Everyone has heard of Area 51 and its connection to the possibility of alien visitors. Recently, Area 51 has made news as many people are planning to storm the legendary area in September 2019. Despite all of the information, how much do you really know about the mysterious stretch of land in the Nevada desert? Keep reading to learn 45 interesting facts about Area 51 that have been kept secret for years!
Are you geek enough to get your alien badge? Photo Credit: Wikipedia
45. It’s Also Called Dreamland
Area 51 has many nicknames, including Paradise Ranch (which was supposed to encourage workers to come in the earlier days of development) and Watertown. However, the name Dreamland is taken from an Edgar Allen Poe poem of the same name.
The poem reads:
“But the traveler, traveling through it,
May not—dare not openly view it;
Never its mysteries are exposed.
To the weak human eye unclosed;”
Dreamland sign. Photo Credit: Thomas Pajot/Shutterstock
Truer words have never been spoken, thus making this a very fitting name for a highly guarded land area. I wonder if Mr. Poe ever looked up and saw something curious in the night sky.
Steve Medlin had to get an extra mailbox for all the alien enthusiasts. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
44. Area 51 really does exist.
You may see news headlines spouting that Area 51 really does exist… of course, Area 51 exists. It is a geographical location in Nevada, near a salt flat known as Groom Lake. Saying that Area 51 exists is like saying that the island of Bermuda exists (and yes, the island of Bermuda does exist).
An image of a rusty metal background with the red number 51. Photo Credit: Sahara Prince/Shutterstock
Claiming that Area 51 exists is not the same as saying that all of the alien conspiracy theories about it are true, just like arguing that Bermuda exists is not the same as giving credence to ideas about the Bermuda Triangle. Geographic region versus conspiracy theories. One is real. The other is dubious.
If you ever visit Nevada, you should check out Area 51. Photo Credit: Zhi Yang/Shutterstock
43. Area 51 is part of what has been dubbed “the Nevada Triangle.”
The Bermuda Triangle is an area stretching from Bermuda to Florida, where supposedly otherworldly events happen seemingly yet randomly. There are stories of people flying through “electric fog” that caused their flight instruments to go haywire, stories of ships and planes disappearing completely, and even reports of mysterious things happening under the surface of the water.
Welcome to Nevada road sign along a highway. Photo Credit: Alizada Studios/Shutterstock
Many people associate the Bermuda Triangle with extraterrestrial events. They gave the area around Area 51 the moniker the Nevada Triangle to show its connection to this spot in the Caribbean. Supposedly otherworldly, extraterrestrial beings visit both locations and cause paranormal sightings and experiences that cannot be explained through traditional means.
However, you cannot go very far into the actual base. Photo Credit: CloudOnePhoto/Shutterstock
42. It is a highly secure military base.
What exactly is Area 51, if it is a real geographical location that is not necessarily contingent upon aliens’ conspiracy theories? Well, it’s a military base. That would be the end of the conversation; there are many military bases all around the world.
Military base with waving flag. Photo Credit: max.ku/Shutterstock
But for some reason, Area 51 seems to get more attention than any other military base in the world, so much, so that very few people even recognize that it even is a military base. And very few people know what is going on in Area 51… because it is an army base. Only those with high levels of clearance are authorized to know what goes on inside. That’s how military bases work.
Obviously, the desert is ideal for blowing things up and hiding stuff. Photo Credit: W. Scott McGill/Shutterstock
41. It is adjacent to a World War II nuclear testing site.
The most famous nuclear testing during World War II occurred in the deserts of New Mexico, where Robert Oppenheimer and his crew detonated the first atomic bomb. The government had to do the testing far away from civilization, lest the bomb proves to work as well as or better than intended and accidentally wipe out a large civilian population.
A nuclear bomb explosion causing shock waves. Photo Credit: solarseven/Shutterstock
Another testing site was also established in Nevada’s remote area, but it did not gain anywhere close to the notoriety as the one in New Mexico. From a strategic military perspective, building a base near this established nuclear testing site makes sense. But for people who want to believe that we are not alone in the universe, there is something fishy about this remote site out in the middle of nowhere.
The Cold War started after WWII ended. Photo Credit: Marti Bug Catcher/Shutterstock
40. The origins of Area 51 can be found in the Cold War.
The Cold War was a decades-long standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union, including Russia, much of Eastern Europe, and parts of Central Asia. The United States and the Soviet Union fought on the same side during World War II (1939-1945) to defeat the Nazis and imperial Japan. After World War II, though, the United States and the Soviet Union pursued different agendas for how to rebuild the world.
