Editing Bob Lazar

{{Short description|American businessman and UFO conspiracy theorist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
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{{Infobox person
| name               = Robert Lazar
| image              = BobLazarTheLazarTapeAndExcerptsFromTheGovernmentBible000.png
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Lazar in 1991
| birth_name         = Robert Scott Lazar
| birth_date         = {{Birth date and age|1959|1|26}}
| birth_place        = [[Coral Gables, Florida]], U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| occupation         = Owner of United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies
| known_for          = 
| criminal_charges   = Pandering, trade of illegal goods
| spouse             = Joy White
| parents            = 
}} 
'''Robert Scott Lazar''' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|z|ɑr}}; born January 26, 1959) is an American <!--"Conspiracy theorist" is well-referenced within body of article per WP:LEDE.-->[[Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theorist]]. In 1989, Lazar claimed to have been part of a classified US government project concerned with the [[reverse engineering]] of [[Extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] technology; he also purported to have read government briefing documents that described [[alien involvement in human affairs]] over the past 10,000 years. A [[self-proclaimed]] [[physicist]], Lazar supposedly worked at a secret site near the [[United States Air Force]] facility popularly known as [[Area 51]]. His story brought additional public attention to the facility and spawned conspiracy theories regarding government knowledge of extraterrestrial life.

Lazar has provided no evidence of alien life or technology beyond his claims and videos of alleged [[electrogravitic]] test flights that he helped record, and his claims about his education and employment history are replete with fabrications. Lazar also has several criminal convictions: he was convicted in 1990 for his involvement in a [[prostitution]] ring, and again in 2006 for selling illegal chemicals. As well as being dismissed by skeptics, Lazar has been renounced by some [[Ufology|ufologist]]s. 

==Background==
[[File:Groom Lake and Papoose Lake.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|[[Groom Lake]] (left) and [[Papoose Lake]] (right)]]
Lazar graduated from high school late, in the bottom third of his class. The only science course he took was a [[chemistry]] class. He subsequently attended [[Los Angeles Pierce College|Pierce Junior College]] in [[Los Angeles]].<ref name=reaima>{{cite book|last=Friedman|first=Stanton|author-link=Stanton T. Friedman|date=2012|title=UFOs: Real Or Imagined?: A Scientific Investigation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QEJ7g6rZ4MQC&pg=PA122|publisher=[[Rosen Publishing]]|pages=122–124|isbn=9781448848386}}</ref>

In 1982, Lazar worked as a technician for a contractor company that provided support staff to the [[Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility]], within the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]].<ref name=reaima/><ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017">{{cite book|author1=Donald R. Prothero|author2=Timothy D. Callahan|title=UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens: What Science Says|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G5SFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |date=August 2, 2017|publisher=Indiana University Press|pages=57–58, 166–169|isbn=978-0-253-03338-3}}</ref><ref name="Goldwag">{{cite book|author=Arthur Goldwag|title=Cults, Conspiracies, and Secret Societies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DDbM5GeMgXIC&pg=PA138|date=August 11, 2009|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-0-3073-9067-7|pages=138–}}</ref> He filed for bankruptcy in 1986, where he described himself as a self-employed [[Photographic processing|film processor]].<ref name=reaima/><ref>Public records, Case BK 86-01623, US Federal Bankruptcy Court, Las Vegas.(702) 388-6257</ref> Lazar owns and operates United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies, which sells a variety of materials and chemicals.<ref name="Wired2006">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/chemistry.html |title=Don't Try This at Home |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=July 2006}}</ref>

