Bob Lazar

Bob Lazar
Born	Robert Scott Lazar (1959-01-26) January 26, 1959 Coral Gables, Florida
Occupation	Former document photo processor Owner of United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies Alleged researcher at Groom Lake testing facility Head of Research and Development at General Electric (Current)
Spouse(s)	Joy White
Parent(s)	Albert Lazar and Phyllis Berliner Lazar

Robert Scott "Bob" Lazar (/ləˈzɑːr/; born January 26, 1959) claims to have worked on reverse engineering extraterrestrial technology at a site called S4, in the Emigrant Valley and Old Kelley Mine area near the Area 51 test facility. Universities from which he claimed to hold degrees show no record of him, and the S4 site was categorized as bogus at first investigation.

Background

Education and qualifications

Lazar claims to hold degrees from the California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1993, the Los Angeles Times looked into his background and found there were no records to support those claims at either institution. UFOlogist Stanton Friedman was able to substantially verify that Lazar took electronics courses in the late 1970s at Pierce Junior College in Los Angeles. His occupation was listed as a self-employed document photo processor. His educational and professional background cannot be completely verified.

Legal problems

A 1991 Los Angeles Times article reported that Lazar was "on probation in Clark County, Nevada on a pandering charge for having installed a computer system for an illegal brothel.

Claims

Lazar first appeared in the media in an Omni magazine article in the early 1980s. He also appeared on television on a local Las Vegas news program discussing his experience at S4 and Area 51. He was also featured in the Los Alamos Monitor in a story dealing with a jet car he claimed to have built with help from a NASA researcher. The car was built from a jet engine modified and placed on an existing car model. The article stated that Lazar was "a physicist at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility".

In November 1989, Lazar appeared in a special interview with investigative reporter George Knapp on Las Vegas TV station KLAS to discuss his purported employment at "S4", a facility he claims exists near Area 51. In his interview with Knapp, Lazar said he encountered several flying saucers. He says he first thought the saucers were secret terrestrial aircraft whose test flights must have been responsible for many UFO reports. On closer examination and from having been shown multiple briefing documents, Lazar came to the conclusion that the discs were of extraterrestrial origin. In his filmed testimony Lazar explains how this impression first hit him after he boarded one craft being studied and examined its interior. Lazar claims to have "worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (specifically in the Meson Physics facility), involved with experiments using the half a mile long Linear Particle Accelerator."

For the propulsion of the studied vehicles, Bob Lazar claims that the atomic Element 115 served as the fuel. The mass of the nuclear fuel aboard each craft was said to be approximately two kilograms and was enough to last for several years before requiring replenishment. In 2003 physicists discovered Element 115 and found that it does not exhibit any of the properties claimed by Lazar.

Lazar also claims that he was given introductory briefings describing the historical involvement by extraterrestrial beings with this planet for the past 10,000 years. The beings allegedly originate from the first and second planets within the Zeta Reticuli star system and are therefore referred to as Zeta Reticulans, popularly called 'greys'. According to Lazar these beings were referred to as 'the kids' within the program, or as 'gourds' among the personnel.

Lazar's stories have garnered some media attention and controversy. Lazar's story has some supporters, however the majority of scientific community remains skeptical. Stanton Friedman, a ufologist, claims to have looked into Lazar's background. Friedman claims that Lazar lied about attending MIT and cannot even remember the year he obtained his masters. No professors at MIT remember Bob Lazar or have any photos of him, nor are there records for him attending.

Physicist Dr. David L. Morgan says that he has scientifically refuted most of the ideas that Lazar had elaborated on in his description of the alien spacecraft, particularly its propulsion systems and use of Ununpentium, or Element 115. Morgan stated that, "After reading an account by Bob Lazar of the 'physics' of his Area 51 UFO propulsion system, my conclusion is this: Mr. Lazar presents a scenario which, if it is correct, violates a whole handful of currently accepted physical theories. That in and of itself does not necessarily mean that his scenario is impossible." Morgan went on to argue that "the presentation of the scenario by Lazar is troubling from a scientific standpoint. Mr. Lazar on many occasions demonstrates an obvious lack of understanding of current physical theories."

S4 facility

Lazar alleges that the S4 facility is located near the Papoose Range within Nevada's Nellis Air Force Test Range and is accessed via a dirt road. The details that Lazar provided regarding S4 are very non-specific, with Lazar having stated that he was transported in a blacked-out bus to the site which did not allow him to see the landscape.

Groom Lake (upper left) with Papoose Lake noticeable at the lower right

The name "S4 Area 51" appears in the controversial Majestic 12 (MJ-12) documents but are marked, by the FBI's investigators, as "BOGUS". According to Lazar's claims, access to the area is highly restricted by the United States government to the public.

Desert Blast festival

Lazar and long time friend Gene Huff run Desert Blast, an annual festival for "explodaholics" in the Nevada desert. Starting in 1987, but only formally named in 1991, the name was inspired by Desert Storm. The festival features home-made explosives, rockets, jet-powered vehicles, and other pyrotechnics, with the intention of emphasizing the fun aspect of physics.

United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies

In 1986 Lazar started United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies, a scientific supply company initially operated in Sandia Park, New Mexico, which then moved to Laingsburg, Michigan. United Nuclear Scientific sells a variety of materials including radioactive ores, powerful magnets, and other scientific equipment such as aerogel, as well as a variety of lab chemicals. According to unverified claims by United Nuclear it has "over 400,000 satisfied customers," and these customers include law-enforcement agencies, schools and amateur scientists as well as individual amateur scientists and students.

United Nuclear and legal issues

United Nuclear Scientific has had several legal issues in its history. In 2006 Lazar and his wife Joy White were charged with violating the Federal Hazardous Substances Act for shipping restricted chemicals across state lines following a federal investigation that began in 2003. The charges stemmed from a 2003 raid on United Nuclear Scientific's business offices, where chemical sales records were examined. Lazar claimed that he mistakenly concluded that United Nuclear could legally sell the chemicals after finding incorrect information on the Internet. Small amounts of polonium, a radioactive element which was in the news at the time because of its role in fatally poisoning former Soviet intelligence agent and whistleblower Alexander Litvinenko, had been sold by the company.

In 2007, United Nuclear Scientific was fined $7,500 for violating a law prohibiting the sale of chemicals and components that are used to make illegal fireworks. Lazar and United Nuclear "pled guilty to three criminal counts of introducing into interstate commerce and aiding and abetting the introduction into interstate commerce of banned hazardous substances."

External links

• Official website
• Bob Lazar at the Internet Movie Database