Area 51 — Key Persons Directory

Area 51 — Key Persons Directory

Founders and Program Architects

Clarence "Kelly" Johnson (1910–1990)

Chief aircraft designer, Lockheed Skunk Works; designer of the U-2 (delivered in 8 months from contract signing), A-12 OXCART, SR-71 Blackbird, and F-117 (conceptually); creator of the Skunk Works management model; two-time winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom; the most consequential aerospace engineer in Area 51's history; his philosophy of small autonomous teams with minimal bureaucracy defined how every major Groom Lake program was managed.

Richard Bissell (1909–1994)

CIA Deputy Director for Plans; supervised the U-2 program under DCI Allen Dulles; co-created the Area 51 model of CIA-Air Force-contractor collaboration; also the primary architect of the Bay of Pigs invasion (which he considered a far lesser achievement).

Allen Dulles (1893–1969)

Director of Central Intelligence (1953–1961); authorized the U-2 program and the selection of Groom Lake; oversaw the early years of Area 51's development; fired by Kennedy following the Bay of Pigs.

Test Pilots

Tony LeVier (1913–1998)

Lockheed test pilot; conducted the first intentional U-2 flight at Groom Lake on August 4, 1955; his initial landing assessments of Groom Lake's suitability helped confirm the site selection.

Francis Gary Powers (1929–1977)

CIA U-2 pilot; shot down over the Soviet Union on May 1, 1960; captured by the Soviets; tried and convicted; exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in 1962; died in a helicopter accident while working as a Los Angeles news reporter; the most famous Area 51-related pilot in history.

Lou Schalk

Lockheed test pilot; conducted the first flight of the A-12 OXCART at Groom Lake on April 26, 1962; one of the elite group of pilots cleared for the OXCART program.

Whistleblowers and Disclosure Figures

Bob Lazar (born 1959)

Self-described former S-4 employee; claims to have worked on alien spacecraft propulsion systems near Area 51 from 1988–1989; appeared on KLAS-TV with George Knapp in May and November 1989; introduced S-4, Element 115, and the Sport Model to public consciousness; operates United Nuclear scientific supply company; subject of Jeremy Corbell's 2019 documentary; credentials disputed; LANL connection partially documented. The single most influential individual in the history of Area 51 UFO mythology.

George Knapp

Peabody Award-winning investigative journalist, KLAS-TV Las Vegas; conducted the original 1989 Lazar interviews; has covered Area 51 and UAP topics continuously for more than 35 years; co-author with Jeremy Corbell of various UAP-related media; the primary responsible journalist for bringing the Area 51 UFO narrative to the American public.

Jeffrey T. Richelson (1947–2017)

Senior fellow, National Security Archive, George Washington University; filed the 2005 FOIA request that resulted in the 2013 CIA declassification of Area 51; author of America's Eyes in Space and other works on the U.S. intelligence community; the civilian researcher most directly responsible for the official acknowledgment of Area 51.

Researchers and Investigators

Annie Jacobsen

Journalist; author of Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base (2011); conducted extensive interviews with Area 51 veterans; her book is the most comprehensive mainstream journalistic treatment of the base; introduced a controversial alternative explanation for Roswell (modified Soviet aircraft piloted by human experimental subjects) that was widely criticized.

David Adair

Self-described rocket scientist who claims to have visited Area 51 in 1971 as a teenage prodigy and observed an alien engine; his account has not been independently verified.

Political Figures

President Dwight D. Eisenhower

Approved the Area 51 site selection; approved the U-2 program; oversaw the early years of Area 51's development; confronted the political consequences of the Powers shootdown; subject of the claim that he met with extraterrestrials at Holloman or Edwards AFB in 1954.

Senator Barry Goldwater

Republican presidential nominee 1964; attempted to access classified UFO materials at Wright-Patterson AFB; also reportedly inquired about Area 51 with senior Air Force officials and was denied access; stated publicly that he believed classified UFO programs existed.

President Bill Clinton

Signed the 1996 presidential determination exempting Area 51 from disclosure laws; reportedly asked staff to investigate what the government knew about UFOs and Area 51 during his presidency; stated he found nothing extraordinary.