without breaking the need-to-know rule. The only way of doing this at an outside facility like an airport is to do silly things like block windows, use tunnels, and strictly enforce when people can be outside.
I always knew ETA stood for Extra Terrestrial Airlines 🤣
Love the video and these comments in this thread are so interesting. What a pleasure to read interesting and well articulated comments in the RUclips comments section.
Nellis vs McCarrin -
McCarrin is more accessible in a couple of ways.
First, more of the people who work at Area 51 would live closer to McCarrin and its feeder freeways than near Nellis AFB around which is a lot of lower and medium-low income housing areas. Second, security check access. Getting on, and sometimes even off a military base is much more time consuming than a commercial airport and takes much more time.
Plus, as I have mentioned in another comment, the amenities at a military terminal would not be considered "suitable" to most civilians to have to put up with on BOTH ends of their flights. Sand Crabs, er, Civilians (sorry about my 1970's Navy language) as you know want to be pampered and "taken care of". Flying a C130 or C141 (lol) with nylon strap sling seats, no windows, & mandatory use of hearing protection would be the very antithesis of passenger comfort for some of those fancy-pants high-government grade civilian workers.
Came here to say this. The type of person talent-wise they want to recruit to work there won't be interested in living in the middle of nowhere for years on end. The security lines to get onto most major military installations of just their regular personnel can be terribly slow. Much better for people's commute times and sanity to have their own discreet and private checkpoint for the first reason. If their quality of life gets too low with a hellish commute, they'll quit and have no trouble finding work elsewhere.
C140 certainly isn't comfortable, but I don't see an issue flying in one for 1 hour (to and back). Certainly not dramaticly more comfortable than the smaller aircraft used by Janet.
Although really it's probably the practicality with getting in and out of a military base.
A lot of military contractors visit these secure facilities for testing. It's sometimes a bit of a hassle to get them onto base. I think the shear volume of people needing to visit Area 51 just makes flying out of Nellis impractical. Too much of a burden for the normal Nellis security apparatus. These secure facilities also have their own way of doing security that is outside the normal process. I think it's probably just easier all around that it's at McCarran.
The bases I’ve been on are pretty chill, as a civilian with government plates and a PIV2. I even drove on to one with a belt of tracer amo bouncing on the road behind my trailer.
I would have thought getting into the "secret" JANET terminal at McCarrin is just as much a hassle as getting into Nellis - they are both military-controlled areas that would require you to have/show the correct credentials. No?
That plane must be a blast to fly, I bet they get to fly it empty a lot too. That would make an ideal RC scale plane with the big tail and short body it would fly great
Staying at Mandalay Bay it was really neat watching these old birds doing their thing
Always with the most amazing and interesting information! I'm impressed! Grymt jobb av hela laget!
Fantastic content with enjoyable and professional presentation.. Yet again!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic video!!! Thank's a Lot! ALL the best Mentor...
My biological father worked on the F-117, the B-2, Orca, Grease Lightning, the YF-118G (Bird of Prey), Ghost Buster (a B-52), the YF-23 and other craft at Groom Lake and Edwards Air Force Base.
When Ghost Buster was at Edwards Air Force Base, my older biological brother and I got to sit in Ghost Buster.
Growing up in the world of Above Top Secret gave us a great life.
Edwards Dryden NASA worked with our personal airplane because it accidentally got painted with RAM paint from a government auction of Rockwell in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Our airplane is also the only personal private airplane to get clearance to land at Groom Lake.
"This is a video about bricks" If you know, you know.
For my 2 pence worth I remember this subject being a flyable mission available within the FSX environment of missions that you could choose from among many to fly within flight simulator many years ago. The 'commentary' from your co-pilot was let's say interesting. In the flight you depart as a Janet callsign and then roughly midway through the flight either just before or just after a inconspicuous right turn the callsign changes to Longhorn. And then you are vectored in for a visual approach from 6000ft (iirc) on rwy 33 or 32 think it was. Always enjoyed flying that mission.
Traveling on Janet Air is pretty basic. I've only had 4 trips on Janet Air, and the longer flights they actually gave you a little bottle of water! They fly people to 6 different destinations, and sometimes they do a loop depending on the current projects. They also have some regular daily flights from Dreamland to LAS. Why LAS? Don't know, but they have a good simple operation there with all of the proper security in place.
