What goes on inside is extremely secret. Members of the public are kept away by warning signs, electronic surveillance and armed guards. It is also illegal to fly over Area 51, although the site is now visible on satellite images. The base has runways up to 12,ft 2.
The facility is next to two other restricted military areas: the Nevada Test Site, where US nuclear weapons were tested from the s to the s, and the Nevada Test and Training Range. The entire range covers more than 2. According to the US military, it represents "a flexible, realistic and multidimensional battle-space to conduct testing tactics development, and advanced training". Area 51 was created during the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union as a testing and development facility for aircraft, including the U-2 and SR Blackbird reconnaissance planes.
Although it opened in , its existence was only officially acknowledged by the CIA in August Although official information is sparse, it is believed that the US military continues to use Area 51 to develop cutting-edge aircraft. About 1, people are believed to work there, many commuting on charter flights from Las Vegas. Annie Jacobsen, who has written about the history of Area 51, told the BBC that some of the world's most advanced espionage programmes are at the site.
The research began with the U-2 spy plane in the s and has now moved on to drones", she says. The secrecy surrounding Area 51 has helped fuel many conspiracy theories. Is the truth really out there? Visit Website. Extraterrestrial Highway. National Atomic Testing Museum. Nevada National Security Site Tour.
This Location:. One of the more colorful rumors insists the infamous Roswell crash was actually a Soviet aircraft piloted by mutated midgets and the wreckage remains on the grounds of Area Some even believe that the U.
For all the myths and legends, what's true is that Area 51 is very real—and still very active. There may not be aliens or a moon landing movie set inside those fences, but something is going on and only a select few are privy to what's happening further down that closely monitored wind-swept Nevada road.
The beginning of Area 51 is directly related to the development of the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. After World War II, the Soviet Union lowered the Iron Curtain around themselves and the rest of the Eastern bloc, creating a near intelligence blackout to the rest of the world.
When the Soviets backed North Korea's invasion of South Korea in June , it became increasingly clear that the Kremlin would aggressively expand its influence.
America worried about the USSR's technology, intentions, and ability to launch a surprise attack—only a decade removed from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In the early s, the U. Navy and U. Air Force sent low-flying aircraft on reconnaissance missions over the USSR, but they were at constant risk of being shot down. In November , President Eisenhower approved the secret development of a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft called the U-2 program.
One of the first orders of business was to track down a remote, covert location for training and testing. Known by its map designation as Area 51, this middle-of-nowhere site became a new top-secret military base.
To convince workers to come, Kelly Johnson , one of the leading engineers of the U-2 project, gave it a more enticing name: Paradise Ranch. U-2 testing began in July , and immediately, reports came flooding in about unidentified flying object sightings. If you read the details in a CIA report that was declassified with redactions in and subsequently released nearly in full in , it's easy to see why. Many of these sightings were observed by commercial airline pilots who had never seen an aircraft fly at such high altitudes as the U Whereas today's airliners can soar as high as 45, feet , in the mids airlines flew at altitudes between 10, and 20, feet.
Known military aircraft could get to 40, feet, and some believed manned flight couldn't go any higher than that. The U-2, flying at altitudes in excess of 60, feet, would've looked completely alien. Naturally, Air Force officials knew the majority of these unexplained sightings were U-2 tests, but they were not allowed to reveal these details to the public. So, "natural phenomena" or "high-altitude weather research" became go-to explanations for UFO sightings, including in when Gary Powers' U-2 was shot down over Russia.
What's also interesting about the most recent report is that it confirms Area 51's existence. While the version does have significant redactions when referencing the name and location of the U-2 test site, the nearly un-redacted version from reveals much more, including multiple references to Area 51, Groom Lake, and even a map of the area. U-2 operations halted in the late s, but other top secret military aircrafts continued tests at Area You got folks claiming it's extraterrestrial when it's really good old American know-how.
And it's still going on today The flights are ongoing.
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