The OES visited the GE Peebles Test Operation facility in January and February 2007. While the GE facility is not abandoned or historic, we decided to visit this mysterious facility as it is often referred to as Ohio’s Area 51. Located just southeast of Peebles in Adams County, the facility was intended to test rockets when it opened in 1954, but those plans never came to fruition. In 1965, GE began using the proving ground to test propulsion systems, some of which were reportedly secret government projects. The OES has found several transcripts backing the claims of secret government projects taking place at the installation, including work on an ion propulsion system that was seemingly being reverse-engineered in the late 1970s to mid 1980s. GE makes no attempt to hide the facility, there is a sign along the road pointing to the main gate. But once you approach the gate, you immediately encounter a no trespassing sign. In fact, GE purchased 7,000 acres of the Peach Mountain area and public roads were gated and closed…no trespassing signs posted every 30-50 feet or so. Aerial imagery shows the facility has a runway and several buildings.

During our first trip in January, our vehicle was nearly run off the road by a large SUV as we approached the main gate…the SUV flashing their high beams and coming across the double-yellow line at our car. We were then tailed by two pickup trucks into the nearby town of Rarden. Later in the evening, we spotted what looked like the same SUV we had encountered at the main gate at a gas station in Peebles. The driver was wearing digi-camo fatigues. During each trip we were able to hear the sounds of jet engines being tested at our nearest vantage point, an oddly placed church just south of the runway. To read some of the documentation we were able to find, click the link below the photos.

Location Information: Active Installation

The GE Peebles Test Operation facility is located on Jaybird Road near Peebles; Adams County.

Photographs

This sign at the end of Jaybird Road pointed toward the secretive facility. The main gates for the GE Peebles Test Operation. A closer look at the signs posted at the main gate. A closed circuit television camera on a utility pole kept watch over the gate. This back gate blocked a driveway at the nearest point to the facility's runway. A closer look at the gate that blocked a once public road. This road was the closest we could get to the facility without trespassing. One of the large electrical stations that surround the facility. An overhead view of the Peach Mountain complex.

GE Peebles Test Operation Documentation