Radio station of NATO, abandoned in 70s, used during the Cold War. Photo Credit: Marti Bug Catcher/Shutterstock
The Soviet Union wanted to expand communism and backed communist revolutions in places like China and Korea. The United States wanted to rebuild the world through capitalism, and it opposed the spread of communism. The ensuing standoff between the two superpowers led to both countries developing space programs that launched satellites and eventually people into space, as well as building prolific nuclear arsenals that could destroy the world several times over.
These planes played a specific role in the war. Photo Credit: Phil Emmerson/Shutterstock
39. It was part of the U2 spy plane program.
In the years following World War II, especially when the Soviet Union began backing communist rebels in China and Korea, the United States realized that it needed to do heavy reconnaissance of what was going on in the Soviet Union. The problem was that the planes used to do reconnaissance had to fly low enough to the ground that they were quickly shot out of the sky.
A Lockheed U-2 in flight. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
The solution was the U2 spy plane, which could fly at altitudes of 70K feet (twice as high as commercial airliners do today). The aircraft were to be built in California, but they had to be tested at a top-secret military base. And where better to go than the deserts of Nevada, where no one would interfere? On the map, this remote, unincorporated territory was simply known as Area 51.
Would you believe an alien story if you did not see it for yourself? Photo Credit: DiegoMariottini/Shutterstock
38. At the time, alien fever was gripping the country.
In 1947, two years after World War II ended and just as the Cold War was getting started, a sheep rancher who lived 75 miles from Roswell, New Mexico, found debris on his property that the Air Force claimed was from a crashed weather balloon. But the waste didn’t resemble that of a weather balloon, and popular theories emerged that it originated from somewhere other than Earth.
Alien looking at the earth. Photo Credit: adike/Shutterstock
Alien fever gripped the country, with newspaper headlines from coast to coast, talking about the startling find in the remote deserts of New Mexico. The military base at Area 51 did not even exist yet. However, after the military base was built, the national hysteria was so great that people insisted that the “weather balloon” was being stored there.
Were people just bored and anxious about the changing times… so much that they made up alien stories? Photo Credit: oneinchpunch/Shutterstock
37. Area 51 alien theories got a boost in the late 1980s.
In November 1989, a conspiracy theorist named Robert Lazar made several appearances on Las Vegas news to claim that he had been an employee working on alien experiments at Area 51. The public was intrigued and could not get enough of the idea that the United States government had crashed alien spaceships and even extraterrestrial beings in its custody.
Extraterrestrial hand contact human hand – alien first contact. Photo Credit: DanieleGay/Shutterstock
Keep in mind that 1989 was the end of the Cold War era, so many changes were going on within the United States and across the world. Moreover, the people old enough to watch the news at that time had grown up with the ever-present threat of nuclear war, so this moment was particularly ripe for a conspiracy theory to take on a life of its own.
A picture of Lazar from the 1980s. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
36. Lazar’s claims were probably entirely false.
Area 51 is a top-secret military installation, so there is really no way to verify whether Lazar actually worked there independently. Other claims that he made are dubious at best, so many believe that based on his character, he was making up the claims about Area 51 and aliens.
Bob lazar vs alien. Photo Credit: Reddit
Perhaps most telling about the false nature of his claims is the story behind element 115. Lazar claimed that the scientists at Area 51 had stored vast amounts of element 115, which is supposedly too heavy to create on earth to generate anti-gravity devices. The problem is that Russian scientists discovered an actual component 115, which they made on earth in 2003. Known as muscovite, this element does not have any anti-gravity properties.
If you like sci-fi movies, you probably think anything is possible. Photo Credit: IgorZh/Shutterstock
35. But mysterious lights were coming from Area 51.
That Area 51 was a military base was not unknown at the time, and locals, in particular, knew that the government was testing out aircraft as part of its Cold War strategy. Still, lights were coming out of Area 51 that could not be explained by any known aviation technology or natural occurrences.