==Claims==
===Education===
Lazar claims to have obtained master's degrees in physics from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT) and in electronics from the [[California Institute of Technology]] (Caltech). However, both universities show no record of him.<ref name=reaima/><ref name=salrea>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6meZjKVOAvEC&pg=PT159|title=The Utah UFO Display: A Scientist Brings Reason and Logic to Over 400 UFO Sightings in Utah's Uintah Basin|author=Frank B. Salisbury|publisher=[[Cedar Fort, Inc.]]|date=2010|page=146|isbn=9781599557786}}</ref> Scientists [[Stanton T. Friedman]] and [[Donald Prothero|Donald R. Prothero]] have stated that nobody with Lazar's high school performance record would be accepted by either institution.<ref name=reaima/><ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017"/> Lazar is unable to supply the names of any lecturers or fellow students from his alleged tenures at MIT and Caltech; one supposed Caltech professor, William Duxler, was in fact located at Pierce Junior College and had never taught at Caltech.<ref name=reaima/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news24.com/news24/debunking-ufo-expert-bob-lazar-part-1-20120825|title=Debunking UFO 'Expert' Bob Lazar|date=August 25, 2012|website=[[News24 (website)|News24]]|access-date=December 13, 2022}}</ref> Friedman asserted, "Quite obviously, if one can go to MIT, one doesn't go to Pierce. Lazar was at Pierce at the very same time he was supposedly at MIT more than 2,500 miles away."<ref name=reaima/>

