S-4

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Contents 5
S-4
Area 51 Groom Road gate.
Area 51 Groom Road gate. Photo: Tim1337 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
TypePlace
Also known asPapoose Lake
On the Timeline4 events, 1989–2023

S-4 (sometimes "Sector Four") is the name of a secret facility near Papoose Lake, south of Groom Lake (Area 51) in Nevada, where Bob Lazar claimed in 1989 that he had worked on reverse-engineering alien spacecraft. No evidence has been found that the facility exists.[1][2]

Lazar's account

George Knapp (8221331696) (cropped)
George Knapp (8221331696) (cropped) Photo: Peabody Awards · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Lazar said that S-4 was built into the side of a mountain beside Papoose Lake, with hangar doors disguised to match the slope, and that it held nine disc-shaped craft of different designs. He said he was employed there in 1988–1989 to study the propulsion system of one of the craft. His account, first broadcast by Las Vegas journalist George Knapp, made Area 51 famous worldwide.[1][2][3]

Searches

Groom Lake and Papoose Lake , both in the Nevada Test and Training Range . Groom Lake is also in Area 51 . Note that some of the lines you see beside…
Groom Lake and Papoose Lake , both in the Nevada Test and Training Range . Groom Lake is also in Area 51 . Note that some of the lines you see beside… Photo: Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Papoose Lake lies within the restricted Nevada Test and Training Range, and visitors cannot approach it. Researchers who have studied satellite images and the surrounding area have found no sign of hangars in the mountainside, and no document has confirmed a facility called S-4 there. Skeptics also note that a real "Site 4" exists but is part of an electronic combat range near the Tonopah Test Range, more than 80 km (50 miles) to the northwest.[2][4]

Lazar's credibility

Illustration of official papers and files
Illustration: official papers and files. An artist's impression drawn for this site, not a photograph of the event.

Lazar's broader claims, including his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Caltech, have been questioned because no records of his attendance have been found.[1][3]

On the UAP Timeline

Phobto of colonel john b alexander , work of a U.S. Army employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S…
Phobto of colonel john b alexander , work of a U.S. Army employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S… Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

References

This page was last edited on 29 October 2026. Articles are written in our own words from the sources listed under References; disputed claims are attributed to the people who made them.

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