Mr. Miller's story has all the makings of a terrific adventure tale. He joined the Air Force in 1961 and served in Vietnam for four years. He then left the military for 8 months, only to discover he was dissatisfied with civilian life. When he re-enlisted, he was invited to work on "special projects" because he had high security clearance. He accepted the offer, but he had no idea what project he would be working on. Told to report to the commercial airport in Las Vegas, he was put on a 727 with no markings except for its tail number. After a 25-minute flight, he was informed that the plane was about to land. He then got his first glimpse of Area-51, known as "Dreamland Ranch." "I looked down and saw one scraggly little runway," he says, "and there were some hangars and trailers." The temperature was 125 degrees.
At "the Ranch," Miller was greeted by Kelly Johnson, the Lockheed engineer who lead the design team for the SR-71. Kelly Johnson had also helped construct the Area-51 base at the request of the CIA. At this secret location, the U-2 Spy Plane had been tested. Bill Miller was now working on one of the military's most secretive projects. When he first saw the SR-71, he was struck by its beauty. It was made almost entirely of titanium, one of the most expensive metals in the world. At the time, each SR-71 cost one billion dollars. He notes that "the surface of the wings was very clean and very sharp." Its sleek titanium construction was necessary due to the intense heat generated by flying at such high speeds. Miller recalls the time that one airman's hands were burned by the aircraft after one particularly extreme landing. The plane could easily fly at 3 times the speed of sound, and Miller speculates that it could have flown faster still.
Not many people got the see the SR-71 during its experimental phase. It was flown only at night and even its beacons were obscured. But Bill Miller was part of the test crew for this exquisite aircraft until 1972. His journey with the spy plane took him from Area-51 to Beale AFB and gave him access to some of the military's best kept secrets. He would later retire and become a recruiter and recruiting supervisor, as well as a family-man and all-around nice guy.
To learn more about Miller's fascinating story - and to discover if there really were aliens or UFOs at Area-51 - you won't want to miss this exciting community event. Join us on Thursday, July 30th at the Spalding Memorial Library, 724 South Main Street in Athens. We hope to see you there! Our "Summer of Heroes" series concludes next month with "Civil War Heroes," presented by Kurt Lafy on August 20th. For more details, please call 570.888.7117.