Hacker disrupts service to Area 51 Web site April 21, 2000 Web posted at: 1:49 PM EDT (1749 GMT)

RALEIGH, North Carolina (AP) -- A hacker disrupted service for 36 hours to the Web site that displays detailed satellite images of Area 51, the top-secret Air Force site in Nevada.

Raleigh-based Aerial Images Inc. said the hacker struck six hours after five images of the desert proving ground were loaded Monday night onto the site, http://www.terraserver.com.

The attack, combined with traffic 10 times what the site usually bears, meant millions of people had difficulty accessing the site or could not connect with it at all, company officials said. Service was disrupted until Thursday.

"I won't tell you it's completely solved," said John Hoffman, Aerial Images president. "We've taken steps to mitigate its effect. It's almost a fact of being online these days."

Hoffman declined to provide details of the attack, citing an ongoing investigation.

The Air Force only recently acknowledged that Groom Dry Lake Air Force Base even exists. 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 there.

http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/space/04/21/area51.hacker.ap/index.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 22, 2000

Answers

Why is it I have so much trouble believing all of these supposed hacker attacks? Natural born cynic, I guess. I imagine this is as good a way as any to cover over system glitches.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), April 22, 2000.