A viewpoint of only 8 miles! Could it really be?

Whilst doing general research on A51 I came across a number of pictures of which I had never seen on another forum I use. Many of you will have already heard of the mine and perhaps even seen the pictures. I heard that the family who owns the mine rarely goes there, only about twice a year and that they have to give 2 weeks notice first. The mine's operations were shut down in the 50's yet Watertown had already been established by then.
files.air-attack.com...
The rest can be found here: www.alien-ufos.com...

I apologise if these have already been posted however I would like more information, and no, I'm not going to harrass the owners to let me go! There is also an interesting report from the nas library regarding the Groom mine
nas.library.unr.edu...

The mine is a mere 8 miles from the Base which begs the question, Why hasn't the mine been bought by the Air force or CIA etc. I also wonder how these pictures haven't been deleted from the internet. Although they don't show anything of obvious attention but the pictures afford a very nice view of the base.

Some more background info can be found here: knowledgecenter.unr.edu...

I believe it is under the ownership off The sheahan family of which I can find very little information. I do also believe that many of the family members fell ill during the atomic tests in the 40's and 50's from Yucca flats etc. It is also noteworthy to add that George Knapp was invited by the mine owners to visit it however the air force declined it and gave no reason.

Any information will be valuable to me, thanks for reading and just a little disclaimer, I had no involvement in the production of the pictures. Thanks for reading !

this is just way too cool....great pics, too! i'm going to try and find out more about this. thanks!

reply to post by Thomasz


Good find, they have been posted up here before but it's always nice to see again. There's a YouTube video with the owners of the mine talking about Area 51 I can try to find for you if you like?

I think after the owners pass away they might try and take the land but at the moment there's no real harm in them being there.

reply to post by Stealthbomber


Gariac talked about this a while back on another thread. Interesting story none the less S+F.

Those pictures are really cool, and not just because area 51 is in the background, honestly I would have never noticed if it wasn't stated, but because of the old mining equipment still there. I always take pics of things like this..... like old cool parts of history.

reply to post by Thomasz


Makes you wonder if the Family has seen anything unusual...

reply to post by abeverage


That's exactly what I was thinking! I'm betting their family has loads of stories about weird things going on etc. just a shame they don't actually live there permanently. I would love to get into contact with them and ask them a few things.

reply to post by moonweed


My pleasure, if you do uncover anything please let me know. I am already in the process of tracking down the owners but any extra info would be appreciated.

well u answered your own question,there is nothing to see in the photos and if there was really anything to see in area 51 then trust me no family would be owning anything in an 8 mile radius.

i,m not becoming a skeptic but i have to admit in the last little while i have started to question a few things i believed.

Originally posted by Thomasz
I apologise if these have already been posted however I would like more information, and no, I'm not going to harrass the owners to let me go! There is also an interesting report from the nas library regarding the Groom mine

I posted the pictures in this thread I started back in 2010:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I had these pics and more in high-res but inadvertently deleted them at some point.

Here is Youtube video of Barbara Sheahan who own/owned the Groom mine claim, back when they were doing above ground nuclear testing at the NTS.
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by boomer135

Gariac talked about this a while back on another thread. Interesting story none the less S+F.

Actually I did a bit a research on a different mine. It turns out some guys were trying to claim land near Bald Mountain to keep the feds from stealing it, obviously unsuccessfully. But the Groom Mine story is a good one.

There is also an odd box of what I assume to be deeded land inside the range near Bald Mountain. The corners are roughly
N 37.54458 W 115.79740
to
N 37.54308 W 115.79568
I never did find a claim there.

If someone wants a research project, there are patented mining claims and I guess non-patented mining claims. My understand from talking to people (hence second hand knowledge) is that you own the land if it is a patented mining claim. That is how the old tungsten mine or the Tybo mine property gets sold and resold just as if it was deeded property. The other mine requires you to dig up the mineral in question on a periodic basis and present it to some authority to analyze the sample, otherwise you lose the rights to the land. Rights is a relative term since some jerk can camp next to your mine since it is BLM property.

Land Claim

The wiki is a start, but I suspect there is a lot of nuance to this since you are dealing with federal and state law.

reply to post by FosterVS


Thanks for sharing the video, it still amazes me that they dropped the bombs whilst they were living there and no one knew! She's probably one of the only outside people who have set on groom lake.

reply to post by abeverage

Makes you wonder if the Family has seen anything unusual...

They don't live there, but rather visit. So the base knows not to fly the saucers (only kidding) when the mine is occupied.

Regarding settting foot across the border, Medlin can do so, though I doubt he ever got close to the base. But Medlin or residents of the ranch are more likely to have stories to tell, but Steve for sure doesn't want the publicity since it means more people messing with his cattle, mailbox, etc.

reply to post by Thomasz


They actually took some photos of the nuclear bombs going off and got a visit from the FBI when they tried to get the pictures developed lol

reply to post by Stealthbomber


There is a terrific photo of the Sheahans and their cat watching an atomic blast from the Groom Mine. The lakebed appears in the lower left corner but the photo was taken a few years before the base was built there. As I recall, the picture was published in a 1953 issue of National Geographic Magazine.

reply to post by Shadowhawk


I think I have found it
air-attack.com...

If not, it still shows a good image of the atom bomb test.

reply to post by Thomasz


Different pic. No people and no cat. Nice shot though. Better view of the lakebed.

reply to post by Shadowhawk


There was an article in June 1953 called 'Nevada learns to live with the atom.' Although I can't get that exact photo there are a few others from there so it could be that issue.