Scientists have evidence that the massive meteor that turned the night sky into day for two seconds Wednesday night might have exploded in the atmosphere above the reputed Area 528212;an extremely dangerous, mysterious patch of Utah desert.
Patrick Wiggins, NASA Ambassador to Utah and Robert Matson, senior scientist for Applied Science International, believe the cosmic rock blew up as it burned through the atmosphere above Tooele County, based on interpretations of recorded seismic activity information and the meteor’s perceived trajectory. The meteor pieces would’ve landed within a mile of where the meteor exploded — but unfortunately, that means they would have landed in the Dugway Proving Ground8212;an area of the western Utah desert, bigger than Rhode Island, where the U.S. Army tests chemical, biological and radioactive warfare, an area that is rumored to be the new Area 51.
“It’s a restricted area,” Wiggins said. “I seriously doubt anyone can go out there.”
The U.S. Army tested thousands of bombs in the gigantic military reservation, according to the U.S. General Accounting Office. But the area is more colloquially known as Area 52 for all of the reported UFO sightings. Rumors circulate that the Dugway Proving Grounds is where the U.S. Government transferred all of the Area 51 alien research after public scrutiny drew too much attention.
No military personnel have found a meteor shard, said Dugway Proving Ground spokesman Al Vogel.
Wiggins said he heard a local Utah man is trying to get permission from the military to take an expedition out into the desert to find what’s left of the meteor, likely a straggler from the Leonid meteor shower that the Earth was passing.
“I had one gentleman call me about an hour ago,” Vogel said. “He works for the advertising agency as the Clark Planetarium as a client. He has friends who want to go meteor hunting.”
Vogel is strongly discouraging anyone from venturing into “Area 52” looking for the meteor. It’s an enormous remote desert with no cell phone reception, no military patrol passing any given area for more than a week, where they still regularly test weapons. There are even areas of the desert too dangerous even for approved military personnel to travel through, Vogel said.
Relu Burlacu, seismograph network manager, said there’s nothing to suggest where the meteor pieces might have landed, based on the U’s seismograph station’s recorded activity from Wednesday’s early-morning hours.
Vogel also denied that Dugway Proving Ground houses any alien technology, but acknowledged the reputation the military facility has garnered is entertaining to some of its employees.