Lights coming out on open field. Photo Credit: Schmaelterphoto/Shutterstock
This bizarre phenomenon, coupled with the tense political climate of the late 1980s, lent credence to Lazar’s story in public media. Though his claims were almost certainly false, there was more to Area 51 than the government was letting on. The military may not have been dissecting alien bodies and reverse-engineering alien technology using the mysterious element 115, but experimenters were doing something there that could not be explained.
Eventually, the military tried to explain the strange occurrence. Photo Credit: ktsdesign/Shutterstock
34. And there were strange aircraft flying above the area.
Keep in mind that the military base at Area 51 was initially designed to test-fly the U2 bombers to conduct reconnaissance over the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, the U2 did not look like any other plane people were familiar with, and even commercial pilots and retired Air Force pilots could not immediately recognize it. Furthermore, these planes were flying up to 10 times higher than any other aircraft of the 1950s. They looked like mere specks of light blitzing across the sky, and the most obvious explanation for this phenomenon was that the planes were alien spacecraft being flown by visitors from another planet.
Hand points to the UFO in the sky. Photo Credit: Sergey Tinyakov/Shutterstock
And the government did not debunk these claims because it had to keep silent on the actual testing that was going on. In the years since the late 1950s, when testing on the U2 planes was finished, other stealth aircraft have been tested at Area 51. Many (though perhaps not all) of the strange lights in the sky may be from stealth aircraft that the public does not yet know of.
Do you think the alien hype has to do with traveling and tourism? Photo Credit: Sunshine Seeds/Shutterstock
33. Commercial airliners may have unknowingly helped create the conspiracy theories about aliens and Area 51.
Keep in mind that the U2 planes being tested at Area 51 during the 1950s were flying much, much higher than even the most sophisticated military aircraft of the time. Imagine a commercial airplane flying near Area 51 and the pilot not being aware that the little specks of light darting around high above were from a new type of spy plane being tested as part of the government’s Cold War strategy.
Passengers on commercial airplane flying above clouds in sunset light. Photo Credit: Jag_cz/Shutterstock
Of course, the military leaders at Area 51 would have the flight schedules of those commercial planes and keep a close eye to make sure that they stayed on course, but the pilots of those commercial planes would not know about the top-secret flights happening above them. They would have radioed to their control towers about the unexplained lights flying high above them, for which there was no explanation.
After some time, the government eventually gave some reasoning for all of the strangeness, but people prefer to believe the alien stories. Photo Credit: Nick Fox/Shutterstock
32. The Air Force explained these sightings away.
High-level military leaders cannot just tell the public of the top-secret research they are conducting to dispense with any myths about extraterrestrials. So when word began to travel about the UFOs appearing above Area 51, Air Force officers said that the lights were caused by high-altitude weather research and/or natural phenomena.
Military pilots on airfield during sunset. Photo Credit: zieusin/Shutterstock
In other words, they gave the same explanation as for the Roswell incident of 1947. People weren’t convinced in 1947, and they weren’t confident in later years, either. In fact, the government’s explanation of the lights may have helped fuel the conspiracy theories because a satisfactory explanation of what happened in Roswell had still not been given. And there was the fact that some of the lights seen back in the 1950s still cannot be explained, even by today’s standards.
Whether you are a believer or not, these stories sure make for a good road trip. Photo Credit: Nick Fox/Shutterstock
31. Nevada’s tourist industry has played into the alien fever surrounding Area 51.
Nevada is mostly desert and has had to be creative in developing an economy that will provide jobs for its residents and help fund its government. Almost all of its economy is based on tourism, most geared towards the major gambling centers of Reno and Las Vegas, but a substantial portion is also derived from Area 51.
“Black Mailbox” on SR-375 dubbed the Extraterrestrial Highway. Photo Credit: BrianPIrwin/Shutterstock
The state renamed a stretch of highway leading up to Area 51 “The Extraterrestrial Highway” to help attract more visitors hoping to catch their own glimpse of a UFO. There are also numerous stores, museums, gas stations, motels, and other tourist stops hoping to play on the alien fever in return for some revenue. The tiny town of Rachel, which is closest to Area 51, has fewer than 100 people but has so many alien-themed exhibits that it has tourists all year long. So really, the state government is not doing much to downplay the alien association with Area 51.
All of the surrounding businesses thrive off of Area 51 theories. Photo Credit: AmishiL07/Shutterstock
30. But if you ask the locals, they know that aliens are just business.
If the government was conducting research on aliens by dissecting their bodies, reverse-engineering their spacecraft, and creating anti-gravity devices, then you would not want to live anywhere near Area 51. Just imagine the level of radiation that you and your family would be continuously exposed to!
