John Bradshaw - Area 51
This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. Thanks for joining me. This is part 3 of our five-part series, "Conspiracy, More Than Just a Theory". There is a massive conspiracy playing out in the world today. Its effects are being felt right around the globe. It's spoken of in the Bible, and it affects every last one of us. There are a lot of conspiracy theories today, and one in particular has gained a great amount of traction over the last several decades. It centers in a very isolated location, said to be a hotbed of paranormal activity. It's one of the most secretive, one of the most mysterious places in all of the United States, it could easily be said, in all of the world.
And the secrecy which enshrouds this place has given rise to one of the biggest conspiracy theories you will ever hear. About 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, is a place the L.A. Times referred to as "the holy grail for conspiracy theorists," a US Air Force military installation. It's a real location, and it's a busy place. Things happen here. Exactly what isn't really known. In 1955, the site was selected for testing the U-2 spy plane, and since then many other aircraft have been tested here. The A-12, which could travel at 2,000 miles an hour and take clear pictures of things on the ground from 90,000 feet.
Its successor, the SR-71 Blackbird, was tested here as well, as was the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter. Research, development, and testing are carried out here at this very remote location by the government of the United States. There's a lot of security surrounding the area: cameras, guards, barriers, and helicopter patrols. Even though we have no intention of getting any closer than we're allowed, there's no doubt Uncle Sam knows we're here. He does not want people getting too close.
A large amount of UFO sightings have been reported in the area. Now, many of these have been explained by those who do the explaining as aircraft flights. The U-2 spy plane was tested, apparently, at Area 51, flies much, much higher than conventional aircraft, and so that was given as a reason for some of the strange things seen in the sky. Visitors come here from all around the world, but at the end of the day, on Area 51 there is a military installation. What takes place there is highly secretive and under a blanket of immense security, much like many other military installations around the world.
In fact, the US government only acknowledged officially the existence of a base at Area 51 for the first time just a few years ago. It's that kind of secrecy that has led many people to speculate that there has to be more going on at Area 51 than simply mundane, everyday military operations. It has been claimed that the United States government keeps aliens or the remains of aliens at Area 51. The legend goes that late at night on the 4th of July, 1947, a UFO crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, and that the remains of that crash, the UFO and its occupants, were brought to Area 51.
The main runway is 4 1/2 miles long for a runway. Janet flights come and go from here, shuttling workers between the military installation and various locations. So the question that gets asked is this: How much of this is simply the world's last remaining superpower doing what it needs to do to maintain and develop its military capability, and how much of this is a coverup, a conspiracy, a concerted effort on the part of those in power to keep the truth about aliens and flying saucers from the people? I wanted to ask someone with a unique understanding of the area. Pat Travis owns Little A'Le'Inn, a diner and watering hole that's been here in Rachel, Nevada, for years. Pat knows the area as well as pretty much anyone, and she's seen a lot of people come and go in their pursuit for the truth about Area 51. How did this whole Area 51 thing get started?
Pat Travis: Well, that started a long time ago. But they have been able to test all kinds of things. The stealth was proved from there. And if the world had known what the stealth could do when it went on its first mission, we would not have accomplished what we did. I'm proud to be part of the secrecy that's there. So many things have been developed there. Probably by the time we knew about the stealth, it's probably old. That's what I can say.
John Bradshaw: Do you think that explains much of what people consider to be the, the interesting phenomena?
Pat Travis: Um, testing, yes. No, I believe that we work side by side with aliens. Can I prove it to you? No. But I have that feeling.
John Bradshaw: Now, people come here from all around the world hoping to see lights in the sky and objects up there. Do the locals see odd things flying around?
Pat Travis: We have all seen a few strange things. One of my employees and I actually were sitting outside early one morning drinking coffee, and we saw something we could not explain in the sky, and that was in the morning. So, I have no idea what they're testing. You know, maybe what I saw a long time ago, maybe it was a drone. I have no idea, but I know that there should not have been anything flying in the area where there was something flying.
John Bradshaw: Can you describe what that was?
Pat Travis: It was a saucer-shaped vehicle, that's the best I can say, in an area where they, there is no flying as a general. But there was something there that night. And my niece and I watched it do maneuvers for 20 minutes. Can I prove it to you? No. We know where it was. It was marked; there is a record of where the sighting was, heighth, and so we could about judge how big it was.
John Bradshaw: I'm really interested in your perspective because you live out here. You, you, you're truly a local. What do the locals think is happening over the hill on, on the range? What, what, if you hear...
Pat Travis: We do not discuss any of it. Because it is a top security area. And believe it or not, all of us that live here, somebody may know something, but none of us discuss it at all. Because if it was one of our neighbors, and something was said wrong, they could lose their job over just a slight, and it actually came really close to happening. Someone told reporters that a man that used to live in the double-wide house trailer that's right up here worked in Area 51. He was a truck driver. That's all he was. But he came really close to losing his entire security clearance because of what someone stated. They reworked his entire security clearance. And, you know, we try and keep our neighbors in that secure place. It's just like the security guards that are at the gate. We ask people not to take their pictures, not to do these things. These are men and women that have a job to do. Is it secure? Yes. Do they have to do this? Definitely. Because we probably don't want to know all the things that go on out there, and that would be my best estimation of that one.
