"They used our mining tunnels on our patented mining land. They contaminated it with thousands of chemical bombs and mustard gas, phosgene, a shell that they call C-17," she charged. "Oh, there's lots of craters and fragments and old shells and stuff."

When she went there in December 2002 with a federal appraiser, they saw two artillery shells or bombs. "They were, oh, maybe 5 1/2 feet by 2 1/2 feet, and they were rusted out."

Dugway officials did not respond to a Deseret Morning News request for comment.

People go onto the property frequently, with easy access from the Pony Express Road. They include hunters, bikers and campers, Cannon said.

Dugway "should acquire it because it's a dangerous piece of property. You can stand right on top of it and look right down onto their proving ground."

And such a vantage point may be fine for seeking aliens.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com