Janet 737 night landing at Groom Lake

This is a stack of 4 images, each of 30 second exposure, using a 100mm lens, F2, ISO 6400. The key to interpret this photo is the plane is approaching the base from the left of the image. The lights on the plane leave a trail on the long exposure image. The very bright orange lights at the base are related to the passenger "terminal", that is, you only see those lights when passengers are entering/exiting aircraft at night.

There was a moon at about 50% illumination to aid in lighting the scene.

The small gaps in the "landing line" are due to one frame finishing and the next frame starting. That is, the camera shutter wasn't open for brief periods.

Not every light in the image is "real". For instance, the orange lights near the bottom of the image isn't from a camp fire, but rather are lens flare from the bright orange lights at the base. The lights on the mountain top are real, being those of the Papoose Mountain facility.

reply to post by gariac


WOW, nice pic. Did you upload it directly from atop the mountain?

Do you camp out there to catch a glimpse of some new aircraft? Tell us more.

reply to post by gariac


I definitely think that there are designated places on earth.....where Ufo's from other planets are allowed to land. I think that (Groom Lake) is one of those places.

I also believe that there are many (disinformation) agents on earth....who try and cover up this truth.

I think too that there are (disinformation agents) who pose as members on ATS.....it is just an intuitive hunch.

reply to post by BIGPoJo


Photographing Groom Lake from Tikaboo really requires an overnight stay. It's a bit of a pain since you need to bring a tent, sleeping bag, water and food for the trip. You can read about people claiming to reach the peak in an hour, but they aren't carrying a tripod, gear head, camera, and telescope on their back.

If you look at the "Tikaboo Horoscope" thread, I picked a day when there would be a dark period so that they might perform a test, and then also some moonlight later so I could do this shot. Next time I will pan the lens and capture the plane coming in over the Nevada Test Site. I have some test shots I of this plane there as well, but not enough to do a complete trail to the base.

This shot was done from the so-called false summit on the trail to Tikaboo. It has a view of the base, but not as good as on the peak itself. For this purpose, the view is good enough.

While I have slept on the peak a few times, you don't really have much room up there. And er um using the facilities requires heading down from the peak. The false summit is relatively flat and could hold a few tents. Basically you don't miss much from that location. The hike from the false summit to the peak is maybe 15 minutes, and that is carrying all the photo gear.

If they did a test a night, the scene would look a bit different. First of all, those big orange lights wouldn't be on. The runway would be. The base is somehow darkened during a test. That is, they can switch off lights that are not required. This makes the runway lights more intense.

Thanks as always gariac. great picture and great description

can u link me to a some info in the Mountain facility you mentioned please ??

thanks

snoopyuk

Hi Gariac,

What a stunningly beautiful photograph, seriously, well done and thank you! Starred and Flagged, more excellent work from you!

Cheers

Rob

reply to post by snoopyuk


You can see the Papoose facility on Google Earth. Beyond that, there is no data that I know of on the facility.

Absolutely awesome pic gariac! One of these times when I visit the area, I really need to climb Tikaboo.

Somewhat OT, but there is a spot between Tikaboo and the base, at 37°20'6.79"N, 115°23'29.09"W
Looks like about 2 miles away from the peak. On GE, it shows up as a rectangular area, about 37 ft. x 65 ft.
Do you have any idea what this is? A short distance away are three circular green object, may or may not be Joshua trees, but are perfectly in line and all the same size.

Fascinating photo.
Thanks for this post!

reply to post by FosterVS


I started a thread on that slab of cement and my recollection is nothing was concluded. I don't think we noticed the three objects in a row that you pointed out. The spot is behind a ridge, as if whatever equipment was put on that spot was intended to be hidden from viewers in the Tikaboo valley.

The spot is in free territory, but getting there is not trivial. What I had planned out was to drive perpendicular to the spot, then walk the flat land, then hike the hill.

Tikaboo is hard if you carry a lot of gear. If you are just carrying food, water and binocs, it is not so bad. The number of people that photograph the base is probably 10% of the number of people that do the hike, or the photographers are not putting their work online.

I have another panorama from this trip in the works, but it won't be nearly as good as the one I did last year. If you study the sun angle, it is best to photograph the base in late May. Too early or too late in the season puts the A12 hangars in the shade during the early morning light. In April, you can still find snow on the ground! By October, LA is usually on fire and the smoke obscures the visibility. I photographed the base once in November and it got a bit nippy at 8000ft.

reply to post by gariac


Thanks Gariac
i will look into it.

snoopyuk