===Employment===
{{Infobox_insider_account
| name = Bob Lazar
| role = Alleged scientist, UFO whistleblower
| affiliation = Los Alamos National Laboratory (disputed), S-4 (claimed)
| affiliation_in_practice = Claims to have worked on reverse-engineering extraterrestrial technology from around Feb 1989 to May 1989
| bureaucratic_obfuscation = 
| status = Active in public appearances and interviews
| status_date = Since 1989
| experience_date = 1988–1989
| experience_location = S-4, near Area 51, Nevada, USA
| experience_type = Alleged employment as a scientist/technician
| technology_encountered = [[Extraterrestrial]] [[non-human intelligence]]-derived [[electromagnetogravitic]] craft with anti-gravity propulsion system, [[moscovium]]-based fuel-powered reactor
| beings_encountered = None claimed directly
| alleged_activities = Reverse engineering extraterrestrial spacecraft at S-4 near Area 51
| claims = Claims to have seen and worked on alien technology, specifically the propulsion systems of UFOs
| physical_evidence = Claimed to have exfiltrated some of the [[moscovium]]-based fuel
| disclosure_type = Voluntary disclosure allegedly induced by personal stress; pseudonymously at first, then publicly; alleged unwitting [[psy-op]]
| first_public_account_date = May 1989
| suppression_of_evidence = Confiscation of some videos that were recorded of alleged electrogravitic test flights on Wednesday evenings in Area 51.
| suppression_of_account = Claims of threats and intimidation from government agencies, shooting at his car on the freeway from another car
| suppression_of_corroboration = Claims that corroborative evidence (such as employment records) was erased
| public_accounts = Numerous interviews, including with George Knapp; Netflix documentary "Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers"
| known_for = Whistleblowing claims on UFO reverse engineering at S-4, associated with Area 51 lore
| notable_contributions = Popularized conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51 and S-4
| notable_works = "Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers" (2018 documentary)
| attempts_to_debunk = Multiple debunking efforts by skeptics, journalists, and scientists questioning his claims
| website = 
| signature = 
| notes = Bob Lazar's claims remain highly controversial and are debated within the UFO community.
}}
{{quote box
| quote = "Lazar's claims were later disproven (by UFO skeptics and believers alike). He was found to have fabricated not only his employment at Nellis but indeed his entire background; almost nothing of what he said was true. Still, Lazar's lies propelled Area 51 into the public's consciousness."
| source = [[Benjamin Radford]], ''[[Live Science]]''<ref name="RadfordSeptember2017">{{cite web|title=Area 51: Secrets, Yes; Aliens, No|author-link=Benjamin Radford|last=Radford|first=Benjamin|date=September 27, 2012|url=https://www.livescience.com/23514-area-51.html|website=[[Live Science]]|access-date=September 19, 2019}}</ref>
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}}
Lazar claims to be a [[physicist]] and to have worked in this capacity during his tenure at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility.<ref name=reaima/><ref name="KLAS interview">{{Cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UjqFaQq_7I|title=Lazar describes alien technology housed at secret S-4 base in Nevada -- Part 5|date=2019-11-08|last=Knapp|first=George|type=|language=|publisher=[[KLAS-TV]]/8 News NOW Las Vegas|author-link=George Knapp (television journalist)|time=4:38 - 7:25|time-caption=Section|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118192025/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UjqFaQq_7I|archive-date=November 18, 2020|access-date=2020-11-18|url-status=live}}</ref> This assertion was echoed by local journalist Terry England, who interviewed Lazar about his interest in [[Jet car|jet-powered cars]] in 1982;{{efn|This was a story by ''Los Alamos Monitor'' journalist Terry England, which circulated regionally via the [[Associated Press]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Terry|last=England|title=LA man joins the jet set – at 200 miles an hour|work=Los Alamos Monitor|date=June 27, 1982|pages=A1 & A8|quote=[Bob] Lazar, a physicist at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility...}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=England|first=Terry|date=July 30, 1982|title='Jet' isn't an idle boast on this car|page=A-6|work=[[The Santa Fe New Mexican]]|agency=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44147720/jet-isnt-an-idle-boast-on-this-car/|access-date=November 22, 2020|via=newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=July 26, 1982|title=This is a real hot rod|page=8|work=[[Alamogordo Daily News]]|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/alamogordo-daily-news-jul-26-1982-p-8/|access-date=February 13, 2020|via=NewspaperArchive.com}}</ref>|group=a}} some media outlets have since dubbed him a "physicist".{{efn|See: <ref name="Newsroom21">{{Cite episode|title=What Sparked the Government's Interest in UFOs|url=http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/2106/05/cnr.07.html|access-date=June 7, 2022|series=CNN Newsroom|series-link=CNN Newsroom|network=[[CNN]]|date=June 5, 2021}}</ref><ref name="DS19">{{cite web|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a28443500/bob-lazar-area-51-netflix-flying-saucers/|title=Area 51 details left out of Netflix's Bob Lazar documentary|last=Seddon|first=Dan|date=July 19, 2019|website=[[Digital Spy]]|access-date=June 7, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1994/09/08/Model-based-on-UFO-witness-description/3157778996800/|title=Model based on UFO witness description|date=September 8, 1994|website=[[United Press International|UPI]]|access-date=June 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=Todd|date=November 7, 2013|title=Time Out: Las Vegas|edition=8th|publisher=[[Time Out Group]]|pages=266–267|isbn=978-1-84670-398-0|quote=Physicist Bob Lazar...}}</ref>|group=a}} Asked about the article in 2021, however, England admitted that he took Lazar's claims at face value and did not [[Fact-checking|fact-check]] his credentials as a physicist.<!--WHILE MEDIUM.COM IS CONSIDERED "GENERALLY" UNRELIABLE, THIS ARTICLE INTERVIEWS ENGLAND DIRECTLY.--><ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@signalsintelligence/bob-lazar-theres-more-to-the-story-17829c2ff650|title=Bob Lazar: There's More to the Story|author=SignalsIntelligence|date=February 22, 2022|website=[[Medium (website)|Medium]]|access-date=June 18, 2024}}</ref> Inquiry into Lazar's position at Los Alamos revealed his role to have been a technician for a contractor firm, and that he worked neither as a physicist or for the lab directly.<ref name=reaima/><ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017"/><ref name="Goldwag"/> As such, the facility retains no records on Lazar, whom Prothero states was "in short, rather a minor player."<ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017"/> The [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]], along with various other mainstream news outlets, have stated that his designation as a "physicist" is [[self-proclaimed]].{{efn|The [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian]], and various mainstream outlets, have noted Lazar's "physicist" designation as either "self-proclaimed"<ref name="Nelson">{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/science/area-51-what-aliens-conspiracy-theories-storm-raid-event-facebook-memes-latest-news-314042|title=What is Area 51? Alien conspiracy theories and history of Nevada site as Storm Area 51 Facebook event passes 1 million attendees|last=Nelson|first=Alex|date=July 16, 2019|website=[[i (newspaper)|iNews]]|access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Bedo">{{cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/space/everything-you-need-to-know-about-area-51/news-story/5a8adfff2c01f2695a8e16f5217dc1f4|title=Everything you need to know about Area 51|last=Bedo|first=Stephanie|date=July 19, 2019|publisher=[[news.com.au]]|access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/08/09/reviews/980809.09vince.html|title=Alien Nation|last=Vincent|first=Glyn|date=August 9, 1998|website=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/why-people-want-to-storm-the-mysterious-area-51-063710245.html|title='Let's see them aliens': Inside the mysterious Area 51 and why people want to storm the secret base|last=Lambert|first=Olivia|date=July 17, 2019|website=[[Yahoo! News]]|access-date=May 25, 2022|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717102936/https://au.news.yahoo.com/why-people-want-to-storm-the-mysterious-area-51-063710245.html|archive-date=July 17, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://thebaffler.com/latest/close-encounters-robertson|title=Close Encounters|last=Robertson|first=Jesse|date=February 23, 2023|website=[[The Baffler]]|access-date=June 14, 2024}}</ref> or "self-described".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/inexplicable-moments-175793238/|title=Inexplicable Moments|last=Webster|first=Donovan|author-link=Donovan Webster|date=January 2000|magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-04-me-9247-story.html|title=On the Road to Nowhere|last=Graham|first=Patrick|date=June 4, 1995|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/alien-visitors-restore-ghost-town-s-spirits-1344789.html|title=Alien visitors restore ghost town's spirits|last=Cornwell|first=Tim|date=March 30, 1996|website=[[The Independent]]|access-date=May 25, 2022|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220525012554/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/alien-visitors-restore-ghost-town-s-spirits-1344789.html|archive-date=May 25, 2022}}</ref>}}

