Episode 651: Bob Lazar & Area 51

Key Takeaways

Bob Lazar's 1989 interviews were crucial in popularizing Area 51 globally.
Lazar claimed to reverse-engineer alien anti-gravity technology using Element 115.
His personal history includes embellished credentials and legal issues like pandering.
Lazar's story, despite inconsistencies, profoundly influenced UFO lore and government distrust.
An FBI raid on his company was linked to an unsolved thallium poisoning murder case.

Lazar is credited with popularizing Area 51 through his 1989 interviews with George Knapp.
Before Lazar's accounts, Area 51 was primarily known to dedicated conspiracy theorists.
His claims amplified Area 51's cultural significance, influencing media like the 1996 film "Independence Day".
Area 51 became a symbol of government distrust after Lazar shaped its cultural perception.

Bob Lazar falsely claimed a physics master's degree from MIT and attendance at Caltech in 1977.
Records indicate he attended Pierce Community College from 1976-1979, not Caltech, and his high school performance was low.
He and his wife Carol moved to Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1982, where he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory for eight months.
Lazar reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with government waste at Los Alamos, allegedly protesting with a prank involving helium-filled trash bags.

Hosts suggest Lazar's independent nature and disregard for authority made him suitable for unconventional work.
Lazar worked at Fairchild Electronics in the early 1980s, involved with 'bubble memory' technology.
He acquired a Gluharev pulse jet engine, attaching a small version to his bicycle in 1977.
Lazar married Carol Nadine Asher in 1980, who had a prior history involving murder, amphetamines, and kidnapping in 1974.

Lazar's custom micro-turbojet engine on his Honda Civic hatchback, installed in 1982, garnered local newspaper attention.
The jet-powered Civic achieved speeds of 200 mph on dry lake beds, with a noise level estimated at 120 decibels.
A Los Alamos Monitor article verified the vehicle and Lazar's stated reason for its creation: 'going fast'.
Lazar allegedly met Dr. Edward Teller, 'father of the hydrogen bomb,' at Los Alamos after Teller read about his car.

Bob Lazar's second wife, Tracy Merck, was a convicted criminal involved in a Los Alamos National Bank scam.
Tracy Merck forged withdrawal slips to steal from wealthy clients, a scheme exposed by an undercover agent.
Lazar married Tracy Merck on April 19, 1986, three days before his first wife Carol's death.
Carol Lazar died by suicide from carbon monoxide poisoning on April 22, 1986, having hidden a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Area 51 was established in 1955 by the Atomic Energy Commission for the classified development of the U-2 spy plane.
Lazar's employer, EG&G, supported stealth technology development for Lockheed Martin at Area 51.
UFO lore surrounding Area 51 began to emerge in the 1970s, fueled by purported Majestic 12 documents.
These Majestic 12 documents, now assessed as likely disinformation, claimed alien craft recovery and human experimentation, with Eisenhower's knowledge.

Lazar claimed he was taken to a mountain complex called Area S4, located 15 miles south of Area 51, in 1989.
His first day involved paperwork for a high-level security clearance called Majestic, which he reportedly did not receive.
Despite this, Lazar was given files for Project Galileo, aiming to reverse-engineer alien propulsion systems.
Lazar believed he was hired to replace a scientist killed in an explosion while dismantling a reactor at the site.

Lazar was tasked to reverse-engineer an alien pewter-colored cylinder 'emitter' and a half-sphere 'reactor'.
The reactor allegedly demonstrated anti-gravity by creating a 'gravity well' that pulled the craft through space.
Lazar named the reactor's fuel Element 115, predating its official synthesis and naming as Moscovium.
He claimed Element 115 emits a unique gravity-like aura when decaying into Element 116, a premise unsupported by science.

Bob Lazar contacted Gene Huff, an explosives enthusiast he knew since 1984, to register his firearms.
Through Huff, Lazar was introduced to John Lear, heir to the Learjet fortune and a prominent figure in UFO lore.
Lear, a claimed CIA pilot, alleged President Eisenhower met with aliens and was involved with Majestic 12.
After several months, Lazar felt surveilled at Area S4, noticing his car doors were opened, interpreted as a show of power by unknown entities.

Lazar's military liaison, Dennis, confronted him about telling friends about the classified project and questioned his insubordination.
Lazar's wife, Tracy, was revealed to be having an affair with her flight instructor, Tony.
Bob believed this affair prevented him from receiving full security clearance and a full-time position at Area S4.
After separating from Tracy in May 1989, Lazar alleged his car tires were shot out, which he interpreted as a government warning.

George Knapp's five-part TV series, revealing Lazar's identity, focused on inconsistencies in his claimed employment and education.
The Los Alamos National Lab eventually confirmed Lazar's contractor employment there, and the existence of Area S4 was also validated.
Lazar was arrested for pandering, or unlicensed pimping, a year after his interviews, allegedly facilitating sex work.
He received community service and probation for pandering, with the prosecutor noting a lack of typical pimping coercion.

In 2018, the FBI raided Bob Lazar's company, United Nuclear, which sells chemicals and Area 51 merchandise.
The raid was reportedly tied to a December 2015 murder case involving Janet Sturzl, who died from thallium poisoning.
Thallium, a tasteless and odorless poison, was identified as the cause of Sturzl's death, prompting a homicide investigation.
Lazar was not a suspect in Sturzl's death, and Element 115 was not pursued by the FBI during the investigation.