You are correct, the 600's are small and powerful. They seem to fly like a little hot rod. It was also my impression that the pilots and flight crews are all former military aviators.
NO 'Fight Club' rules either I guess?
@@Three_Random_Words LOL....
LAS/ Vegas is their hub for planes with their own terminal. Also a key hub allowing people to fly in from anywhere in the country quicker than military flights with more flexibility. Even if many live in the Las Vegas suburbs they’ll always fly in as no one ever drives in.
@@d.b.cooper1 Do'h, now that makes sense too. As does the thread starters post.
Mr Cooper, isn't it a shame they don't use the 727 instead, then they could air drop parachute equipped passengers of the back stairs and Janet could make a speedy return to Harry McCarry. Parafoils of course, then each can glide directly to their various hanger shops.
There's also a school bus that has been seen in nearby towns and observed heading towards Homey. Must be for workers living in Crystal/Ash Springs/Alamo/Rachel area? I can't remember if the windows are blacked out. iirc, someone got too nosy and close to the parked bus and the sheriff drove up to hassle them.
The reason for JANET being at McCarran vs Nellis was due to location. McCarran served residents at the southern and eastern most part of the Valley. Whereas those who lived further north and west, rode a bus from US95 near Ann Rd. to the test site which was much closer than Groom lake.
Perfect! Thank you
Interesting research. Thanks for sharing!
Interesting tangent.
Fascinating as always
Played golf in Vegas and you see these 737's flying over all the time.
Commuting to work can be a real pain (shows a quiet urban street).
Was there no 405 gridlock footage in the stock bin? 😂
Its incredible to see the reflection of my own community in these videos. I live in a small town southeast of KLAS and we have communities of "downwinders" here who were negatively impacted by the radioactive testing sites in Nevada. Several families in my town have had highly elevated cancer rates and recall watching the tests like they were at a movie theater.
Woah! Watching them as if they were at a movie theater? Did they wear goggles when they went off?
It was like a family outing to go and watch the clouds rise up. This was before these communities were made aware of the dangers of radiation. I've met multi generational locals who have written letters to congress for at least acknowledgment to no avail. @@charleskavoukjian3441
JANET: "Just A 'Nother Non Existant Transport".
Had one of those JANET 737s fly right over the car last time I was in Vegas. Was very curious about what airline it was. As always, the best aviation channel on RUclips!!
I was honored to fly on the Janet flights from 1985-89. I had the Mon-Thur schedule. Great times working on the F-117A and other projects. S4 was down the road. -Ret USAF
Tonopah?
@@MS-37 TTR for 8mos then moved to 51 for 3.2yrs
So S4 is real?
As someone who's been station at Nellis and Edward's among others and had other experience related to this place. One major reason that they don't fly out of Nellis is that using civilian sites has a different appearance and they have a different ID and security system than what is used at Nellis. As they're mixed with other corporate and private arrivals and departure passengers, it's much easier to "hide in plain sight". As it's no longer secret Groom was the initial base for the F-117A before deployment. As for what goes on there now, there are MANY things that are tested there, both fro the past and for the future. It was an honor to have even limited access for a brief moment in time.
Because even with a very high security clearance, at that base you don't get the run of the base. Just like Edwards. There is security levels within other levels that don't get talked about what they are, who has them and how to get them. Many people flying on that aircraft don't even know what the other people do there. Other than they all go there to work or have some reason to be on the flight.
.😌😌😌...i don't belive this...Peter talking about Area 51...This is fantastic !!! Thanx Peter.😅😅😅
I remember the event of 2018. There was a meme going around with...okay, break. There was the idea that people should storm the base like the running style from the Anime Naruto. So the meme was, that there was a crisis meeting in Area 51, were some young folks tried to explain to the old generals, what naturo running is. The world was another place back then.
In the Videos of this day, you can see one (just 1!) guy running like this. Head down, arms to the back like wings.
The Janet flights are readily traceable via ADS-B data, I have notifications set for whenever they depart and traverse the KZLA FIR
Great and interesting video. Keep it up!
Thanks, will do!
Thank you for this fascinating break from the awfulness of the news this week! I've been a subscriber of your main channel for a while and love the content of this channel, too.
