Talk:Hangar 18 (film)

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[edit] No connection to Area 51!

This is a common misperception, made by many people. However (and I also posted this on the Area 51 discussion page), the Hangar 18 of alien legend is located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio. This is where the "alien bodies" from the Roswell crash were supposedly taken in 1947, and thenceforth the hangar became a top secret, restricted access area. The story goes that President Truman once asked to see the place, and the Air Force Chief of Staff at the time (I believe it was either Hap Arnold or Curtis LeMay - forgive me) famously said something along the lines of, "hell no, and don't ever ask again!" Nonsense, to be sure. At any rate, in those days Wright-Patterson was home to the Air Force's leading research center, and it would be at least plausible that if something sensitive were recovered (at Roswell or anywhere else), Wright-Pat is probably where it would have been taken in 1947. There is in fact a Hangar 18 there (as there is on most Air Force bases with at least 18 hangars), and it is indeed a restricted-access hangar. However, many bases have such restricted areas, that doesn't necessarily mean classified material or equipment is stored there. There are any number of reasons for a hangar to be restricted.

As for the Area 51 connection/confusion, it's quite simple. There is indeed a Hangar 18 at Groom Lake, and it happens to be the largest hangar on the base. Some who are only superficially familiar with the "Hangar 18" legend notice its presence at Area 51, and then naturally tend to add 2 and 2, coming up with 5. "Of course! Area 51 has aliens, and they're kept in Hangar 18, which I can see right there in the picture!" They're either unaware, or choose to ignore, that the base at Area 51 didn't exist in 1947.

If you insist on believing a myth (captured alien spacecraft), at least place the myth at its proper geographic location! Crazed actor 22:03, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

Now that you bring it up, Crazed, this article currently has a problem confusing the film with the legend. Both should be made explicit, using sourced information. I know nothing about the legend, but I'll check the existing references and see if I can dig up some further information. I do know about the film, and will add some info on that shortly. (I'm thinking about splitting the article into three major sections, similar to Doctor Clayton Forrester, since two meanings are related, the third section being "Other uses" or some such. If any section becomes more than a stub, we might eventually establish multiple articles with a dab page.) Do you have any sources for the information you provide above? If so, it would make sense to add some of this material to the "legend" part of the article. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 04:43, 17 February 2006 (UTC)