Area 51...Just about Aliens??

Well, with Area 51 being in the Nevada Desert, mermaids would have a hard time.

Area 51 is primarily known for secret Air Force projects (and UFO's).

Setting a fantasy story in Area 51 would be more than a little strange, but it might just work. Maybe the government has a secret mermaid project! Call it Ariel 51. ;-)

Just my opinion, "Area 51" is overfamiliar to the point of cliché, it's appeared in hack TV series and B movies for decades.

-Derek

dpaterso said:

Just my opinion, "Area 51" is overfamiliar to the point of cliché, it's appeared in hack TV series and B movies for decades.

-Derek

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Yeah, but the idea is so over-the-top that it might work. I mean, if it was another story about aliens and Area 51, YAWN . . . but mermaids? It would still be a little tongue-in-cheek but I can actually see a Nicolas Cage movie using the idea (I'm not sure what that says about the idea . . . but it says something! ;-).

Yes, the Area 51 myth is cliched now, but the base itself does exist, whatever you call it- Dreamland, Groom Lake... it's had a lot of names. It's (probably) used for ultra-secret airforce experiments. They developed the stealth program there. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people work there, and it's so secret that it's surrounded by several other off-limits airbases, just to keep the gawkers away.

All fascinating stuff, but the trick here is not replaying the old cliches, like aliens in jars, and flying saucers. Don't be afraid of subverting the myths.

Alice.S said:

Aliens are fantasy-ish...

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Yes, but I think most people consider aliens in the science fiction genre.

Alice.S said:

Okay, so what if I drop the whole Area 51 one thing...and just have another top secret government location?...what people would be called into study mermaids?? and who would keep it top secret??

...any type of military force??....navy???

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Is the location actually that important? What about just some fictional island somewhere. Give it a weird name and let it be run by the US Navy.

Alice.S said:

Okay, so what if I drop the whole Area 51 one thing...and just have another top secret government location?...what people would be called into study mermaids?? and who would keep it top secret??

...any type of military force??....navy???

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If you look into the recent history of an island called Diego Garcia you might find a suitable location. I would imagine the US Navy would be very interested in mermaids for anti-submarine warfare. Didn't they attempt to train dolphins for such purposes?

Alice.S said:

What genre do cats in pirate costumes fit into??

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Horror. They're really, really mean pirates.

Alice.S said:

Yeah with their killer claws and ear piercing meows

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They would have taken over the high seas (and the low seas!) . . . but they got distracted by a piece of string.

Area 51 is a huge toxic dump paid for by the Black Budget, where CIA guys hang out at a resort which includes "Sam's Bar." (Is this the Dreamland Resort?) All the water is flown in there because it is so polluted. Supposedly Groom lake is inside area 51. Area 51 includes Tonopah Test Range ( near the Town of Tonopah, Nye County, Nevada), Silver Bow or Silverbow (Stephanite, Wheaton-- now a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada), Dreamland (Nellis AFB, The Box, The Ranch, Watertown Strip) Papoose Mountain. These are all real places of course. There is a road there called the"Extraterrestrial Highway." It is interesting how these places all have multiple names. I think there was something there once, but it wasn't Alien. Its a bombing range and airplane testing facility. I think the worst part of it is that the AF feels free to bomb wildlife refuges indiscriminately and to annex public land in order to destroy it with bombing practice. They burn toxic waste in open pits, and pretty much go against every civilized law regarding environmental safety (Allegedly). They even have a hauling company called NDB for none of your damned business that hauls toxic waste in tanker trucks and releases it into the environment. Then they put out nice SWEIPS (sitewide environmental impact statements) which claim that they are not doing anything to hurt the wildlife. So frankly, if you write these books, please make the enemy these polluters. In fact, as far as the water, they bring it in on C130's (on the tab of the taxpayer) they could have water flown in. Supposedly they get anything they want.

Oh, this all could be "mythological" information, or it may be true, who knows?

Well, they could have brought them in in tank trucks and have a whole SeaQuarium setup there ... it's close enough to Vegas that you could have the whole thing happening at a casino owned by the government as a cover and the tourists would never know.

When I was in college (around 1984) my roommate's dad had an FBI security clearance, essentially he had access to things most people didn't. He told a story of how he and his partner at the Bureau tested the limits of their clearances one day. They were allowed to see virtually any documents they wanted to but they were denied access to anything pertaining to Area 51. Strange? You decide.


I should in all honestly tell you that the day I first met her dad he was astride an enormous clydesdale carrying a lance.

If there were mermaids being studied by the military and assuming they were marine as opposed to fresh water, it would seem to make sense to be nearer the ocean or at least with easy access to water. If they were using fresh water and adding salt etc, they'd want some marine biologists as well as physicians or maybe veterinarians. They wouldn't necessarily have to be military since the military hires a lot of civilians to do all sorts of things. Of course they'd also need someone to build the enclosure...someone to buy fish from for feed.

beezle said:

Yes, the Area 51 myth is cliched now, but the base itself does exist, whatever you call it- Dreamland, Groom Lake... it's had a lot of names. It's (probably) used for ultra-secret airforce experiments. They developed the stealth program there. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people work there, and it's so secret that it's surrounded by several other off-limits airbases, just to keep the gawkers away.

All fascinating stuff, but the trick here is not replaying the old cliches, like aliens in jars, and flying saucers. Don't be afraid of subverting the myths.

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Very true. Area 51 itself exists, although that probably isn't its real name. And it's the worst kept secret that the government is keeping something secret there, probably secret experimental aircraft. The cliche is the "alien spaceships really are hidden at Area 51," even if that is based on conspiracy theories some people really believe. The idea that the government circulated a fake theory to draw attention away from an equally bizarre real idea, pretending they had aliens when they really had mermaids there, would be a pretty clever twist to me.

Yeah, I agree with pretty much what everyone else said. It's a good idea, though, Alice!

-Sam