John Bradshaw: Tell me something about the people that get attracted to this area.
Pat Travis: There are people from every country in the world. Of course, you spoke to some people from Italy this morning. If you look at the dollar bills on my ceiling, you will see dollar bills that have been put up on my ceiling from every country in the world. And it's always fun to talk to some of them. Language barriers, uh, you know what, you can point to things. They know what a cup of coffee is. So we can get by.
John Bradshaw: So you're here in this area where they're, essentially, on the "Extraterrestrial Highway," and you see something; what goes through your mind?
Pat Travis: Nothing. It's exciting... when you see something that you can't explain. But that's okay. We wonder. I wonder every day how did everything get created. I wonder why I was brought here, and why I feel compelled to be here, why I get up every morning and I feel happy, even if I know that something else... I have two employees out sick right now. So somebody has to cover. I don't have a problem doing that. I love the people that I've employed over the years. Some have been disasters; some have been absolutely awesome. You know what? We have such a close family of friends, and that's the best I can tell you.
John Bradshaw: Pat, thank you, thank you very much. We'll be right back with more in just a moment.
Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. So, you have secrecy, the government, unexplained phenomena, just about everything you need to convince people that aliens are being kept here at Area 51 in Nevada, that the government is involved in some great conspiracy to keep people from knowing the truth. But do you have evidence? Well, no, really you don't. Or maybe you have just enough evidence to keep the conspiracy theories alive and well. But there's a real conspiracy that people are missing, even though it's playing out right in front of our eyes. The tendency is to ignore it, even though the signs, the phenomena are visible, measurable, and verifiable. To miss this one is to make a really big mistake.
According to the Word of God, there was rebellion long ago in heaven, of all places. Lucifer, whose name means "light-bearer," rebelled against God and wanted to receive worship. Isaiah records that Lucifer said, "I will be like the Most High," or "I will make myself like the Most High". Having led a third of heaven's angels in rebellion against God, Satan, which means "adversary," came to the earth and lied to Adam and Eve about God and then led our first parents into sin. Now, you'll notice that in the same chapter God intervened, and He provided Adam and Eve with a way out of the mess that they were in. He provided them with the gift of repentance.
Genesis 3:15, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel". In that verse, God promised that Jesus would come into the world. Humanity could be saved, remember, saved from itself, saved from the result of its own, well, of our own rebellion. Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, and God Himself stepped in to say, "I want to give the human family a way out of this". And think of what that way out was. It was that which was agreed upon in the "counsel of peace" Zechariah wrote about. Jesus would die for the sins of the world. So now the devil realizes that victory isn't assured. His goal is to ruin humanity. If he is to lose, then he'd do everything he could to cause everyone to lose. And he set out to bring as much pain as he could to the heart of God.
So what has happened since that time is all part of the devil's campaign to ruin the world and drag humanity to the lowest depths possible. Let's think about where we are today as a world. The internet is awash with sin. Think about the hatred in the world. Why do you think it is that society is so divided in many ways? You would think that after being on the planet this long, human beings would have figured out how to get along with each other, how to bridge racial divides, how to work for the good of a country rather than for the good of a political party or a politician. And yet well into the 21st century, even though there's an undeniable amount of good in the world, there is a massive amount of dysfunction and hate and evil. And that's because the devil has been goading people to live selfishly and without reference to God. It's a plan, a conspiracy, a conspiracy to bring down the entire world.
And now with the internet, the devil has what's probably his most effective tool ever. There was a time when we thought television was corrupting our minds. Now we carry so much more than a television with us wherever we go. Even though you can watch this program on the internet, the internet is a minefield. What the devil is doing is making it as easy as possible for you to be distracted from faith in God, as easy as possible and as accepted as possible. And today it's entirely acceptable to be distracted from faith. Fewer people than ever are members of a church. More people than ever claim no religious affiliation. I'll give you one more rather unsavory example of where we're going as a planet.
Pornography has shown itself to be absolutely ruinous. Marriages are ruined. Minds are ruined. Families are ruined. Reputations are ruined. After 6,000 years of sin, Satan has succeeded in bringing society to the place where we promote this and make celebrities of those who make it. Freedom of speech? Freedom of sin is more like it. But keep in mind when someone is being tempted to click on a link of that nature, it's because there's a real devil trying to lure that person into a real web of sin. The stakes are not small. They are immense. And the one who knows that the most, after God, is Satan. And how has the devil succeeded in getting us to where we are today? I'll answer that question and more in just a moment.
Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. Just a moment ago I asked how it is that the devil has been so successful in getting the world to where it is today. Well, think about this. When the devil used a serpent as a medium in the Garden of Eden and spoke to Eve, he said in Genesis 3, verse 1, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'"? Now, don't miss that. "Did God really say that? Did God really suggest you shouldn't eat that fruit"? In other words, "You don't need to listen to God. Don't take what He says too seriously. He didn't really mean it. Just do whatever you want".
