OTI-57-70             Nevada Test Organization                July 29, 1957
                     OFFICE OF TEST INFORMATION
                       1235 South Main Street
                          Las Vegas, Nevada

Telephone:  DUdley 2-6350                             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



     A pilot who landed his small private aircraft late Sunday on the Watertown
air strip within the restricted air space over the Nevada Test Site was to take
off today after being detained overnight at Mercury.

     The pilot is      [DELETED]      of Redondo Beach, California, an
employee of the Douglas Aircraft Company.  He was on a cross country training
flight from Torrance, California, to Las Vegas, when he lost his way, ran low
on gas, and landed at Watertown.

     The Watertown landing strip is in the Groom Lake area at the northeast
corner of the Nevada Test Site.

     Nevada Test Organization security officials reported the incident to the
Civil Aeronautics Administration, which administers the air closure over the
Test Site.

                                      -O-

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Even back in 1957, Groom was an extremely classified area, during the U-2
program. One can imagine the kind of reception this pilot got...

The document Accession Number is NV034090.

Paul McGinnis / TRADER@cup.portal.com / PaulMcG@aol.com
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 95 20:46:19 PDT