Tonopah Test Range Tonopah Test Range ( TTR ) , is a restricted military installation located about southeast of Tonopah , Nevada . It is part of the northern fringe of the Nellis Range , measuring . Tonopah Test Range is located about northwest of Groom Dry Lake , home of the Area 51 facility . Like the Groom Lake facility , Tonopah is a site of interest to conspiracy theorists , mostly for its use of experimental and classified aircraft . As such , it is not the focus of alien enthusiasts , unlike its neighbor . It is currently used for nuclear weapons stockpile reliability testing , research and development of fusing and firing systems , and testing nuclear weapon delivery systems . The airspace comprises restricted area R - 4809 of the Nevada Test and Training Range and is often used for military training . Description . The Tonopah Test Range is owned by the United States Department of Energy and is managed by Sandia National Laboratories , a division of Lockheed - Martin , which operates the Tonopah Test Range under an Air Force permit with the National Nuclear Security Administration . The range is part of the Great Basin Desert and lies mostly within the Cactus Flat valley , consisting of horst and graben geology . It is flanked by the Cactus Range hills to the west and the Kawich Range to the east , which is home of Silverbow , one of the largest mining ghost town s in Nevada . The vegetation consists mostly of black sagebrush and creosote bush . It holds a sizable wild horse and burro population , closely monitored by the Bureau of Land Management . Common denizens of the TTR include the gray fox , pronghorn , coyote , and mule deer , along with the native birds sage thrasher , sage grouse , and sage sparrow . Airfields . One of the primary facilities on the TTR is a large airfield ( Area 10 ) , consisting of a runway and numerous hangars . About five minor abandoned airfields exist throughout the TTR which were primarily used during World War II by units based at Tonopah Army Air Field ( now serving as Tonopah ' s municipal airport ) . Only Mellan Airstrip , southeast of Tonopah Test Range Airport , survived past the 1960s , upgraded to a concrete runway . A US Air Force assessment published in 2000 indicated it was a minimally adequate airfield which was used to support tactical C - 130 and C - 17 training . Mancamp . About six miles ( 10 km ) north of the airfield is a large housing area called Mancamp . It contains about 50 twin - level dormitories . A recreation center houses a bar , a library , game room , weight room , Olympic size indoor pool , racquetball courts , a two - lane bowling alley , a barbecue pad , and an ATM . There is also an athletic track , tennis courts , and softball fields . Just outside of Mancamp a small civilian compound existed , but was mostly dismantled by 2000 . Google Earth imagery indicated that Mancamp ' s streets were renovated sometime between 2003 and 2007 . Sandia National Laboratories . Operations by Sandia are controlled at the TTR Operations Control Center ( Area 3 ) , just southeast of the main airfield , which houses the range safety officer , test director , and key engineers . Activities are monitored with video , high - speed cameras , and radar tracking devices . Though nuclear weapons have never been detonated on the TTR , the 1963 test Project Rollercoaster involved the destruction of four weapons , which caused some plutonium to be dispersed into the soil north of Antelope Lake . History . In the early 20th century the region was used primarily for mining and some grazing . Early maps from the 1930s indicated a roadway connecting the towns of Caliente and Tonopah via Rachel , which ascended Cedar Pass and crossed through the northern part of the future Tonopah Test Range . In 1940 , President Franklin D . Roosevelt directed the establishment of a US Army Air Corps training range in this area . During the 1950s , weapons design research had been conducted largely at the Salton Sea testing base , but haze problems forced the Department of Energy to seek another location . The Tonopah Test Range was withdrawn from public use in 1956 and testing began in 1957 for United States Department of Energy weapons programs . For most of its life , the range was administered by Sandia National Laboratories . In 2008 the National Nuclear Security Administration proposed to move its facilities on the Tonopah Test Range to White Sands Missile Range , a move that local and state politicians say would cost the area jobs and lost revenue . Constant Peg . From 1979 - 1988 Tonopah hosted a MiG air combat training program code named Constant Peg . The brainchild of Colonel Gail Peck , the program was run by the 4477th Test & Evaluation Squadron , " Red Eagles " , and allowed American aircrews the opportunity to fly – and to fly against – the fighter aircraft of their Cold War rivals . Constant Peg was formally declassified on November 15 , 2006 , though it had been discussed by name in various media since the mid - 1980s . At the height of the operation , the Red Eagles flew 14 MiG - 21 Fishbed s and 9 MiG - 23 Flogger s ( with additional airframes of both types available for cannibalization ) , and had also operated the MiG - 17 Fresco until 1982 , when the type proved too dangerous to continue flying . Between July 1979 and its final sortie in March 1988 , 5 , 930 aircrew were exposed to Constant Peg . Stealth . F - 117 s of the 4450th Tactical Group operated from Tonopah in secret from 1982 through 1989 while the program was still classified . During this period Mancamp was connected to the airfield by shuttle bus service , while the airfield in turn was connected to Nellis Air Force Base by between five to twenty Key Air Boeing 727 and / or Boeing 737 flights per day from Nellis to Tonopah . The airfield was also serviced by one or two JANET Boeing 737 flights daily , which were presumably from McCarran International Airport and served Sandia National Laboratories employees . In early 1991 , Key Air lost the contract and the service was taken over by American Trans Air Boeing 727 aircraft . Contamination . It was revealed in 2007 that during the 1980s a contractor had dumped up to 1 , 000 pounds of urea at a pond on the TTR , resulting in the die - off of 61 horses in 1988 . The fluid had been used as a de - icing agent . The Bureau of Land Management investigated in November 1988 , and imposed remedial actions and assessed a $ 15 , 000 fine . In 2007 over concerns that the chemical was infiltrating groundwater , a whistleblower unsuccessfully attempted to get the Environmental Protection Agency to intervene , leading to an August 2007 inquiry with the Department of the Interior by Senator Harry Reid . Russian S - 300PS SAM Testing . The TTR has also been the site of US testing of foreign - made surface to air missiles systems . Satellite imagery confirms the US secretly acquiring the Russian made S - 300PS surface to air missile system from an unknown supplier in order to test UAVs as well as other advanced aircraft based at nearby airbases . According to OSGEOINT , these bases include Creech Air Force Base , the Yucca Lake UAV testing facility , and Nellis Air Force Base , operating the MQ - 1 - 9 , MQ - 170 , and the F - 35 Joint Strike Fighter in addition to other aircraft . The testing of aircraft is executed under the direction of the 53rd Wing Test and Evaluation Group based at Nellis . Popular culture . " Area 52 " has been featured in television news casts , such as presented by Las Vegas Channel 8 News . Area 52 has also been featured on The History Channel ' s UFO Hunters . In both of these presentations Area 52 is speculated to facilitate the use of highly advanced aircraft technology including craft such as flying saucer s or UFO s . In the television series Stargate SG - 1 , Area 52 is actually the code designation for Stargate Command in the US treasury . In an episode of Total Drama World Tour , Area 52 is visited right before the contestants get to Area 51 . In the Warner Bros movie DJ Drake , Bugs Bunny , Daffy Duck and Kate Houghton visit a secret military base in the Nevada Desert , used mainly as a storage for extraterrestrial lifeforms and technology and government secrets , called Area 52 . The base in the movie was the " real " Area 51 , and the name Area 51 was only a cover for Area 52 .