Since 1989, Lazar has achieved public notoriety as an [[Area 51#UFO and other conspiracy theories|Area 51 conspiracy theorist]].{{efn|Sources describing Lazar as a "conspiracy theorist": <ref name="Newsroom21"/><ref name="DS19"/><ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="Bedo"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2022/03/16/obama-conspiracy-theorists-flock-secret-presidential-records/7049409001/|title=Conspiracy theorists, UFO hunters among first to flock to Obama's once-secret presidential records|last=Penzenstadler|first=Nick|date=March 16, 2022|website=[[USA Today]]|access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/09/24/bob-lazar-and-ufos-a-reading-and-watching-list.html|title=Bob Lazar and UFOs: a reading (and watching) list|date=September 24, 2020|website=[[Toronto Star]]|access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/culture/web/a29001318/area-51-raid-canceled/|title=The Area 51 Raid Is Mercifully Canceled|last=Grossman|first=David|date=September 11, 2019|website=[[Popular Mechanics]]|access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2465240/interview-dissecting-the-autopsy-and-research-features-in-xcom-enemy-unknown/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513023757/http://www.mtv.com/news/2465240/interview-dissecting-the-autopsy-and-research-features-in-xcom-enemy-unknown/|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 13, 2022|title=Dissecting the Autopsy and Research Features in 'XCOM: Enemy Unknown'|last=Webb|first=Charles|date=August 29, 2012|website=[[MTV News]]|access-date=May 11, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ronald H. Fritze]]|title=Hope and Fear: Modern Myths, Conspiracy Theories, and Pseudo-History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BGRcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15|date=April 18, 2022|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-7891-4540-3|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512195506/https://books.google.com/books?id=BGRcEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT15|archive-date=May 12, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Lee Mellor]]|title=Conspiracies Uncovered: Cover-ups, Hoaxes and Secret Societies|date=February 4, 2021|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|isbn=978-0-2415-1899-1|pages=90– (insert)|quote=Conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar...}}</ref><br>Publications on conspiracy theories that detail Lazar's claims: <ref>{{cite book|author1=James McConnachie|author2=Robin Tudge|title=Rough Guide to Conspiracy Theories, The (3rd)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0A3c_ZD0KycC&pg=PA296|date=February 1, 2013|publisher=Rough Guides Limited|isbn=978-1-4093-2454-6|pages=296–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Christopher Hodapp|author2=Alice Von Kannon|title=Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies For Dummies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4htx62wIXIgC&pg=PA126|date=February 4, 2011|publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]|isbn=978-1-118-05202-0|pages=126–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Barna William Donovan|title=Conspiracy Films: A Tour of Dark Places in the American Conscious|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJkhqU1IXHAC&pg=PA150|date=January 10, 2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-8615-1|pages=150–}}</ref>}} In May of that year, he appeared in an interview with investigative reporter [[George Knapp (journalist)|George Knapp]] on [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]] TV station [[KLAS-TV|KLAS]], under the pseudonym "Dennis" and with his face hidden, to discuss his purported employment at "S-4", a subsidiary facility he claimed exists near the [[Nellis Air Force Base]] installation known as Area 51. He claims that the said facility was adjacent to [[Papoose Lake]], which is located south of the main Area 51 facility at [[Groom Lake]]. He claimed the site consisted of concealed aircraft hangars built into a mountainside. Lazar said that his job was to help with the [[reverse engineering]] of one of nine [[flying saucer]]s, which he alleged were extraterrestrial in origin. He claims one of the flying saucers, the one he coined the "Sport Model", was manufactured out of a metallic substance similar in appearance and touch to liquid titanium. In a subsequent interview that November, Lazar appeared unmasked and under his own name, where he claimed that his job interview for work at the facility was with contractor [[EG&G]] and that his employer was the [[United States Navy]]. EG&G stated it had no records on him.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://knpr.org/desert-companion/2014-11/out-there |title=Out there |author=George Knapp |author-link=George Knapp (journalist) |work=[[KNPR]] |date=November 1, 2014}}</ref>{{efn|According to spotlight by [[KLAS-TV]]:
* The schools in which Lazar claims to have studied "say they've never heard of him" (6:05)
* Lazar alleges he worked at Los Alamos, "where he experimented with the world's largest particle beam accelerators" (6:13)
** George Knapp: Los Alamos officials say they had no records of him ever working there (6:25)
** George Knapp: "they were either mistaken or were lying: a 1982 phonebook from the lab lists Lazar right there among the other scientists and technicians" (news section shows the cover of a Los Alamos national laboratory phone directory, and then a list of names which includes "Lazar Robert") (6:30)
** ''Los Alamos Monitor'' article of 1982 is shown, the date reading Sunday, June 2X (low resolution), 1982, with the title "LA man joins the jet set – at 200 miles an hour" with a picture of a man with a car, with Knapp saying that it "profiles Lazar and his interest in jet-cars". It zooms in on the clipping to an excerpt which states: "It's not the car so much that's important. To Lazar, a physicist at the Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility, the important thing is the jet engine. It's something he's been working on for years. It started "awhile ago" when working with another researcher in NASA on the technology." (6:39)
** George Knapp: "we called Los Alamos again. An exasperated official told us he still had no records on Lazar. EG&G, which is where Lazar says he was interviewed for the job at S4, also has no records." (6:48)
* The news section cuts to Lazar who claims he called the schools he attended, the hospital he was born in, and his past job to get records, but to no avail. (7:00)
* Lazar alleges his employer at S4 was the US Navy. (7:21)<ref name="KLAS interview"/>}} His supposed employment at a Nellis Air Force Base subsidiary has also been discredited by skeptics, as well as by the United States Air Force.<ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017"/><ref name="RadfordSeptember2017"/>

