How Can I Land a Job in Area 51 as a Physicist?

[physics user1]

Area 51, how do i get a job in area 51 as a physicist? Misterious places like groom lake are really attractive, I know it could look like a silly question but for sure someone works there, and I would like to know how they did.
What kind of specialization and path would I need to get there? (Theoretical physics would be fine?)

I'm in Europe, can I aspire to that? What should I do?

 

[Choppy]

Okay, there aren't many ways to get in, but forget about theoretical physics. Area 51 is all about reverse engineering. People are recruited from a small program in the midwestern US. It's a highly selective program, and you need a basic level of security clearance just for admission. The link is:
[link deleted]

Hold on. There are a couple of guys in black suits at my door...

 

[Vanadium 50]

If you want to work at Area 51, you'll need to become a fictional character, because it is fictional.
If you want to work at Groom Lake, you'll need to become a US citizen.

 

[JakeBrodskyPE]

All silly conspiracy stories aside, Groom Lake is where the US Department of Defense conducts tests of secret aircraft technologies. For example, they were instrumental in the "Have Blue" testing program that later became the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter aircraft.

Usually such places are only open to those with US security clearances. Such clearances are only rarely issued to foreign nationals. Citizenship in the US is usually a requirement.

Having been at the Naval Research Lab as a student intern decades ago, I can tell you that the US Military is very serious about keeping secret things secret. Frankly, I detested the security clearance bureaucracy so much that I went to work somewhere else. There is no glamour working in such places because you can't discuss it with anyone outside of your immediate work hierarchy --not even your spouse. Going to a bar with friends or a cocktail party, you can't say anything about what you do on the job --not even incidental irrelevant stuff to the projects you work on.

So what happens at Groom Lake pretty much has to stay at Groom Lake. Were I in your your shoes, I might seek work with a large aerospace firm such as Arianespace. You'll get all of the thrill, and there is even a fighting chance that you can brag a little about how, yes, you really are a rocket scientist.

 

[physics user1]

All silly conspiracy stories aside, Groom Lake is where the US Department of Defense conducts tests of secret aircraft technologies. For example, they were instrumental in the "Have Blue" testing program that later became the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter aircraft.

Usually such places are only open to those with US security clearances. Such clearances are only rarely issued to foreign nationals. Citizenship in the US is usually a requirement.

Having been at the Naval Research Lab as a student intern decades ago, I can tell you that the US Military is very serious about keeping secret things secret. Frankly, I detested the security clearance bureaucracy so much that I went to work somewhere else. There is no glamour working in such places because you can't discuss it with anyone outside of your immediate work hierarchy --not even your spouse. Going to a bar with friends or a cocktail party, you can't say anything about what you do on the job --not even incidental irrelevant stuff to the projects you work on.

So what happens at Groom Lake pretty much has to stay at Groom Lake. Were I in your your shoes, I might seek work with a large aerospace firm such as Arianespace. You'll get all of the thrill, and there is even a fighting chance that you can brag a little about how, yes, you really are a rocket scientist.

Thanks for the answer and the advice ☺

 

[russ_watters]

Area 51, how do i get a job in area 51 as a physicist?

I doubt there are any physics jobs there - it's an air force base where they test new aircraft. So your best bets would be aerospace engineering or air forcer pilot (or better yet, both at the same time).

...I know it could look like a silly question but for sure someone works there, and I would like to know how they did.

Read "Skunk Works" by the director of the Lockheed Skunk Works during the development of the F-117. He talks a lot about it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316743003/?tag=pfamazon01-20

I'm in Europe, can I aspire to that? What should I do?

That's likely to be a problem. I think you need US citizenship in order to be granted the required security clearance.

 

[russ_watters]

If you want to work at Area 51, you'll need to become a fictional character, because it is fictional.

"Area 51" was just a tag for a random piece of land on a government owned property. It is an obsolete designation, but not fictional.

 

[Vanadium 50]

It is an obsolete designation, but not fictional.

Yes, but what people think is there is entirely fictional.

 

[physics user1]

I doubt there are any physics jobs there - it's an air force base where they test new aircraft. So your best bets would be aerospace engineering or air forcer pilot (or better yet, both at the same time).

Read "Skunk Works" by the director of the Lockheed Skunk Works during the development of the F-117. He talks a lot about it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316743003/?tag=pfamazon01-20

That's likely to be a problem. I think you need US citizenship in order to be granted the required security clearance.

Thanks ☺