The First and Only Weekly Online Fanzine Devoted to the Life and Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs

The Many Worlds of "The master of imaginative fantasy adventure... ...the creator of Tarzan and... ...the 'grandfather of science-fiction'"

1. Area 51 Images Posted on Web
08:01 PM ET 04/17/00
By MARTHA WAGGONER ~ Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The truth is out there on the Web. Photos of Area 51, the super-secret Air Force test site in Nevada that has long tantalized UFO and conspiracy buffs and fans of  "The X-Files," are being posted on the Internet. "This is the first glimpse into the most secret training and testing facility for the Air Force," said John Hoffman, president of Aerial Images Inc. of Raleigh. The company planned to post five images of the site, divided into four frames each, in collaboration with Microsoft, Kodak, Digital Equipment Corp., Autometric Inc. and the Russian agency Sovinformsputnik. The partners launched a Russian satellite from Kazahkstan in 1998 to map Earth's surface and Area 51. An open-skies agreement signed in 1992 by 24 nations, including the United States and Russia, made the effort possible. The Air Force only recently acknowledged that Groom Dry Lake Air Force Base even exists. The 8,000-square-mile base is 75 miles northwest of Las Vegas, in the arid, rugged Nellis Range.Beginning with the U-2 spy plane in the 1950s, the base has been the testing ground for a host of top-secret aircraft, including the SR-71 Blackbird and, more recently, the F-117A stealth fighter and B-2 stealth bomber. The base's airspace is restricted; aircraft are not allowed to fly over it. But satellite overflights are allowed as part of an agreement to verify arms-control compliance. Among UFO aficionados, it has long been known simply as Area 51, the base's designation on old Nevada test site maps. They believe that unidentified flying objects from other worlds are hidden at the base, where their parts are copied for U.S. prototypes. The images, with resolution good enough to distinguish a car from a truck, are better than earlier telephoto shots from the nearby mountains. The only other known image purportedly was shot by a satellite in the 1960s. It is much fuzzier. "There are runways, there are buildings, there are buses, there are test sites, but there aren't any little green men or super-secret aircraft to be seen,''  The images show craters, some seemingly formed by something dropped from the sky, others possibly by something coming out of the ground. There are hundreds of buildings, living quarters, tennis courts, a baseball field, a track and a swimming pool. There are no paved roads and no parking lots; buses are the only visible vehicles, raising the question of how employees get to and from work. Unpaved roads disappear into cliffsides, suggesting a possible underground network. A shrouded aircraft is visible on a ramp, unusual considering the Air Force knows when Russian satellites are overhead.

www.terraserver.com

2. UPDATE ON OUR ERBzine 0164  & ERBzine 0217 SITES:
Jungle Funnies ~ Tarcoons Pt. 1 & 2
Great site!  I have bookmarked it for further perusal... just thought you might want to know though that you forgot to tag your "Eletelephoney" with the author's name.  Who, by the way, is Ogden Nash.  Just a little FYI... and a plug for one of my favorite poets.

"God in His wisdom made the fly - then forgot to tell us why"    Ogden Nash

"I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one.
But I can tell you now,
I rather see one than be one!"       Ogden Nash

Have a glorious day!!!

ROBIN J. STEPHENSON
Chaplain, Captain, USAF
Team Istres Chaplain
 Istres, France
 

3. In the ERB Style...

Leigh Brackett's first story, "Martian Quest," was sold to Astounding Stories in 1940. Her last work, completed only a month
before she died, was a screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back. Leigh's work in western movies was also impressive, writing Rio Bravo and Eldorado and winning the 1963 Silver Spur award for Follow the Wind. She cranked out such pulp-fiction as "Dragon-Queen of Jupiter," "Enchantress of Venus," and "The Jewel-Beast of Mars."

Leigh was married to Edmond Hamilton, the leading pulp SF writer of his day. The Hamiltons had homes near Kinsman, Ohio and in Lancaster, California, on the edge of the Mojave Desert. After the death of her husband she worked only on screenplays.
Recommended Leigh Brackett Websites:
Authors and Creators: Leigh Douglass Brackett
Leigh Brackett
A Leigh Brackett SF & Fantasy Bibliography:
A Bibliography
The shooting script of The Empire Strikes Back by Leigh Brackett
The Big Sleep

---

REVIEWS A GREAT BOOK BY TRACY GRIFFIN & PHILLIP BURGER
...and some old guy

5. OB WRITES HOME

1298 Kapiolani Boulevard
Honolulu 42 Hawaii
3 March 1945

Joan Darling:
It was good to have your letter of 23 February, which arrived
yesterday.