Lazar has claimed that the propulsion of the studied vehicle ran on an [[antimatter]] reactor<ref>{{harvnb|Lazar|Corbell|2018}}. Event occurs at 9.</ref> and was fueled by the chemical element with atomic number 115 (E115), which at the time was provisionally named ''ununpentium'' and had not yet been artificially created.<ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/08/archives/thing-it-is-copied-therefore-it-exists.html|title=Thing; It Is Copied. Therefore, It Exists?|last=Patton|first=Phil|date=January 8, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-11-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> (It was first synthesized in 2003 and later named [[moscovium]].)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/41424-facts-about-ununpentium.html|title=Facts About Moscovium (Element 115)|last=Sharp|first=Tim|date=December 2, 2016|website=[[Live Science]]|access-date=February 13, 2020}}</ref> He said that the propulsion system relied on a [[stable nuclide|stable isotope]] of E115, which allegedly generates a gravity wave that allowed the vehicle to fly and to evade visual detection by [[gravitational lensing|bending light]] around it.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/bob-lazar-the-man-behind-element-115/80762696 |title=Bob Lazar: The Man Behind Element 115 |website=Lasvegasnow.com |date=2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603121751/http://www.lasvegasnow.com/news/bob-lazar-the-man-behind-element-115/80762696 |archive-date=June 3, 2017 }}</ref> 

