View source for Bob Lazar

{{short description|American UFO businessman and conspiracy theorist}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Robert Lazar
| image              = Bob-Lazar.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Robert Scott Lazar
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1959|01|26}}
| birth_place        = [[w:Coral Gables|Coral Gables]], [[w:Florida|Florida]], U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| occupation         = {{unbulleted list |Former [[Photographic processing|film processor]]
|Owner of United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies}}
| spouse             = Joy White 
| parents            = 
}}

'''Robert Scott Lazar''' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|z|ɑr}}; born January 26, 1959) is an American businessman, film processor, pyrotechnician, and owner of United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies. Lazar is primarily known for his claims of being hired in the late 1980s to reverse engineer purported extraterrestrial technology at a secret site called [[Area S4|S4]], located several kilometres south of the [[Area 51]] United States Air Force (USAF) facility. Lazar claims he examined an alien craft that ran on an [[antimatter]] reactor powered by the (then un-synthesized) [[Moscovium|element 115]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bob Lazar UFO Reverse Engineering Podcast|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlB9JArSA9w&t=3329s|website=youtube.com|accessdate=11 February 2018|ref=48:00}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bob Lazar 2014|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32WCBeyRhZM|website=youtube.com|accessdate=11 February 2018|ref=6:00}}</ref> He also claims to have read US government briefing documents that described alien involvement in human affairs over the past 10,000 years. Lazar's claims resulted in bringing added public attention to the Area 51 United States Air Force facility. His story gained renewed attention due to a June 20, 2019 interview with [[Joe Rogan]], as well as a 2018 documentary about his life, entitled ''Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers''.

==Claims==
In May 1989, Lazar appeared in an interview with investigative reporter [[George Knapp]] on Las Vegas TV station [[w: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 United States Air Force facility Area 51. He said the 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 [[w:reverse engineering|reverse engineering]] of one of nine [[flying saucer]]s. Bob 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 stainless steel. In a subsequent interview that November, Lazar appeared unmasked and under his own name.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://knpr.org/desert-companion/2014-11/out-there |title=Out there |author=[[George Knapp (journalist)|George Knapp]] |work=[[KNPR]] |date=1 November 2014}}</ref>   

{{multiple image |total_width = 500 |caption_align=center
 |image1 = Area51 gate.JPG
 |caption1 = [[Area 51]] gate
 |width1 = 4272 |height1 = 2848
 |image2 = Groom Lake and Papoose Lake.jpg
 |caption2 = [[Groom Lake]] (left) and [[Papoose Lake]] (right)
 |width2 = 4368 |height2 = 2467 
}}

Lazar claims that the propulsion of the studied vehicle was fueled by atomic element 115 ([[moscovium]], first synthesized in 2003) or E115. Lazar explained that E115 generates a gravity wave.<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}}</ref>  

In addition, Lazar claims that during his onboarding to the program, he read briefing documents describing the historical involvement with Earth for the past 10,000 years by extraterrestrial beings, [[Grey aliens]]. These aliens are from a planet orbiting the twin binary star system [[Zeta Reticuli]].<ref name=salrea /><ref name=weagra>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=AKy2CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT179&q&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Weapons Grade |author=David Hambling |publisher=[[Constable & Robinson]] |year=2016 |pages=178-180}}</ref>

Lazar's story garnered media attention, controversy, and supporters. Lazar cannot support with evidence his core claim of alien technology.<ref name=salrea /><ref name=weagra /><ref>{{cite new |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=20 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.livescience.com/23514-area-51.html |title=Area 51: Secrets, Yes; Aliens, No |work=[[Live Science]]  |date=27 September 2012}}</ref>

==Background==

===Education and qualifications===

Lazar took electronics courses in the late 1970s at [[Los Angeles Pierce College|Pierce Junior College]] in Los Angeles.{{fact|date=June 2019}}

Lazar claims he earned a master's degree in physics from the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] (MIT), and a master's degree in electronic technology from [[California Institute of Technology]] (CalTech); however, there are no records of Lazar attending either MIT or CalTech.<ref name=salrea>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.ca/books?id=6meZjKVOAvEC&pg=PT159#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=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}}</ref> Furthermore, Lazar was not a member of a professional body.{{fact|date=June 2019}} Lazar claims that his academic records were erased in an effort by authorities to discredit him.{{fact|date=June 2019}}

===Legal problems in 1990===
In 1990, Lazar was arrested for aiding and abetting a prostitution ring. This was reduced to felony [[w:Procuring (prostitution)|pandering]], to which he pleaded guilty.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.latimes.com/1993-05-06/news/vw-31950_1_ultimate-ufo-seminar/2 |title=Unusually Fanatical Observers |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=4 February 2003}}</ref><ref name=lvrgui>{{cite news |title=SOURCE IN CHANNEL 8’S UFO SERIES PLEADS GUILTY TO PANDERING CHARGE |work=[[Las Vegas Review Journal]] |date=19 June 1990 |page=8b}}</ref><ref name=lvrpro>{{cite news |title=Judge Gives UFO "Witness" Lazar Probation on pandering charge |work=Las Vegas Review Journal |date=21 August 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 />

During trial and under oath, Lazar again claimed degrees from MIT and Caltech.

[[Bankruptcy]] documents verify that Lazar was self-employed as a [[Photographic processing|film processor]].<ref name=reaima>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.co.nz/books?id=QEJ7g6rZ4MQC&pg=PA122#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=UFOs: Real Or Imagined? |author=Stanton Friedman |publisher=[[Rosen Publishing]] |date=2012 |pages=122–24 }}</ref>

==United Nuclear==
Lazar owns and operates United Nuclear Scientific Equipment and Supplies, which sells a variety of materials including radiation sensors, radioactive ores, non-radioactive elements (such as pure silicon), powerful magnets, and other scientific equipment such as [[aerogel]], as well as a variety of lab chemicals. In 2006, Lazar and his wife Joy White were charged with violating the [[w: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">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.06/chemistry.html |title=Don't Try This at Home |work=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |date=July 2006}}</ref>

United Nuclear pleaded guilty to three criminal counts of introducing into interstate commerce, and aiding and abetting the introduction into interstate commerce, 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=20 July 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}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.boblazar.com}}
*{{IMDb name|1331678|Bob Lazar}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpN5PjOxHbo Analysis of Bob Lazar's body language looking for signs of deceit]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lazar, Bob}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:UFO conspiracy theorists]]