Originally posted by fishmaster
Area 51 at one point was a secret and the
government denied its existence...

Actually, I think to be most accurate, the gov didn't "deny" it's
existance. ie they didn't state "there is no base". What they
did was refuse to reveal the agency responsible for the base.
In the early days, you could drive up to the edge of the dry
lake (legally) and see the facilities with the naked eye.
Then and now, it was hardly a "secret" in the sense that
some suggest Dulce is.
Entry to A-51 requires a certain level of "top secret" clearance,
but that doesn't actually mean that the facility is "secret". You can
see it from a commercial airliner on regularly scheduled flights.
There has ALWAYS been a relatively simple and legal way
for anyone to see the base. I've never seen any quotes from
the US gov stating "it doesn't exist".
I'm not really a follower of the Dulce fantasy. I don't know
if the gov has ever said "It doesn't" exist. My guess would
be that, like most things of high security nature, they simply
refuse to confirm questions of it's existance.
Sarge