No stable isotopes of moscovium have yet been synthesized. All have proven extremely radioactive, decaying in a few hundred milliseconds.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Oganessian|first=Y.T.|date=2015|title=Super-heavy element research|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273327193|journal=Reports on Progress in Physics|volume=78|issue=3|pages=036301|doi=10.1088/0034-4885/78/3/036301|pmid=25746203|bibcode=2015RPPh...78c6301O|s2cid=37779526 | issn = 0034-4885}}</ref> Lazar said the craft was dismantled, and the reactor he studied was topped by a sphere or semi-sphere which emitted a [[Force field (physics)|force field]] capable of repulsing human flesh.<ref>{{harvnb|Lazar|Corbell|2018}}. Event occurs at 32.</ref> He explained that the craft was split into two main levels.{{Efn|In addition to a small, topmost level, which he speculated may have housed a kind of [[navigational computer]].}} 

The reactor was positioned at the center of the upper level, with an antenna extending to the top,{{Efn|This, he said, functions as a guide for the gravity wave, which forms into a heart shape around the entire craft, narrowing at the bottom.}} surrounded by three "gravity amplifiers". These connected to "gravity emitters" on the lower level, which can rotate 180 degrees to output a "gravity beam or [[anti-gravity]] wave" and that the craft would then travel "belly first" into this distortion field.<ref>{{harvnb|Lazar|Corbell|2018}}. Event occurs at 51, 1:07.</ref>

[[File:Area51 gate.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.2|An [[Area 51]] gate]]
Lazar has claimed that during his joining of the program he read briefing documents describing the historical involvement of Earth for the past 10,000 years with extraterrestrial beings described as [[grey alien]]s from a planet orbiting the twin [[binary star]] system [[Zeta Reticuli]]. As of September 2019, no [[exoplanet|extrasolar planets]] have been found in the Zeta Reticuli system.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/3745204/19625_102289y.pdf|title=A 25 micron search for Vega-like disks around main-sequence stars with ISO|vauthors=Laureijs RJ, Jourdain de Muizon M, Leech K, Siebenmorgen R, Dominik C, Habing HJ, Trams N, Kessler MF|date=2002|journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics|volume=387|pages=285–293|doi=10.1051/0004-6361:20020366|bibcode=2002A&A...387..285L|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/cgi-bin/TblView/nph-tblView?app=ExoTbls&config=planets|title=NASA Exoplanet Archive|publisher=NASA Exoplanet Science Institute|access-date=2019-09-16}}</ref> In 1989, Lazar said the seats of the saucer he saw were approximately child-sized and that he had seen alien cadavers of a corresponding size.<ref>{{harvnb|Lazar|Corbell|2018}}. Event occurs at 54.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Zimmerman|first=Amy|date=December 4, 2018|title=Why Did the FBI Raid the Home of the Biggest Alien Truther?|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-did-the-fbi-raid-the-home-of-the-biggest-alien-truther|access-date=2020-08-07}}</ref> 

He said that while walking down a hallway at S-4, he briefly glanced through a door window and saw what he interpreted as two men in lab coats facing down and talking to "something small with long arms".<ref name=Corbell47/> Three decades later, he said he did not think he saw an alien, but speculated that he saw a doll used as reference for the size of the alleged aliens and that a nickname used for them was "the kids".<ref name=Corbell47>{{harvnb|Lazar|Corbell|2018}}. Event occurs at 47.</ref> Lazar's claims about S-4 brought additional public attention to its supposed parent facility, Area 51, and spawned conspiracy theories regarding government knowledge of extraterrestrial life.<ref name="RadfordSeptember2017"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.space.com/area-51-what-is-it|title=Area 51: What is it and what goes on there?|last=Lea|first=Robert|date=April 11, 2022|publisher=[[Space.com]]|access-date=June 14, 2024}}</ref>

