Honestly those famous signs on area 51 round warning people to stay off the grounds or use of deadly force will be authorized.

That simply cannot apply to a large protest of people can it? I'm talking about thousands of people all in protest all in the name of deprivitizing and declassifying information to do with A51. The Government tells us nothnig, and yet they're suppose to serve us? the People?

What would they do if literally thousands of people showed up at the doorstep so to speak and protested the secrecy behind the base? The cold war is over, theres no real U.S. threat anymore (can be argued) But certainly less then there was with the Soviet Union disarming a ton of their Nuclear weapons.

A few thousand people with signs and the whole bit to protest along with news reporters and media which wouldn't be hard to get considering an operation of this scale (thousands of people) would attract alot of attention. These people would have to be dedicated and very serious but public protest is neccessary to keep a Government in check.

What would they do? Kill these thousands of people with the use of deadly force? I very much doubt our Goverrnment has that much reason to keep its meaning a secret. I'm not talking about declassifying and releasing military secrets or the layouts of how they are constructed (so it couldn't be used by other countries) So seemingly no harm is done right ? but certainly atleast acknowledging the operations the bases main use and a brief discription of what they entail and the technology and benefits of it.

They couldn't possibly arrest all whatever thousand protesters that are there, certainly isnt enough personel to do that.

Answers can be found I'm just suprised americans havent stepped up to the plate, and gone to bat for these answers. Would a base so secret from the public be tolerated in the sixties (Had it then been acknowledged by the gov't as it is now?) A time where protest was all the craze and putting up Sam wasn't tolerated?

This has to inspire some thoughts please I'm interested in your opinions. Am I the only one to suggest such a protest? Hope not.

Three words: Free Speech Zone

I'm sure the some officials would conveniently whisk all protestors away to an out-of-sight area (the "free speech zone") where they can protest away without being seen. It happens at political protests all ready, I'm sure it could go on at military installations as well.

But why, do you really want to see some secret planes that bad? Risking the other superpowers seeing our technology? They hide it for a reason, I just don't see your purpose. Is it that bad for our country to keep their secrets secret?

The gov wouldnt kill you protestors....They'd send in MP's and use non lethal crowd control force such as pepper gas. This is of course if you crossed that lethal force line.

And by the way, it is VERY important no other country know what we are working on, otherwise they could counter it. Even saying something as vague as "we are working on a high speed aircraft that uses nonstandard propulsion" is too much to say. This is because our enemy will know that it must supercruise at above Mach 3.5 (the admitted speed of the SR-71 blackbird, the fastest known plane in the world) and that they may need to look for other ways to target this object besides known ways such as radar and IR because it uses nontraditional propulsion.

However, if they do let you in, i wunna see too!!!!!

you would have to think that the current american government projects and technology is so advanced that even acknowledging and giving a brief description of the technology it possesses that no military could "counter" it. The American military is advancing technology now I believe much more in defence for these aircraft not neccessary for its payload or weaponry. Stealth technology etc.

[Edited on 3-1-2004 by lordfinesse]

why in gods name do you want to protest for?? This is the US government we are talking about and one of the most secret facilities in the US. Once you and a thousands people walk past the sign allowing them to use force, your little protest will end up abit messy

Originally posted by infinite
why in gods name do you want to protest for?? This is the US government we are talking about and one of the most secret facilities in the US. Once you and a thousands people walk past the sign allowing them to use force, your little protest will end up abit messy

cause we wanna know where all this military budget goes to all those billions of dollars. If they used even a fraction of that revenue used on new military technology experiments and projects etc they would have found cures for so many things. Take your pick cancer, diabetes, aids, all that atleast the common flu. Jesus I bet you'll never see a cure for cancer in our lifetimes because the pharmaceutical market have gotten greedy and would hate to see a clean cut cure for cancer appear. They'd do anything to keep that from happening I'd imagine were talking tens of billions if not hundreds of billions of dollars that would be spent elsewhere instead of into treatments like radiation etc.

Originally posted by lordfinesse
Honestly those famous signs on area 51 round warning people to stay off the grounds or use of deadly force will be authorized.

That simply cannot apply to a large protest of people can it? I'm talking about thousands of people all in protest all in the name of deprivitizing and declassifying information to do with A51. The Government tells us nothnig, and yet they're suppose to serve us? the People?

What would they do if literally thousands of people showed up at the doorstep so to speak and protested the secrecy behind the base? The cold war is over, theres no real U.S. threat anymore (can be argued) But certainly less then there was with the Soviet Union disarming a ton of their Nuclear weapons.

