Wayback - Area 51 Sprint Outage

I know it happened over a decade ago, but I remember when a document was posted on the FCC's website about a Sprint outage at Area 51. It always intrigued me and I remember that it caused a bit of a stir since it listed Area 51 as the geographic area affected. I printed up a copy of the document years ago before the FCC had a chance to take it down. My copy is packed away in the basement, but I found a copy on the Wayback Machine! Here's the URL for anyone who would like to download it.

web.archive.org...

[edit on 8/12/2010 by SSPI07]

Not in Archive.

Well, so much for that. I remember this from an Art Bell show. If my memory serves me correctly, phone numbers for Area 51 were published in regards to the outage area affected?

web.archive.org...

This is the actual link it's a misprint.

reply to post by Marrr


Sorry, when I tried posting the link last night it kept messing up. It is fixed now.

It looks like the bottom portion of the PDF file has been cut off. Once I get some things moved, I'll take a look at the hard copy I printed years ago to see if there is any difference. If so, I'll scan in and post my copy.

Originally posted by SSPI07
It always intrigued me and I remember that it caused a bit of a stir since it listed Area 51 as the geographic area affected.

This is likely no more than what Telecom companies refer to as an FCC Reportable outage. Example: When critical communications go over a 50% margin in an outage of a particular rated "service level" then it is considered an "FCC reportable outage". That's the nature of the letter written to the FCC.

They can have some degradation in service, no problem. As long as critical communications are not totally hammered then it is not an FCC concern - in this case that is assumed within the letter.

That it happened at Area 51, well, most places get hit eventually, somewhere, sometime.

FWIW, there is fiber optic cable run along route 93.

I didn't bother to post it, but there is a request for bids on the fbo.gov website for new fiber for Creech.
Telecom contracts for military bases are very common on fbo.gov. Occasionally they will indicate the gear for secure lines.

Originally posted by hootieowl

Originally posted by SSPI07
It always intrigued me and I remember that it caused a bit of a stir since it listed Area 51 as the geographic area affected.

This is likely no more than what Telecom companies refer to as an FCC Reportable outage. Example: When critical communications go over a 50% margin in an outage of a particular rated "service level" then it is considered an "FCC reportable outage". That's the nature of the letter written to the FCC.

They can have some degradation in service, no problem. As long as critical communications are not totally hammered then it is not an FCC concern - in this case that is assumed within the letter.

That it happened at Area 51, well, most places get hit eventually, somewhere, sometime.

I could be mistaken, but I believe the point was that it is a document published on a government website identifying a military base called "AREA 51". The government is big on not giving it a name. "Area 51" appears in a couple places, most notably, uncensored (I'd almost have to believe intentionally) in a single declassified CIA document, but most of the time the government refuses to acknowledge it has a name. Really the only "official" name admitted by the government is, I believe, "Air Force operating location at Groom Lake" which is more a description than an actual name. I only glanced at the pdf, but even though I believe the government wasn't the author, they did publish it on their website.

Area 51 is a NTS designation. It is scrubbed from most of their documents, but it is/was on the map on the wall in the war room of CP-1.

www.lazygranch.com...

Assuming that link makes it, it goes to a map with Area 51 designated.
map with Area 51

reply to post by gariac


How did you get a hold of that map?

reply to post by shmuu


It is on my "misc" page along with the source link:
www.lazygranch.com...
area 51 misc

Environmental reports are great sources of maps. As a side note, I never found a document regarding the new Yucca runway built for Lockheed UAV testing. I've spent a bit of time on the phone with the DOE and NV environmental dept. with no luck.