Lazar alleges that his employment and education records have been erased; Friedman, Prothero and author Timothy D. Callahan find this implausible.<ref name="ProtheroCallahan2017"/> His story has drawn significant media attention, controversy, supporters, and detractors. Lazar has no evidence of alien life or technology and remains a polarizing figure among [[Ufology|ufologist]]s.<ref name=salrea /><ref name="RadfordSeptember2017"/><ref name="vice_BobL">{{Cite web| title = Bob Lazar Says the FBI Raided Him to Seize Area 51's Alien Fuel. The Truth Is Weirder| author = McMillan, Tim| work = Vice| date = November 13, 2019| access-date = August 28, 2020| url = https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/evjwkw/bob-lazar-says-the-fbi-raided-him-to-seize-area-51s-alien-fuel-the-truth-is-weirder}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AKy2CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT179 |title=Weapons Grade |author=David Hambling |publisher=[[Constable & Robinson]] |year=2016 |pages=178–180|isbn=9781472123763 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/20/area-51-exhibit-national-atomic-testing-museum_n_1366145.html?ref=weird-news#s285846&title=Area_51_Warning |title=Area 51 Exhibit To Feature Russian Roswell UFO Artifact At National Atomic Testing Museum |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=March 20, 2012}}</ref>

In 2017, Lazar's workplace was raided by the FBI and local police, which Lazar theorizes was to recover "element 115", a substance he says he took from a government lab. Records obtained through a freedom of information request show that the raid was part of a murder investigation to determine whether his company sold [[thallium]] to a murder suspect in Michigan. Lazar is not listed as a suspect in the investigation.<ref name="vice_BobL"/>

==Public appearances and media==
Lazar and long-time friend Gene Huff ran the Desert Blast festival,<ref name=popbla /> an annual festival in the Nevada desert for [[pyrotechnics]] enthusiasts.<ref name=popbla>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WpVTOroeFJIC&pg=PA76 |title=Desert Blast |magazine=[[Popular Science]] |date=April 1996 |pages=76–79}}</ref><ref name=wirboo>{{cite news |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.12/desert.blast.html |title=Ka-Booom!! |magazine=Wired |date=December 1, 1994}}</ref> The festival started in 1987, but was only formally named in 1991. The name was inspired by [[Operation Desert Storm]].<ref name=wirboo /> The festival features homemade explosives, rockets, jet-powered vehicles, and other pyrotechnics,<ref name=popbla /><ref name=wirboo /> with the aim of emphasizing the fun aspect of chemistry and physics.<ref name=wirboo />

Lazar was featured in producer George Knapp and [[Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell]]'s documentary ''Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers''<ref name="DFP">{{cite web|last1=Reimink|first1=Troy|title=In 'Bob Lazar: Area 51' documentary, director investigates UFO whistle-blower's story|url=https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/movies/2019/04/10/bob-lazar-area-51-documentary-ufo-freep-film-festival/3419204002/|access-date=July 31, 2019|newspaper=[[Detroit Free Press]]}}</ref> and [[Joe Rogan]]'s [[The Joe Rogan Experience|podcast]].<ref name="vice_BobL"/><ref>{{Cite web|last=Seddon|first=Dan|date=July 19, 2019|title=Area 51 details left out of Netflix's Bob Lazar documentary|url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a28443500/bob-lazar-area-51-netflix-flying-saucers/|access-date=2020-08-07|website=Digital Spy|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="roll_Lovi">{{Cite magazine| title = Loving the Alien| last = Rodrick | first = Stephen| magazine = Rolling Stone| date = 2020-08-20| access-date = August 28, 2020| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/aliens-real-ufo-area-51-nevada-pentagon-history-1046067/}}</ref> Lazar had met and discussed his alleged works on UFOs with Navy pilot and commander David Fravor, who witnessed the [[USS Nimitz UFO incident|USS ''Nimitz'' UFO incident]] in 2004.<ref name="Knapp">{{cite web |last1=Knapp |first1=George |title=I-Team: UFO Fest means close encounters of a different kind |url=https://www.8newsnow.com/news/local-news/i-team-ufo-fest-means-close-encounters-of-a-different-kind/ |website=8newsnow.com |date=May 22, 2019 |publisher=[[KLAS-TV]] Las Vegas |access-date=May 4, 2020}}</ref>

