the visitors. When they observed a group climbing White Sides, the local sheriff was called. The group was called down off the mountain, IDs were checked, warnings were issued about entering the restricted area or taking pictures, then the visitors were sent on their way. Video cameras also were installed to watch visitors on White Sides Mountain. The few foolish enough to enter the restricted area were arrested on the spot. They were required to sign a notice that they were being removed for trespassing on a military reservation, a form listing home address, social security number, and so on and a secrecy agreement related to 'intentional or accidental exposure to classified information.' The fine was typically $600, but could run as high as $5,000 or a year in jail. It was also illegal 'to make any photograph, film, map, sketch, picture, drawing, graphic representation of this area or equipment at or flying over this installation.' It was also illegal to sell, publish, or give away any of the above. In either case, the fine was $1,000 and/or a year in jail.
Throughout 1993, there was a standoff, which grew increasingly tense, between the viewers and the security guards. Film was confiscated, and hikers were often buzzed by low-flying helicopters. In other cases, the visitors were followed by guards. Rumors of a land grab by the air force of White Sides Mountain and Freedom Ridge began circulating in the spring of 1993. As support for this, when Freedom Ridge was discovered, there were already survey stakes in the ground. It was claimed that congressional personnel had already been warned that the seizure would be made in several months. Three congressional groups were (reportedly) shown Groom Lake and came away 'dazzled' by what they had seen.[827]
The White Sides Defense Committee was organized to bring political pressure in the event of a land seizure. In their handouts, they have depicted as absurd the idea of a secret base that anyone can see. They have castigated Groom Lake as a Cold War relic and demanded that the land seized in 1984 be returned to public access.[828] On October 16–17, 1993, the committee organized a camp out at White Sides. About thirty people showed up and had 'a grand old time.'[829]
The following day, the Federal Register carried a notice of the withdrawal of 3,972 acres of public land in Lincoln County, Nevada. Air Force Secretary Sheila Widnell said the land was 'necessary to the safe and secure operation of the activities on the Nellis Range.' The withdrawal would be until the year 2001, and the land would be closed to public access, mining, or any other government agency. The land was, of course, White Sides Mountain and Freedom Ridge.[830]
The land seizure attracted both protests and media attention. The White Sides Defense Committee asked, 'Is the military realistically trying to hide critical national secrets from foreign enemies, or is it trying to inhibit watchdog groups, interested taxpayers, and other domestic critics who could challenge the wisdom of continued billion dollar projects?' The Federation of American Scientists called the action 'profoundly offensive… this move should be put on hold.'[831] A Black airplane buff-UFO believer said, 'What the hell is going on at Groom Lake? Why all this extreme secrecy after the Cold War is over? We think someone should shine a bright light on this place.'[832]
The controversy also drew the attention of the counterculture. During early 1994, magazines such as
It was also suggested that any visitors make sure they have no 'wants and warrants,' as 'your name is entered into a national crime and counter-intelligence data base, your life, friends and family researched, your phone tapped, your mail monitored, and the movies you rent screened.'[835]
Throughout the end of 1993, the controversy over the Groom Lake land seizure built, with accusations that the air force's request was too vague, that illegal chemical waste burning had taken place at the site, and that civilian contractors had cheated on their property taxes for their facilities at the site. The goal was to focus attention on Groom Lake, to make the land seizure more difficult, and to force the Bureau of Land Management to hold public hearings. In this effort, they were successful.
The final public hearing was held on March 2, 1994, at Las Vegas. One person there commented that 'entertainment like this can't be bought.'[836]
Only about one-third of the speakers actually talked about the land seizure.
The remainder were UFO believers, conspiracy buffs, paranoids, and other 'colorful characters.' A radio talk show host from Alaska said,
God knows what they're testing out there. Do they have genetic engineering programs? Do they have bacteriological warfare programs? Did they not, in fact, create a thing called AIDS? Do they want to reduce the population of the planet by 25 % by the year 2000? You cannot allow them to take your property. This is YOUR land. It is not their spread.
Adolf Hitler wrote the book,
The high point of the evening's 'entertainment' was an individual with a Mideastern accent and a very loud voice who quoted from the Koran (chapter 51, of course). He announced, 'All aliens! All aliens!.. We want to see the freedom of those captured aliens… Freedom, freedom of captured aliens! We are here to save the good from the bad!' He pointed accus-ingly at the Bureau of Land Management officers and said, 'Fear in your God!'[838] This was not the typical land use meeting.
In the desert, the situation was getting increasingly out of hand. On March 22, 1994, a group of visitors, including a reporter and photographer from the
The reporter wanted to interview one of the private security guards (nicknamed 'Cammo Dudes'). This had proven difficult, as, when approached, the guards would quickly cross back into the restricted area to prevent being identified. When one of the white Cherokees passed their three-vehicle convoy, the vehicles turned diagonally across the road, trapping the Cherokee between them. The reporter then walked over and interviewed the guard. Showing remarkable restraint, the guard only said, 'No comment,' and, 'Don't ask me any questions.'
The following day, the group was on Freedom Ridge when they discovered they were being watched by a telescopic camera. When they tuned a scanner to the sheriff's radio frequency, they discovered that search warrants were being issued. When the sheriff's deputy found them, he bluntly told them to surrender their film or be held until search warrants were obtained. Two rolls of film were surrendered. Never before had it been taken to this point. (The implication was that the new get-tough policy was in response to the 'ambush journalism' of the day before.)[839]
On April 8, 1994, an ABC news crew was stopped, searched, and detained for two hours. A video camera, sound-mixing equipment, tape recorders, microphones, batteries, cables, a tripod, radio scanners, walkie-talkies, and audio and videotapes were seized. The total value was estimated at $65,000.
