my guest tonight, annie jacobsen. she's author of the bookary" 51."know what you're getting a little bit of tonight, ladies and gentlemen? truth. [laughter] now, obviously over the past couple of weeks, there have been a lot of very important issues that we've had to discuss here on the program, issues that may have been waylaid by perhaps more pressing issues that we've had to discuss, like the death of bin laden, the hard-core porn in bin laden's house. [laughter] hard-core poets, rhyming in the people's house, and finally the distractions are over. we here at "the daily show" can get back to our core mission, discussing the important issues of the day, such as immigration policy in a respectful, sober manner. you're welcome. [laughter] to the debate. >> in a bombshell announcement, former california governor arnold schwarzenegger now admits to fathering a child with a longtime household staffer. >> jon: oh, for [bleeped]. [laughter] this close. damn you nearly irresistible comic possibilities. funny accent, built-in movie poster fun. sure, yes, obv

annie jacobsen, thanks for being here. >> jon: t

. >>> back to the tale of area 51, a place that holds, according to annie jacobsen, a soviet flying saucerthe bodies of mute yant children and evidence that americans performed experiments on disabled kids. she says her source was reputable, but when he came to us, he contradicted several of her claims to us, the man seemed confused an conflicted. we promised to protect his identity. but we were keen to see how ajob essential would act. >> this is really a great book. >> reporter: at every stop on her promotional tour, jacobsen has stood by her book as it is written. >> who was on the spacecraft? >> well, some child-sized aviators and that's what's most disturbing about the book. it was not martians, it was actually the russians. it had been stalin's idea and it was originally of a third reich design. >> you have to read the book. if you are scratching your head at home and wondering, you've done a great piece here. >> reporter: after repeated requests and a tense negotiation, she agreed to sit down with me a second time. he told us he never touched the people that were in that craft. >> w

. >> host: you're listening to california radio program and our guest is annie jacobsen author of the new book detail in her investigation as the area known as area 51. the contents and activities are much less shocking than the speculation than why does the government maintain secrecy? >> guest: we touched upon that but i will also say i take "the reader" through the '80s, one of the last programs i write about was the f-117 bomber the diamond shaped stealth bomber that was developed that area 51 after the air force took over but what has been going on since the war on terror began? it is out of my need to know and i didn't have any sources tell me what is going on there now because that is obviously of national security concerns fighting the war on terror but a place where the drums are tested and i also writes another interesting story from about 1998. when they drowns, they are familiar with them now, but they began as the espionage platform that only carried cameras. they were used in the serbian bosnian conflict and not interesting to many people other than and the cia. but the

. >> host: our thanks to annie jacobsen, author of the new book area 51. >> this event was hosted by the commonwealth club of california in sentences go. for more information visit commonwealth club at dot work. >> we would like to hear from you. it's tweeting us your feedback. twitter dot com / book tv. >> next on book tv, military historian jonathan jordan presents a biography of generals dwight eisenhower, george patton, and omar bradley during world war ii. the others was the personal and working relationships of the three men, all graduates of west point, who were equally friends and opponents. it is a little under an hour. [inaudible conversations] >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to the national world war two museum. it is a pleasure to see such a packed house tonight. i can tell that you are all in for a good show after having spent the day with tonight's speaker and having read most of the book. don't tell him i have not read all of it yet, but most of the book. we are pleased here to have c-span that wanted to come down and fell in mr. jordan's presentation. w

our next guest has written the book, annie jacobsen. a will the of theorists to try to talk about the things happening there. what is area 51 and what did you find? >> a secret military facility in the southern nevada north of las vegas. it's been opened since 1951, hence the name. it's set in america's only atomic bombing range and during the '50s, we set off nuclear bombs there above the ground. on the other side of the fence over at area 51, the cia began testing their earliest spy planes there, the famous u2 spy plane was tested there, so was the oxcourt. i interviewed a lot of the pilots and engineers and mechanics who worked there. my book is really the secret, inside story of this legendary group of cold warriors. >> so area 51 was basically created to be able to do this. to be able to test the untestable and have it not be known. what was the importance of the location and secrecy surrounding it. >> because the atomic bombing range was there, they knew this place was federally restricted and nobody would go there. the cia said,