==Criminal convictions==
In 1990, Lazar was arrested for aiding and abetting a [[prostitution]] ring. This was reduced to felony [[Procuring (prostitution)|pandering]], to which he pleaded guilty.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-06-vw-31950-story.html |title=Unusually Fanatical Observers |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=February 4, 2003}}</ref><ref name="lvrgui">{{cite news|date=June 19, 1990|title=Source In Channel 8'S UFO Series Pleads Guilty to Pandering Charge|page=8b|work=[[Las Vegas Review-Journal]]}}</ref><ref name=lvrpro>{{cite news |title=Judge Gives UFO 'Witness' Lazar Probation on pandering charge |work=Las Vegas Review-Journal |date=August 21, 1990 |page=2c}}</ref> He was ordered to do 150 hours of community service, stay away from [[brothels]], and undergo psychotherapy.<ref name=lvrgui /><ref name=lvrpro />

In 2006, Lazar and his wife Joy White were charged with violating the [[U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission|Federal Hazardous Substances Act]] for shipping restricted chemicals across state lines. The charges stemmed from a 2003 raid on United Nuclear's business offices, where chemical sales records were examined.<ref name="Wired2006"/> United Nuclear pleaded guilty to three criminal counts of introducing into interstate commerce, and aiding and abetting the introduction into interstate commerce, of banned hazardous substances. In 2007, United Nuclear was fined $7,500 for violating a law prohibiting the sale of chemicals and components used to make illegal [[fireworks]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2007/New-Mexico-Company-Fined-Ordered-To-Stop-Selling-Illegal-Fireworks-Components/ |title=New Mexico Company Fined, Ordered To Stop Selling Illegal Fireworks Components |work=[[U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission]] |date=July 20, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.justice.gov/civil/cpb/case/us-v-united-nuclear-scientific-supplies-et-al-0 |title=US v. United Nuclear Scientific Supplies, et al |work=[[United States Department of Justice]] |date=2006 |access-date=May 18, 2017 |archive-date=December 27, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141227202620/https://www.justice.gov/civil/cpb/case/us-v-united-nuclear-scientific-supplies-et-al-0 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Journalist [[Stephen Rodrick]] and author [[Neil Nixon]] write that further doubts have been cast on Lazar's credibility due to his criminal activity.<ref name="roll_Lovi"/><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Neil Nixon]]|title=UFOs, Aliens and the Battle for the Truth: A Short History of Ufology|date=November 13, 2020|publisher=[[Oldcastle Books]] |isbn=978-0-8573-0431-5|pages=46–47}}</ref> Author [[Timothy Good]] and filmmaker Jeremy Kenyon Lockyer Corbell, who have perpetuated Lazar's story, concur with this assertion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/timothy-good/alien-contact/|title=Alien Contact|date=May 20, 2010|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.filminquiry.com/bob-lazar-area-51-flying-saucers-2018-review/|title=Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers: One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap To Conclusions|last=Bedford|first=Tom|date=December 11, 2018|website=Film Inquiry|access-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref>

==Footnotes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite AV media|last=Lazar | first=Bob |last2=Corbell |first2=Jeremy |title=Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers |year=2018 |publisher=[[The Orchard (company)|The Orchard]]}}
* {{cite AV media|last=Lazar | first=Bob |last2=Knapp |first2=George |title=Dreamland: An Autobiography |year=2019 |publisher=Interstellar }}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.boblazar.com}}

{{UFOs|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Bob}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:21st-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:American conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Florida]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Pierce College alumni]]
[[Category:People from Coral Gables, Florida]]
[[Category:UFO conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Area 51]]
[[Category:Individuals with alleged personal knowledge of exotic technology]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories involving exotic technology]]