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Inside the Real Area 51: The Secret History of Wright Patterson
The true nature of what actually crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947 remains classified. Only a select few have ever had access to the truth about what became known as Area 51.
But what happened to the remnants of that crash is shrouded in even greater mystery. What began in the high desert of New Mexico ended at Wright-Patterson, an ultra top-secret Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio. The physical evidence of extraterrestrial visitation was buried deep within this nuclear stronghold.
How tragic that such seismic news should be kept from the people of the world...pieces of history, now quickly dwindling into oblivion as the last of the secret-keepers passes on.
In spite of its rich history of military service to our nation, Wright-Patterson also stands as the secret tomb of one of the greatest occurrences in recorded history. But be prepared...the real Area 51--Wright-Patterson's vault--is about to be opened.
But what happened to the remnants of that crash is shrouded in even greater mystery. What began in the high desert of New Mexico ended at Wright-Patterson, an ultra top-secret Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio. The physical evidence of extraterrestrial visitation was buried deep within this nuclear stronghold.
How tragic that such seismic news should be kept from the people of the world...pieces of history, now quickly dwindling into oblivion as the last of the secret-keepers passes on.
In spite of its rich history of military service to our nation, Wright-Patterson also stands as the secret tomb of one of the greatest occurrences in recorded history. But be prepared...the real Area 51--Wright-Patterson's vault--is about to be opened.
288 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2013
23 people are currently reading
182 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
March 23, 2021
The subtitle for this book is pretty misleading. It's not a secret history of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as much as it is a typical search for uncovering whether or not the U.S. government found crashed alien spacecrafts in Roswell and elsewhere. Wright-Patt's history is discussed but the authors quickly move on to the topic of aliens, which is the focus of the rest of the book. To add to that, the authors sensationalize everything, have incredibly weak jumps in logic, and rely on flimsy evidence that they try to use to justify outrageous claims. I personally do believe the government has found alien craft in the past but the authors here do a disservice to the topic by repeating the same few ideas over and over, without strong evidence to justify any of them. For anyone interested in similar topics, I highly recommend Annie Jacobsen's books. She does a great job of thoroughly researching her topics and is much more intensive in connecting one idea to another.
August 26, 2016
This book was entertaining but ultimately not very convincing. Most of the stories are second and third hand accounts, someone who knew someone who saw the bodies of 2 aliens or 4 aliens or 13 aliens, or a live alien. A few accounts were by people who were part of a large group of people shown all the evidence and told not to tell anyone. Or someone with no security clearance who saw something during their work. Or someone with high security clearance who no longer wanted to keep the secret. Rumors, rumors, and more rumors. I am open to the idea of a government conspiracy to hide the evidence of a UFO crash in Roswell, but this book comes across to me as sloppy and grasping at straws.
April 1, 2018
Interesting. They delve into almost every theory out there. Very little proof and lots of speculation. Would like less hyperbole and more facts. I guess such is the nature of books of this type.
November 14, 2018
Inside the real Area 51 can be a misleading detail, as in not many of these sources are firsthand evidence. Its a someone who thinks they saw aliens or believe that they were probed and had contact with aliens. The sources are not very credible at times. But for some people it may confirm suspicions of aliens to them. To some people this might mean a lot because maybe they think they encountered aliens and everyone called them crazy and this book confirms it for them. Answering the essential question what does it mean to be an American, many people in the United States are firm believers in aliens. So because so many people do believe in aliens in helps make what it means to be an American.
Never again should it be said we simply don't have credible evidence of extraterrestrial visitation. If the eye witness testimony of dozens of honorable, distinguished, and heroic miltitary men is to account for anything...then we should listen to what they've been telling us about Wright-Patterson AFB."
Never again should it be said we simply don't have credible evidence of extraterrestrial visitation. If the eye witness testimony of dozens of honorable, distinguished, and heroic miltitary men is to account for anything...then we should listen to what they've been telling us about Wright-Patterson AFB."
June 15, 2019
The book is a quick and entertaining read. A lot of speculation and far reached conclusion based off people who knew people who said something. That’s the most frustrating thing about this book. It lacks primary sources and relies so much on deathbed confessions and hearsay evidence along with “anonymous sources” as to be almost worthless because you can’t verify any of the information. Still a fun read and recap of UFO events.
October 12, 2019
Enjoyed the history of Wright-Patt, descriptions of memory metal, June Crain interview, MacGruder story to daughter.
February 27, 2023
the potential of aliens in a city near me?! awesome. this book? not so much. fell a bit flat.
May 15, 2024
I really enjoyed reading this book.
