Bob Lazar goes public
From the UAP Encyclopedia, the open encyclopedia of UFO and UAP history · 🗓️ Event
Contents 7
| Date | 15 May 1989 |
|---|---|
| Topics | Government programs (topic), Propulsion & physics (topic), Bases & Area 51 (topic) |
| People | George Knapp, Bob Lazar |
| Testimony | Shellenberger testimony, p. 103 |
| Year | 1989 in UFO history |
| Timeline | 1989 on the UAP Timeline |
| Sources | 12 |
In May 1989 a man calling himself "Dennis" told Las Vegas television reporter George Knapp of KLAS that he had worked on alien spacecraft at a hidden site called S-4, near Area 51. In November 1989 he appeared on camera under his real name, Bob Lazar. His story made Area 51 famous around the world.[1][2]
The claims
Lazar said he had been employed in 1988–1989 at S-4, beside Papoose Lake south of Groom Lake (Area 51) in Nevada, to help reverse-engineer the propulsion system of one of nine flying saucers kept in hangars built into a mountainside. He said the craft used an anti-gravity reactor fuelled by "element 115".[1][2]
Verification
Knapp confirmed that Lazar had worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where a local newspaper had profiled him, and found him listed in a 1982 Los Alamos telephone directory. But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology, where Lazar said he studied, had no record of him, and his claimed qualifications have never been verified. No facility has been found at Papoose Lake, and researchers studying satellite imagery have seen no sign of hangars in the mountainside. Element 115 (moscovium) was first synthesised in 2003, but it is highly unstable and does not behave as Lazar described.[1][3][4]
Legacy
The broadcasts drew crowds of UFO watchers to the edge of the Area 51 range. Lazar has stuck to his story for decades; it was the subject of Jeremy Corbell's 2018 documentary Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers. Supporters see him as a credible whistleblower, skeptics as the author of an elaborate fabrication.[1][2][5]
People and topics
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- S-4 — The site near Area 51 where Bob Lazar said he worked on alien craft.
- Area 51 — The secret Nevada test site where spy planes and stealth aircraft were developed.
- George Knapp — Las Vegas journalist who broke the Bob Lazar story and co-wrote Skinwalkers at the Pentagon.
- Reverse engineering — Studying a recovered object to learn how it works and copy it.
- Bob Lazar — Man who claimed in 1989 that he worked on alien craft at S-4 near Area 51.
- Anti-gravity — The idea of cancelling or controlling gravity for propulsion.
- Unidentified flying object — An object in the sky that can't be identified; the older term for UAP.
- Los Alamos National Laboratory — The New Mexico laboratory where the atomic bomb was designed.
On the Timeline
- Cabo Rojo jet disappearance (1988) (January 1989) — A Navy sailor says F-14 pilots chased a UAP near Puerto Rico.
- Osedacz thesis on fastwalkers (1989) (June 1989) — An Air Force captain writes that a database of UAP in near-Earth orbit has long existed.
See every 1989 event on the UAP Timeline →
References
- Bob Lazar — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- "I-Team: The man who sent shock waves through UFO circles 30 years ago", 8 News Now · 8newsnow.com · archived copy
- "The strange case of Bob Lazar", Skeptic · skeptic.com · archived copy
- "FAQ: What is Bob Lazar's 'S-4'?", Dreamland Resort · dreamlandresort.com · archived copy
- Jeremy Corbell — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Bob Lazar — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.com · archived copy
- Bob Lazar and Area S-4 — NOUFORS · noufors.com · archived copy
- I-Team: 25 years later, the man who exposed Area 51 — 8 News Now · 8newsnow.com · archived copy
- Man who detailed UFO secrets decades ago helped launch Area 51 stampede — 8 News Now · 8newsnow.com · archived copy
- UFOs, the Pentagon and the enigma of Bob Lazar — News From The States · newsfromthestates.com · archived copy
- otherhand.org · otherhand.org · archived copy
- archive.org · archive.org · archived copy
Further reading
- Area 51 — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
- Bob Lazar — Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org · archived copy
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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