Thursday, April 01, 2010

Area 51 Bribes, Dirty Tricks

Local News | Area 51 vets break silence: Sorry, but no space aliens or UFOs | Seattle Times Newspaper: "...On one occasion, he remembers, when the first jets were being tested at what Muroc Army Air Field, later renamed Edwards Air Force Base, a test pilot put on a gorilla mask and flew upside down beside a private pilot.

'Well, when this guy went back, telling reporters, 'I saw a plane that didn't have a propeller and being flown by a monkey,' well, they laughed at this guy — and it got where the guys would see [test pilots] and they didn't dare report it because everybody'd laugh at them,' says Barnes.

Noce says he quite liked working at Area 51..."

The article contains a bit about hush payments to witnesses and then the above little set-up. I'm glad they all got a good laugh out of this little stunt. Too bad they didn't think about the consequences to the people on the receiving end of these stunts. Not only was this one unnecessary, it was cruel. Practical jokes can be fun for all if you're on the receiving end and you find out what the joke is. It becomes decidedly unfunny if the joke causes you physical harm or, in this case, makes you doubt your sanity. But I guess all is fair in the name of national security.

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