August 18, 2015
"WE HAVE FIVE ALIENS IN UTAH"
Deathbed quotes or near-death quotes like the above are about all we have in INSIDE THE REAL AREA 51: THE SECRET HISTORY OF WRIGHT-PATTERSON by Thomas J. Carey and Donald R. Schmitt. Despite the promises of the title and a blurb on the back of the book which tells us to beware because the real vault of Wright-Patterson is about to be opened. Unfortunately, it never is. What we have instead is a history of the base and a compendium of reports about conversations with people who were supposedly witnesses but are afraid to speak for fear of their lives, about events such as flights and nonhuman autopsies that officially "didn't happen," and an encyclopedia of names of important people -- usually military -- who are either trying to uncover facts about UFO sightings or trying to cover them up. Even some of the high ranking military officers with ultra-high clearances are not allowed to peek inside of the secret hangers -- not even former Senator Barry Goldwater.
As far as being journalistic and scholarly, this book might be a companion piece to the Jim Marrs opus ALIEN AGENDA. Marrs' book includes more cover-ups but goes farther in detailing events outside of Roswell and Wright-Patterson. Both books have a respectable bibliography and pages of endnotes; however, this Carey/Schmitt book leads up to no denouement or climax -- no final revelation or resolution. Marrs makes strong statements about a wealthy elite who have an agenda for keeping the knowledge of the alien visitors to themselves. Readers of this book are told to "ask the questions why such a need for secrecy against a subject so castigated by the authorities? (184) Put simply, why try so hard to hide something if there is nothing to be hidden? Why the need for secrecy if there is nothing to be kept secret? Is this a variation of the old saw "Out of sight, out of mind"?
To its credit, this book does does provide descriptions of a recovered body or two (and even the stench the decayed corpses produced), but these are, again, only hearsay -- observations by witnesses which the government or military tries to silence or label as kooks. The authors do not see these first hand. They do make sympathetic statements regarding respected scientists such as the well-known expert Dr. J. Allen Hyneck for whom it "must have been maddening to deal with uninformed bureaucrats and branches of the military, all controlled by that same bureaucracy"(192).
As for the authors of this work, it must have been equally maddening.
I know it was for me as a reader.
Deathbed quotes or near-death quotes like the above are about all we have in INSIDE THE REAL AREA 51: THE SECRET HISTORY OF WRIGHT-PATTERSON by Thomas J. Carey and Donald R. Schmitt. Despite the promises of the title and a blurb on the back of the book which tells us to beware because the real vault of Wright-Patterson is about to be opened. Unfortunately, it never is. What we have instead is a history of the base and a compendium of reports about conversations with people who were supposedly witnesses but are afraid to speak for fear of their lives, about events such as flights and nonhuman autopsies that officially "didn't happen," and an encyclopedia of names of important people -- usually military -- who are either trying to uncover facts about UFO sightings or trying to cover them up. Even some of the high ranking military officers with ultra-high clearances are not allowed to peek inside of the secret hangers -- not even former Senator Barry Goldwater.
As far as being journalistic and scholarly, this book might be a companion piece to the Jim Marrs opus ALIEN AGENDA. Marrs' book includes more cover-ups but goes farther in detailing events outside of Roswell and Wright-Patterson. Both books have a respectable bibliography and pages of endnotes; however, this Carey/Schmitt book leads up to no denouement or climax -- no final revelation or resolution. Marrs makes strong statements about a wealthy elite who have an agenda for keeping the knowledge of the alien visitors to themselves. Readers of this book are told to "ask the questions why such a need for secrecy against a subject so castigated by the authorities? (184) Put simply, why try so hard to hide something if there is nothing to be hidden? Why the need for secrecy if there is nothing to be kept secret? Is this a variation of the old saw "Out of sight, out of mind"?
To its credit, this book does does provide descriptions of a recovered body or two (and even the stench the decayed corpses produced), but these are, again, only hearsay -- observations by witnesses which the government or military tries to silence or label as kooks. The authors do not see these first hand. They do make sympathetic statements regarding respected scientists such as the well-known expert Dr. J. Allen Hyneck for whom it "must have been maddening to deal with uninformed bureaucrats and branches of the military, all controlled by that same bureaucracy"(192).
As for the authors of this work, it must have been equally maddening.
I know it was for me as a reader.
November 4, 2014
I admit I am a conspiracy buff. I’ve always had a ‘thing’ for UFO’s, aliens, Area 51, Roswell, etc…I used to buy tons of UFO magazines, never missed an episode of The X-Files and have probably read 20 or so books about Roswell, captured crafts, our govt covering up details, etc…
Now that you know where I’m coming from and what my background is, I’ll get to my review of ‘Inside the Real Area 51.’