Not aviation related, but my sister applied as a typist in the UK foreign office (MI6) back in the late 1970's...They reduced her to tears at the very long, very personal interview...She didn't get the job...and that was just as a typist!
@MentourNow a minor correction - In the early days Skunkworks was at Burbank Airport (KBUR) on the north west side of the field. The Palmdale facility was used for building the L1011 airliners. Later on, Skunkworks moved in there (I think in the late 90's, but not exactly sure).
Great video, I lived in Las Vegas and was a Private Pilot in the early 90s and remember the Janet callsigns coming and going.
I used to be a tour guide out of Boulder City, doing outdoor stuff like hikes. At the end of the day we'd take people back to their hotels and some of them were near, then Mc Carren. I'd point out the Janet planes that were white with a red stripe and tell them it was a leftover from when Howard Hughes let them use the name of his airline TWA as a cover.
The tourists never believed us, even though they could see the planes right there through the fence as we drove by, which didn't have the plastic slats in it yet. LOL
I almost forgot to add. Military personnel do fly out of Nellis to Groom lake and other sites up there. They want as few civilians on the base as possible, because there are nuclear weapons on that base and also it's just more dangerous than a civilian airport.
Great video! I spent a few months at Nellis AFB during CATS school back in the late '80s (combat air tactics school). Alot has been learned about the facility since then. It was an exceptional experience! I learned a lot that I'll take to my end. Cheers
This was really interesting and something I did not know of. Thanks for sharing this.
Used to be the same just a couple of years ago for the Baikonur space launch facility. You had to buy tickets through a dedicated Russian Space Agency airline, the same operating "zero-g" planes, and the tickets were not publicly available. And those guys wouldn't sell you one if they didn't have you on the FSB (successor organisation of KGB) list of approved visitors, as besides "regular" rockets Baikonur still has a number of active ICBM silos out there in desert. Even though today there're some public tickets offered in parallel to those special ones (mostly for family members of those working there), if you just buy one and land there you'll have to go back as you won't be be able to pass the security and enter the city or territory of the facility.
Fun fact - legally Baikonur is assigned to Moscow region, even though it's 3x larger than Moscow, is in another country and 2,500km away. So it has Russian laws, currency, Moscow license plates etc. But the area around it is Kazakh, so there're 2 administrations in the city with buildings across the street from each other.
Gotta watch out for those ET's. Santa could also be lurking in there.
I've had security clearance before, having worked as a contractor for companies with DoD contracts. The one question I remember from the background check I found humorous and strange was "were you born a male before 1957?" And many other strange and redundant questions. Always interesting work I had the privilege to experience.
Great presentation. Obvious you did lots of prep for this piece. Great job!
It's also interesting to learn that Janet at the time operates 12 Boeing 737-200 and now Janet only has 6 aircraft and all are now 737-600 which is as of now, only 15 Boeing 737-600 are still in active service by just 4 operators. I never flown on the -600 but i did on the -200. I only flown onboard the -200 once when i was young back in March 2013 flying Semarang back home to Jakarta, Indonesia with Sriwijaya Air. Yes the airline that you actually talk about almost a year ago in a Sriwijaya Flight 182 video on your other channel did operate a total of 16 Boeing 737-200 and at the time of my flight in March 2013, Sriwijaya Air only has 6 737-200s because 5 months later in August 2013, the airline has complete phasing out all of it's Boeing 737-200 fleet with plans to replace it's entire Boeing 737 Classic fleet with the 10 Boeing 737 Next Generation aircraft it had on order at the time.
In many cases, base security officers will turn simple trespassers over to the county sheriff, unless of course there is evidence of unauthorized activity or espionage, in which case the FBI will get involved. Nevada route 375 touches one corner of the northern end of area 51, but there is no public access, and there are warnings to that effect. Any attempt to breach the base perimeter, by a number of people, would elicit a massive law enforcement response by military security, Federal officers, and local and state police. Don't even think about it.
Thank you for all of this information.
Pretty unusual? There are State officers who still Flyer from Bonn to Berlin and back each day
Only real legends remember that fsx mission where you had to fly JANET from Las Vegas to Area 51
As people have said regarding Nellis vs. KLAS, much easier for the amount of traffic going in and out daily to be at an FBO type terminal compared to on base. Much quicker for what are civilian workers to come and go vs on base and and with that much potential traffic (as little as it may be in the grand scheme of things), it would not interfere in the least bit with any potential opsec at any time of year. There are many special joint training mission events that I know if at Nellis, likely dozens more i don't know about that an operation like Janet could become overly problematic for both the AF and the civilian workers and their employers. FBO type ops avoids all of that completely and could potentially pull "rank" on other commercial traffic at LAS uf needed.