Now, that's rebellion. Satan's rebellion in heaven resulted in one third of the angels in heaven turning against God. When he brought his rebellion here to the earth, he tried to turn people away from God here as well. But how do you do that? Well, you have to turn them against the Word of God. "God says it, but you don't have to take that seriously". That's what he did in the Garden of Eden. The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through... through what? Through faith. And what is faith? To put it simply, faith is believing the Word of God and living according to the Word of God, expecting God's Word to do what it says it will do. That is faith.
So when Satan said to Eve, "Did God really mean what He said"? he was encouraging her to manifest a lack of faith, distrust in God's Word, rebellion against God's Word. Think with me about what Jesus said in Matthew 19:17. Speaking to a man we've come to know as the rich young ruler, a man who asked Him what good thing he needed to do in order to be saved, Jesus said, "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments". In John 14:15, Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments".
Now, be careful here. This isn't Jesus contradicting Paul. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. No one is saved by obedience. But God makes clear to us that the lives of saved people, filled with the presence of Christ, will be characterized by obedience. When you come to faith in God, your desire is to obey God. Satan knew that. He also knew that if he could lead people into sin, he'd be able to accomplish his aims. But how do you lead people into sin when the Bible so clearly warns us against sin? Listen to Jesus and you notice a thread running through His words. John 15:10, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love". John was more than clear in 1 John 2 and verse 3: "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments".
Matthew 4:4 speaks to this. After having been tempted to turn stones into bread, a ravenously hungry Messiah turns to the devil and says, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" So Satan turned his attack to the Word of God. Where's the respect for the Word of God today? Well, it's in rapid decline. In the late 19th century, modernism promoted the idea that religious and moral principles should not be the main influence in social progress. God was left out of the equation altogether. Charles Darwin claimed that human beings are the result of natural selection and not the product of a Creator God.
See what's happening? Between modernist thinkers and Charles Darwin, God suddenly becomes unimportant to our origins or to where we're going as a civilization. We can get by without God, we're told. The World Health Organization estimates that 125,000 abortions are performed a day around the world. Tens of thousands occur every month in the United States, even though even atheists know that the Bible says, "Thou shalt not kill". God speaks, yet we seem to be able to say, "I'm doing completely the opposite. That doesn't apply to me". Seems as though the devil has been highly successful in causing people to think his thoughts.
Revelation 22:14, God says, "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city". It's been hundreds of years since the Catholic Church removed the commandment about worshiping idols from its teachings and replaced the missing commandment by dividing the commandment about coveting. Rome was also responsible for changing the weekly day of worship from the seventh day of the week to the first. God's commandments have been under attack historically, and they still are today. And this isn't like ignoring the speed limit or jaywalking. "The wages of sin is death," Paul wrote. It's serious. But it's what Satan wants.
Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 59:2 that sin separates a person from God. That's the aim; that's the agenda: to separate people from God. And if you could do that while convincing them it's harmless or fashionable or that times have changed or that the church is out of touch, then you've just succeeded in justifying rebellion against God. But is it ever justified? No, it's not. Not ever. And is it ever wise? Oh no, of course it isn't ever wise. Is it ever necessary? Oh no, it's not necessary. What would make perfect sense is to read the Word of God and say, "This is a God I can trust. This is a Savior who died for me. This is a Jesus who one day is coming back to take me to be with Him in heaven". Following God is the pathway to a glorious future, a bright future, a happy future. You can believe the propaganda, you can listen to the lies, you can be caught up in the conspiracy, or you can look into the face of Jesus and say, "Now, that's Somebody that I can love".
So what's the answer to a conspiracy that's led people to feel free to obey basically whatever they want, basically to obey themselves, which means to be their own god, what's the answer? Well, the answer is this: a radical commitment to God, a commitment to Jesus, and a complete surrender to Christ and to the Word of God, including the law of God. If God said it, that's enough. And how's that going with you? We're in a battle here on Planet Earth, a real spiritual battle. Only as we surrender to the Word of God are we safe in the face of this relentless attack. Let's pray for that true surrender and pray that God would keep us safe, not just now but always. Let's pray now:
Our Father in heaven, caught up in this war, this battle, we turn to You. Jehoshaphat in the Bible was caught up in a battle he knew he couldn't win, but he turned to You, and he prayed and he said, "Our eyes are upon You". And so, Lord, that's what we say to You. We're looking in Your direction.
Friend, are your eyes on Jesus? If they're not, you'll be pushed this way and that, swayed this way and that, but if your eyes are on Him, focusing on the risen Savior, looking upon a God who is love, then you'll receive His presence and His strength and His blessing. And this great God will live His life out in you. Lord, that's our prayer. Is it your prayer, friend? If it is, open your heart to God. Say to God:
"Yes, God, that's my prayer. Yes, Lord, I want Jesus to be my Savior now and forever". Keep us, Lord, in this great conspiracy, this great battle. Thank You that when Jesus comes back, we will be able to say, "Victory, victory is ours forever". We pray gratefully in Jesus' name. Amen.