Acquired as government surplus, its Westinghouse J34-36 turbojet engine originally powered a Navy Banshee fighter. The joke is a reference to Lazar's personal history: He is best known for going public in 1989 with an account of having worked on hovering, disc-shaped aircraft at a classified government facility near the mysterious Groom Lake air base.Īn important ingredient of a Desert Blast is the spectacle of Lazar's jet car shrieking across the lake, belching yellow-white flame from a hand-fabricated afterburner. Secret facility many stories underground. Some Blast attendees jest that final fireworks assembly takes place at a "We've got a particular color of blue and an electric magenta that you won't see anywhere else." "As the thing started to grow, we trained more people in assembling shells and rockets," he says. He learned to construct shells that spit big bursts of color at impressive heights.Īfter moving to Las Vegas, Lazar began periodically heading out into theĭesert with friends to fire off shells. Teenager living in California, he gravitated to El Mirage dry lake in the Mojave Desert, where motorcyclists went to drive fast and fireworks builders gathered to ignite their creations. Lazar is an accomplished pyrotechnist who caught the bug at a tender ageĪttending fireworks displays produced by the famous Grucci family. They're led by principal instigators Bob Lazar, who describes himself as a "freelance scientist and businessman," and real-estate appraiser Gene Huff. People, most of them technical types by trade, lend their skills and labor to make the Blast happen. Preparing combustible devices and outrageous vehicles. In workshops scattered around the Southwest, many hours have been spent Desert Blast attendees (left to right) stave off dehydration and prepare pyrotechnic displays for nightfall. Each summer a group of about 150 thrill seekersĬonverges here, by invitation only, to celebrate the joys of combining oxygen with explosive chemicals.Ī gasoline bomb ( top) explodes, tossing burning magnesium chips into the air. Nevada, a state with plenty of wide-open space to accommodate folks who are Substitute a jet car, a gun collection, and a stark desert setting where death by dehydration is a genuine possibility.īroad-brimmed hats and water bottles are a good idea out here on the cracked beige expanse of a remote, dry lake Just delete the youngsters and the mayor's speech. Welcome to Desert Blast, a secret annual gathering of pyrotechnicsĮnthusiasts and a private fireworks party that in some ways resembles a July 4th picnic. Thunder of an afterburner pierces the air, and glowing tracer bullets arc across the machine-gun firing area. Shoots oscillating beams that shimmer against the distant sagebrush.
HOMEBUILT SHELLS fill the sky with brilliant bursts.
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