While I was, in a way, glad to get back here, I enjoyed my stay
in California so much that I am now inclined to get homesick, I
miss you all so much.

Was glad to learn that you are O.K. again. Leavelle was probab-
ly quite right (and playing safe) in diagnosing your trouble as
"gingivitis". Had he just said inflammation of the gums, he
would still have been right; and you would have known that he
didn't know what the hell was the matter with you.

Was not greatly surprised to hear about Dorothy and George.
George is a chump, and some day he will realize it. Dick is the
real loser, as is the case of nearly every minor in a broken
home, though your case is an exception. I think yours are better
off. Some day they will realize it.

Tell Dorothy I've been expecting a letter from her.  She's a swell
girl.  I miss watching her drag that damn vacuum all over the
house, letting Tuffy out, letting Tuffy in, and letting Tuffy out
again.

Hulbert blew into my quarters about 6:30 last evening with Capt.
Elmer, a dame, and a bottle. He let me have one drink, and then
blew out again. I Tride to shame him into leaving what was left
of the bottle; but no soap.  I think the dame was Elmer's (This
to relieve Ella Mae's mind, should you inadvertently mention it.)

We were all shocked at the reported loss of Genl. Harmon.  I met
him on New Caledonia, where he was extremely nice to me. He was
a respected and popular officer.

Was glad to know that Joanne is in Van Nuys High School.  It was
a very fine school when Hulbert and Jack went there, and there
were many nice children and a lot of drips. I hope Joanne fore-
gathers with the former.

Lots of love to you all, my dear,

Papa

6. DUM-DUM 2000

 
 

Johnny Sheffield, son of actor/director Reginald Sheffield, was born April 11, 1931 in Pasadena, California. At the age of seven he appeared on Broadway in the original cast of On Borrowed Time. Following this Sheffield was personally chosen by Johnny Weissmuller to play Boy, the son of Tarzan, in the MGM Tarzan film series. He played Boy in eight pictures before finally outgrowing the part. He was quickly signed by Monogram to star in their Bomba the Jungle Boy series. Not all his roles required a loincloth. He played in many fully clothed films including Babes In Arms (1939) and Knute Rockney (1940).

Those wanting to learn more about the Guest of Honour at Dum-Dum 2000 will want to
read
Matt Winan's interview (many photos are included) with Johnny Sheffield at:
http://www.intrepid.net/~jkerr/bunkum/sheffint.htm
and visit
Matt's Bomba the Jungle Boy Movie Guide site at:
http://www.intrepid.net/~jkerr/bunkum/bomba.htm
and the
Tarzan Movie Guide at:
http://www.intrepid.net/~jkerr/bunkum/tarzan.htm
All part of Matt's fine Bunkum websites at:
http://www.intrepid.net/~jkerr/bunkum/bunkum.htm

 

EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS CHAIN OF FRIENDSHIP
Hosted by Jim Thompson
Guests:

Barry Stubbersfield

Mary Burroughs
CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE
MAY 18 - 21, 2000

VISIT THE ECOF 2000 UPDATE PAGE... HERE
Barsoomian Brawl ~ The 1st Annual Tarzan Film Festival

STARTING MAY 5, 2000
A Month-Long
ERBzin-e SPRING ART FESTIVAL 2000
Spotlighting some of the all-time great ERB artists

Burne Hogarth ~ Dave Hoover ~ John Coleman Burroughs ~ Nicolai Fechin ~ Japanese Artists
~ J. Allen St. John ~ Frank Frazetta ~ Edgar Rice Burroughs ~
~ Comic Artists: Maxon, Foster, Hogarth, Rubimor, Celardo, Manning, et al ~
and much great fan art.
All fan art is welcome ~ Please send your submissions to

Volume 0333

BILL HILLMAN
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