Basically, to someone who knows NOTHING about Roswell, Wright-Patt, 1947, Ramey and the rest of the characters involved, this would be a good starting point for developing and learning about the subject matter. However, to someone who has read many books—or even just has a passing interest in the topic—there’s not too much new information here.
Parts of it were interesting. I did learn a few things but overall, as others have mentioned, much of the material covered is old news. There’s no “OH WOW!” moments in this book.
The writing was good, fast moving and not dry or draggy at any points. The authors clearly did a lot of research and I applaud them for that. But, in my opinion, I’d say about 85% of this was old news—at least to me.
I’d strongly suggest if you want to really delve into this subject as well as the govt cover-up, do yourself a favor and check out Annie Jacobsen’s “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base.” THAT book was fascinating, thrilling, incredible, informative and detailed. THAT book I wanted to start it over and read it again as soon as I finished. By comparison, this novel left me feeling….meh.
Summary: If you know nothing or very little about the subject, you’ll enjoy this book. If you’ve read other material or even have passing knowledge, then don’t expect too much
Now that you know where I’m coming from and what my background is, I’ll get to my review of ‘Inside the Real Area 51.’
Basically, to someone who knows NOTHING about Roswell, Wright-Patt, 1947, Ramey and the rest of the characters involved, this would be a good starting point for developing and learning about the subject matter. However, to someone who has read many books—or even just has a passing interest in the topic—there’s not too much new information here.
Parts of it were interesting. I did learn a few things but overall, as others have mentioned, much of the material covered is old news. There’s no “OH WOW!” moments in this book.
The writing was good, fast moving and not dry or draggy at any points. The authors clearly did a lot of research and I applaud them for that. But, in my opinion, I’d say about 85% of this was old news—at least to me.
I’d strongly suggest if you want to really delve into this subject as well as the govt cover-up, do yourself a favor and check out Annie Jacobsen’s “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base.” THAT book was fascinating, thrilling, incredible, informative and detailed. THAT book I wanted to start it over and read it again as soon as I finished. By comparison, this novel left me feeling….meh.
Summary: If you know nothing or very little about the subject, you’ll enjoy this book. If you’ve read other material or even have passing knowledge, then don’t expect too much
October 12, 2013
This is another blockbuster from the Roswell UFO crash investigation team of Thomas Carey and Donald Schmitt. But rather than being a straight-forward account of the crash and its aftermath, the focus is on Wright-Patterson AFB (the “Real Area 51” of the title) And not being just about Roswell, this book includes other crash-retrieval material where the identification of the specific crash is uncertain.
These many years after the 1947 crash, it’s amazing how Carey and Schmitt keep hearing from new witnesses—but then, many witnesses are intimidated to keep quiet until near death. Obviously, there is a limit to how long they (and we) can wait until such information is cut off for good, except indirectly via descendants of the first-hand participants. Unfortunately, the Government shows no sign of loosening the clamps on the case, so for now, we must rely on books such as this to find out what really happened.
These many years after the 1947 crash, it’s amazing how Carey and Schmitt keep hearing from new witnesses—but then, many witnesses are intimidated to keep quiet until near death. Obviously, there is a limit to how long they (and we) can wait until such information is cut off for good, except indirectly via descendants of the first-hand participants. Unfortunately, the Government shows no sign of loosening the clamps on the case, so for now, we must rely on books such as this to find out what really happened.
October 7, 2014
this book was damming. Carey and Schmitt pull together in-depth research and investigation by themselves and colleagues. anyone who has Been following the subject of Roswell knows it's a very complicated topic. one major positive element to the work is that the authors are Able o bring together a wealth of personal accounts, statements and deathbed confessions.
what is brought to light, is not only a papertrail but also a trail made by connected memories. this is a topic that the majority of people would sooner ignore than make factual statements about.
what is brought to light, is not only a papertrail but also a trail made by connected memories. this is a topic that the majority of people would sooner ignore than make factual statements about.
August 8, 2014
Lot's of interesting material here. However there are a lot of second and third hand quotes about what people saw since Roswell. But on the other side of the coin, there are some direct quotes from people who were at Roswell and/or Wright-Paterson AFB. Some of them were very high up the chain of command so you can't really dismiss them offhand.
The sad part here is that the public will most likely never be told what really went on at Roswell.
The sad part here is that the public will most likely never be told what really went on at Roswell.
December 1, 2013
Was this self-published? I wonder, because it really needed an editor to suggest that the information be better organized ... What should have been a fascinating book was at times annoying and draggy.
April 26, 2014
Very interesting information but needed better editing as it jumped around too much.
October 19, 2015
I was not very good. :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2016
Well researched and thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews