Air Force Plant 42
Air Force Plant 42 (AFP 42) is a government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) production and research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) facility located in Palmdale, California, in the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles. The plant covers approximately 5,800 acres and includes multiple production sites leased to major defense contractors. It is one of the most significant classified aerospace production facilities in the United States. Only three prime contractors hold classified RDT&E access to AFP 42: Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin (through Skunk Works), and Boeing, making it a uniquely concentrated node for the most sensitive American aerospace programs. The facility has been associated with the development and production of classified aircraft including the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber (Northrop Grumman) and the U-2 and SR-71 (Lockheed).
AFP 42 is alleged in UAP research to serve as one of several western range facilities involved in testing and evaluation of recovered non-human vehicles and derivative airframes under the alleged "Hidden Wing" portfolio of classified programs. Its proximity to Tejon Ranch — approximately 30 miles to the north — and its exclusive contractor access by the three companies most frequently cited in UAP legacy program allegations situates it as a key node in the alleged operational geography of clandestine UAP programs in southern California.
1988 ARV Exhibit
Brad Sorenson identified AFP 42 as the specific location of the November 1988 classified aerospace exhibit at which he witnessed three disc-shaped Alien Reproduction Vehicles. Sorenson traveled to the facility via a military Boeing 727 flight from nearby Norton Air Force Base, escorted by a client identified with high confidence by Mark McCandlish as Frank Carlucci, then-Secretary of Defense. The exhibit was held in a Palmdale hangar that McCandlish noted was the original 1960s Lockheed construction site for the L-1011 TriStar airliner — later becoming a Skunk Works facility.
The location of the ARV exhibit at AFP 42 is consistent with McCandlish's broader thesis of a joint reverse engineering program based at AFP 42 and Edwards Air Force Base. The Edwards and Palmdale facilities are less than 30 miles apart, both host Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Skunk Works operations, and both are cited repeatedly in connection with the alleged 412th Reverse Engineering Group.