Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Richard Mingus


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   keep. Reliable sources have been found. Deletion concerns appear to have been addressed. (non-admin closure) Alpha_Quadrant    (talk)  03:01, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Richard Mingus

 * – ( View AfD View log )

A security guard at the Nevada Test Site and Area 51. All references lead back to one book by Annie Jacobsen. There are some refs not directly to the book, but they either talk about the book or to Jacobsen talking about the book. Those refs only talk about Minus in passing. Unable to find any references outside of the book. I'm unable to see why he is notable and he also fails GNG. Speedy delete was declined. Bgwhite (talk) 06:04, 30 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. Bgwhite (talk) 06:06, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Article's Orginal Author Notes
The startrek.com reference and the NPR reference is an interview transcript and not from the book. Please keep in mind much of this has recently been declassified so the majority of information revealed in this book is new to the public. Other references such as National Geographic "Area 51 Declassified" offer first hand interviews with people who actually worked there. It relies on the integrity of the show's publisher and station to follow traditional journalistic referencing as noted in the credits and bears witness to their public reputation.


 * I will continue to groom this NEW page for diverse references but please do not delete it. The person and topic is an important component of the history of black military programs of the united states.


 * The article makes no libel or negative gestures to this living person and would not typically be considered objectionable.


 * Also, please bear with me. I'm used to modifying wiki's but I'm new to navigating the vigorous process of getting an article through general adoption.   I would appreciate guidance on my talk page rather than simply deleting the article.  Thanks.

Jimerb (talk) 17:06, 30 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Weak delete. I'm not sure that being around but not involved with a lot of notable events makes that person notable, although giving a bunch of interviews to ask about those events may make it seem as if he is. But how many other guards were working at Area 51 while these events occurred? Are they notable? Why is a security guard there notable but not a janitor? I'm tending to go with the notability is not inherited argument here. Rnb (talk) 20:58, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Response: KEEP - There are only a handful of people in the united states who ever worked on this base during the cold war. Most are deceased. That makes his experiences noteworthy as projects become declassified.

Mingus was responsible for securing dozens of nuclear tests and as written, one of them that he was chiefly responsible for became a significant national security incident (the base came under attack during a live nuke test) escalating all the way up to President Reagan. He was also involved with securing a crashed nuclear soviet satellite. During the cold war, the security of this base was a top national security priority. The U2 program was the most important government project the united states was sponsoring and it's secrecy (via security) was key in preventing nuclear Armageddon. Mingus was a key figure in the integrity of the base.

The experiences Mingus had are notable in that it teaches us what the government was doing during the cold war. It teaches us about the cold war's very nature -- first hand -- from a unique place.

Also, he WAS involved with many operations on the base. Not just an observer. Because security is responsible for the entire base, security personnel offer a unique view of all of the projects underway at the base. It is discussed in the book that most black projects were "compartmentalized" and only a few (such as Military and CIA brass) knew about all of them. Security was a rare exception as they were the ones responsible for compartmentalizing the base. They therefore got to see what most could not.

There is a tremendous amount of information to this story. Please make sure it is carefully reviewed before deletion. I'd be happy to provide details if they are missing. Janitors don't do these things. Jimerb (talk) 23:37, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

I would also add that Mingus is significantly more notable that Bob Lazar who worked at the Nevada test site for only 1 year in only a minor capacity. Lazard has passed the Wikipedia notablity test. 65.51.24.66 (talk) 16:36, 31 October 2011 (UTC) 
 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Ron Ritzman (talk) 00:04, 6 November 2011 (UTC)




 * Weak Keep – Per reliable sources, , , book source . Northamerica1000 (talk) 02:58, 6 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Keep “A lot of the documents are actually declassified now,” she said. Project 57, the explosion of a dirty bomb at Area 51 that security guard Richard Mingus actually drove through and lived, is one of them. He is mentioned in many places, and even interviewed in one news source NorthAmerica1000 found.  D r e a m Focus  13:52, 6 November 2011 (UTC)


 * Keep passes WP:BIO, contains plenty of reliable sources. – Phoenix B 1of3 (talk) 17:43, 8 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Keep per sources. Johnfos (talk) 17:52, 8 November 2011 (UTC)
 * Keep passes WP:BIO, contains reliable sources. --DThomsen8 (talk) 22:02, 8 November 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.