Regarding that high altitude NOTAM corridor, a virtual straight out over the pacific would suggest something very, very fast. Especially ending roundabouts where supersonic flight is allowed beyond land 😮 something new? Something "borrowed" perhaps? Supersonic flight testing could be the reason for that high and narrow corridor. #2cents
Always facinating content!
I worked with a Air Force officer who got selected to fly " Janet "
I never saw him again 😢
Possibly the reason janet operates from a commercial airport is down to logistics, would air force fighter jet equipment fit an airliner, like the refueling tankers and air starter packs?
With the janet jets being civil aircraft at the end of the day, would they find it easier to find engineers to repair the aircraft on a civilian airfield?
As you also said, it could be the case of checking in to the airport, and going through security, if you checked in at an air force base, they would have to take on extra staff at the air force base to screen all the passengers, where operating from a civilian airfield, only the existing cabin crew would be needed to security screen the passengers perhaps?
I watched tv shows about area 51, where they would wheel cardboard cutouts painted black of randomly shaped aircraft from a hangar to the apron, and tie them to eyelets in the ground when they knew the soviets were going to do a fly-over and take ariel photographs, to confuse the soviets, they would park the lockheed blackbird between the cardboard cutouts if it had to be outside, so that the soviets didnt really know which shape was a real aircraft and which wasnt
Theres a mission on microsoft flight simulator where you fly a janet jet from las vegas airport to area 51, and theres a point where the Ai pilot changes the callsign and turns off the transponder, at the same time as switching ti a communication radio on military frequencies, but im guessing thats not the case, as after all, its a civilian aircraft, and i wouldn't have thought they would have bothered retro fitting friend or foe transponders or military communication radios
Flying aircraft in rather than say driving busses full of staff, and lorries with cargo would be easier in some ways, the terrain around area 51 looks harsh, and would likely deteriorate vehicles quicker than an aircraft landing on a runway
One interesting question i have is, if the janet jets fly at 15,000 feet or below, do they require the cabin to be pressurised, if not, does this have an impact on the amount of cycles allowed between D checks?
[Possibly the reason janet operates from a commercial airport is down to logistics, would air force fighter jet equipment fit an airliner, like the refueling tankers and air starter packs?]
Excluding fighters, Many of the airframes of larger military aircraft have a lot of commonality with commercial airliners. Suitable access stairs and other ancillary equipment is probably already available at any military airfield, and the military would not be shy about spending several million dollars to upgrade facilities if they thought it necessary. In particular, since the retirement of the SR-71 I think everything burns either LL100 or JP-4. Possibly the fittings differ, but that seems easy to retrofit.
I know a Navy P-3 had an engine fire and made an emergency landing there about 3 decades ago.
Apparently they called Las Vegas to report the emergency, and the Groom lake(not sure if it was officially Homey back then) ATC over heard the mayday it and gave them vectors and clearance to land there.
When they landed all hangers were of course closed and the crew was escorted to the barracks which were apparently really nice and had an open bar and great galley.
This is where it gets strange. The ground told they can fix engine and they would be ready to fly out the next day...which did not seem possible.
The next morning less than 24 hours the P-3 crew was told their engine was repaired and they were cleared to go.
They were escorted from the barracks back to their P-3. Again all the hanger doors around them were shut with some wrmed guards standing around keeping the hangers 'secured'.
If I recall correctly the crew was told not to disclose exactly where they landed and instead and officially they made the landing at Tonapa.
Area 51/Groom Lake was much more mysterious before 2000 and is much bigger today with construction constantly present.
Still even then they had 'luxury barracks'.
I'm a Pyrotechnician and we put in notifications for NOTAM to be issued frequently when we're working with fireworks that can reach above 400ft. Sometimes we're working with fireworks that can reach over 1000ft and we need to keep aircraft coming into land away. We often have CASA staff on site when we're near airports and training spaces for the ADF.
