A couple of former Area 51 workers speak out

Apparently, some Area 51 secrets from the 60s and 70s have been declassified, and a Seattle Times journalist interviewed a couple of former Area 51 workers who did contract work for the CIA at Area 51 during that time.

James Noce, one of the former workers interviewed, didn't have any stories about aliens or alien spacecraft though.  However, if you've heard stories about UFO crashes, Noce did tell a story that sounds familiar:

Noce remembers when "Article 123," as one of the A-12s was called, crashed on May 24, 1963, after the plane stalled near Wendover, Utah. The pilot ejected and survived.

Noce says he was among those who flew to the crash site in a giant cargo plane loaded with several trucks. They loaded everything from the crash into the trucks.

He remembers that a local deputy had either witnessed the crash or had quickly arrived at the scene. There also was a family on a vacation car trip who had taken photos.

"We confiscated the camera, took the film out," says Noce. "We just said we worked for the government."

He says the deputy and the family were told not to talk to anybody about the crash, especially the press.

"We told them there would be dire consequences," Noce says. "You scared them."

As an added incentive, he says, the CIA arrived with a briefcase full of cash.

"I think it was like 25 grand apiece, for the sheriff and the family," says Noce.

Robarge says of cash payments to cover things up, "It was common practice."

Another former Area 51 worker named T.D. Barnes said that he believes the Air Force and the "Agency" didn't mind the stories about alien spacecraft -- it helped cover up the secret planes they were testing.  He did tell a somewhat humorous story though:

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.

Read the whole article here.

H/T