A few thousand people with signs and the whole bit to protest along with news reporters and media which wouldn't be hard to get considering an operation of this scale (thousands of people) would attract alot of attention. These people would have to be dedicated and very serious but public protest is neccessary to keep a Government in check.

What would they do? Kill these thousands of people with the use of deadly force? I very much doubt our Goverrnment has that much reason to keep its meaning a secret. I'm not talking about declassifying and releasing military secrets or the layouts of how they are constructed (so it couldn't be used by other countries) So seemingly no harm is done right ? but certainly atleast acknowledging the operations the bases main use and a brief discription of what they entail and the technology and benefits of it.

They couldn't possibly arrest all whatever thousand protesters that are there, certainly isnt enough personel to do that.

Answers can be found I'm just suprised americans havent stepped up to the plate, and gone to bat for these answers. Would a base so secret from the public be tolerated in the sixties (Had it then been acknowledged by the gov't as it is now?) A time where protest was all the craze and putting up Sam wasn't tolerated?

This has to inspire some thoughts please I'm interested in your opinions. Am I the only one to suggest such a protest? Hope not.

Sorry, Lordfinesse, but I truly believe that any protest would be dealt with in the normal military way. They would try rubber bullets and tear gas first and if that didn't work they would invent a reason to fire live rounds. What ever Area 51 is, they certainly don't want us to know. (Not that I ever will, because I live in the UK and have no plans to visit the US unless I get a chance to go to Disneyland and the space centre )

well area 51 is on federal property, not the same as protesting in other places, would you tresspass on the pentagon? a army base? or anyother place you need permission to enter? the government has a right to privacy just like any of us you know...

or would you prefer just anyone knowing things that could compramise the security of the military and in effect, yoiurself?

Dumb idea, it would quickly turn violent and lead to people being gunned down.

do u think that those ppl at area 51 will use non-lethal force when they see 1000 ppl marching towards the base? they'll think that there's a #in war goin on and blow all u mother #as away!

When drunks go crazy on New York streets they use plastic bullets.

When people go crazy 50 miles north of Las Vegas they use.....

Originally posted by TheMachine
When drunks go crazy on New York streets they use plastic bullets.

When people go crazy 50 miles north of Las Vegas they use.....

not yet released technology like laser guns

or nerve gas for that matter

Originally posted by namehere
the government has a right to privacy just like any of us you know...

It seems like today that our privacy is becoming irrelevent to the government, and I highly doubt that the government has the word (privacy) related to its citizens in their dealing with them.

I read somewhere that the government can swipe your property without your prior approval.

I agree, and seem to be the only one. Why do elected officials have a right to with hold information from the people, it hardly seems democratic, and seems awfully bold coming from "the land of the free". I understand why they want to keep secrets from enemies, but to defend it, well... welcome to the right wing baby.
As for using deadly force, come on. There would be a MASSIVE public back lash, and hinding the disappearence of a few thousand people might be a bit harder than one or two idiots who push too far. Still, i believe they would have ready an action plan to prevent such a gathering... Gotta remember, its 12 miles from the perimiter to the base, and assuming the crowd is on foot, that gives the departments involved enough time to mobilise a force capable of defusing the situation. Im sure that more than enough people would be arrested to force the others to second guess their situation. Then the people caught could be charged with anything from tresspassing to treason.

Im just guessing at the above, but come on. Killing a thousand civilians and getting away with it? oops, #, i forgot, its George Bush as command and chief isnt it... perhaps it would be a death march

Why would you want to risk lives? They WILL shoot you. I think its better thats its secret so countys don't come out with it or something better. People try and find out whats in Area 51, because there the neighbors in the neighborhood with a police scanner listing to peoples phone calls and getting the inside info around town.

Three of my American relatives have worked around NTS. And from what they tell me (they enjoy telling me!) you'll mostly find boring exhibits (holes in the ground etc) This is what the media and public sees. But what is common knowledge among workers that travel on Janet Airlines is what we know as area 51 and many other suspicious areas, particulary west of area 51. If your interested I can post what they have heard from other workers and seen with their own eyes (It'd be nice to have some hard evidence up for a change wouldn't it?)

Originally posted by Templar
If your interested I can post what they have heard from other workers and seen with their own eyes (It'd be nice to have some hard evidence up for a change wouldn't it?)

Sounds interesting...

seriously, the road to the base is long from what i understand.
at worst i would think black hawks would be sent in to fly low and cause sand storm-like conditions and slow down the protesters until razor wire barriers could be strung across the road and security reinforcements flown in from Nellis....
No one is going to mess with that razor wire... nasty stuff...

[Edited on 12-1-2004 by intelgurl]