As a person who has been through the DV clearance for the UK (Direct Vetting), the interview questions sound like a similar process. Basically the questions are not about saying you must have only X sexual preference, its about revealing anything that might be used to blackmail you into working for a foreign power.
Basically you, and you partner (and also any other close family members) will be asked some really personal questions, which you must answer truthfully (the interviewers are experts in telling if people are lying). Once answered those answers are all written up and given to your partner and your boss, at minimum. Basically, you have nothing to hide, nothing that can be used against you. "Hey, spy for us or we'll tell your wife about that affair you had at the conference 5 years ago" or "spy for us or we'll tell your parents you used to do drugs as a teenager". That sort of thing
“Commuting to work can be a real pain”…. Yes it can!! Especially by car!! My commute was over an hour sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, until I bought my first aircraft! … Just FYI: I commuted to work in my Cessna 150, every day for 7 years. Only on 1 occasion did the weather prevent me from getting there on time.
It was about a 30 minute flight once airborne, from Manchester New Hampshire down to an airport just under the Boston Logan class B airspace. (Hanscom field) On nice VFR days, I’d see the cars lined up for miles , as far as the eye could see, on the highways below.
You got away with it easy with weather. usually OK in Southern US but don't try it in Canada winters and in Europe. There , you better own the place where you work, for you will not be there 1/2 the time or be late, even IFR, then you get fired. It is an airplane not a car, engine trouble and need to change it, unless you have a spare sitting there, the down time would be counted in weeks not days.
They ask about sexual matters during the security clearance process because they are trying to weed out people who are vulnerable to blackmail. They don't care if you fancy men or women or what your kink is, they just want to know that you are not so ashamed of whatever it is that you would be blackmailable (ditto 'financial consideration' aka 'are you in so much debt you'd be tempted to sell secrets?').
This was an excellent one! Well done! Thank you!!!👏👏👏👏👏😃
ive seen janet planes at Nellis in the early 1990's, during a 10-day word-trip from AZ
The questions about sexual activity don't have anything to do with orientation. The intent is to identify individuals who are vulnerable to exploitation through sexual encounters, one type being called "honeypot". As for basing out of Nellis, I suspect it comes down to ramp and facility space which is exacerbated during every Red Flag exercise, some of which include foreign militaries. I don't think they have the space to add a Janet terminal and hangar on Nellis and wonder if they have a greater or easier ability to operationally secure Janet operations where they are now.
What secret? I fly them to work every day...
Another great video! Thanks Petter!
Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.
Can you make a video on the Iberia a346 overrun at Quito with the toliss a346
I love how informative and unbiased your presentation is. In an era of rampant speculation and sensationalism you are here to present us with the facts and i appreciate this channel immensly for that.
This channel is truly a gem for us aviation enthusiasts who share the same passion for all things aviation as im sure you do too!
2 minutes in on the video, and i am thinking SR-71. If this was a modern NOTAM, then not the SR-71 but an equivalently fast aircraft. I know a lot of nations are working on hypersonic equipment, and that kind of stuff really only works at high altitude.
What an absolute gem of a video! Highly informative and a great topic to uncover.
I'm curious how many flights Janet operate between vegas and Area51? And do they also fly weekends?
I used to see them over my house. They are easy to spot. Every morning.. there they are.. and there they go, off to work. After a while you don't even care. The REAL fun is when they have to move a fighter jet from Las Vegas to Nellis. It's about a 12-13 mile flight and they have no choice but to take off at full throttle to get enough speed as they can't gain any real altitude in time. Lots of fun to see a jet moving very quickly barely a thousand feet above the city (have to fly *under* the incoming commercial flights) and then back down - all in about 3 minutes :)
They fly 24/7 and there about 15 of them.
I worked around the corner from Lockheed Skunk Works in Palmdale, we definitely saw Janet flights out of the air base there and from Edwards AFB as well. Was always intrigued when we would work those flights.
I really enjoy your videos; and have been a paid app subscriber for quite a number of years now..... just great work, sir
the sexual behavior question is related to the fact most espionage agencies consider a person who tends to pick up sexual partners in bars and tries to impress them with secret knowledge to be a gold mine.
Ah the “honey trap”..
Also, they want to know if you can be blackmailed. Maybe your sexual activities don't need to be hidden. But another person may practice a religion that frowns on that kind of thing. It all boils down to can they trust you and are you vulnerable?