Little Ale Inn Motel, Rachel, Nevada. Rachel, near Area 51. Photo Credit: GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock
Locals who live in tourist hotspots near Area 51 know that the alien hype is mostly a way of making money. Selling coffee cups that look like little green men in an area shrouded in conspiracy theories is an easy way to quadruple the price. That said, there are some unexplained mysteries around Area 51, and locals are very aware that the base is shrouded in enigma.
From bright lights to dry deserts, many interesting things happen in the city of sin. Photo Credit: Virrage Images/Shutterstock
29. Many Area 51 employees live in Las Vegas.
If you are ever at the Las Vegas airport, keep your eyes open for unmarked planes that take off and land several times a day. These planes are taking workers from Las Vegas, where many of them live in Area 51. These commercial planes to and from Area 51 are probably the most visible thing about the site, and they also help fuel the conspiracy theories surrounding it.
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA at the Welcome to Las Vegas Sign at dusk. Photo Credit: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock
One reason is that the government has chartered a private airline, rather than a standard airline like United or Southwest, to fly employees back and forth. This arrangement probably does make economic sense, given that Area 51 really is out in the middle of nowhere, and no one, except for government employees with clearance, is allowed there. Still, there is a lot about the place that cannot be explained.
You cannot just walk in like you own the place! Photo Credit: Zachary Byer/Shutterstock
28. The place is crawling with high-level security.
This is not a rent-a-cop situation we are talking about. Area 51 is highly guarded, and the vast expanse is continuously monitored. The defense contractors in charge of security are called “camo dudes,” and they are a force to be reckoned with.
Drone monitoring barbed wire fences on state border or restricted area. Photo Credit: Kletr/Shutterstock
These camo-clad defenders of the premises are allowed to use deadly force if intruders attempt to invade the Air Force base surrounding Area 51. At the very least, they will arrest anyone who tries to break in. They keep constant tabs on the dirt roads that lead there and detain anyone while local law enforcement is called to come and get them. These white jeep-wielding protectors of the secrets work hard to keep Area 51’s secrets under wraps.
Watch out for the white trucks. The Area 51 patrol is more dangerous than ICE. Photo Credit: Flickr
27. Get ready to ride along some dirt roads.
Let’s say you decide to take your chances with the “camo dudes,” and you head down a winding dirt road to get to the gates of the military base. As you travel down the “Extraterrestrial Highway” from Alamo to Rachel, Nevada, you may pass a single mailbox that belongs to a rancher named Steve Medlin.
Wheel closeup in a countryside landscape with a muddy road. Photo Credit: Doidam 10/Shutterstock
The bulletproof and padlocked mailbox has become a gathering place for more than just his mail. It is a hot spot for those who hope to catch a glimpse of some intergalactic travelers. A second small mailbox labeled “alien” was added to it so that the rancher’s mailbox did not keep filling up with fan mail from the believers.
If you can make the trek, you can get a view of Area 51. Photo Credit: Flickr
26. Determined visitors can get a peek at Area 51.
Disappointed you can’t get into Area 51 to see it? Well, there is one place you can take a peek. Tikaboo Peak is a mere 26 miles away from the perimeter of Area 51 and is legally the only place where you can “see” the area in question. But there’s a catch. There are several of them.
Sight of area 51. Photo Credit: KUNR/Shutterstock
To get to Tikaboo Peak, you will need to travel over 25 miles of nearly impassable terrain, park, and hike up a steep mountain. Don’t forget that you are in the desert, so water is scarce, and heat is abundant. After you finally reach your destination, you can grab your binoculars and admire a barely visible overview of the military base. So, get your sunscreen, canteen, and binoculars and go play peek-a-boo on Tikaboo Peak!
Aerial timelapse reveals how the mysterious Area 51 has expanded. Photo Credit: Google Maps
25. You can also see Area 51 from Google Earth.
So, you are interested enough to explore Area 51 from your living room, but not quite curious enough to hike in the desert or get chased by the “camo dudes”? Well… how about Google Earth? The techies out there have come to the rescue and are providing us with some coordinates. However, they warn us that there are restricted portions of the images that you cannot see since it is a government site. If you want to try it, type the coordinates “37.24804, -115.800155” into the Search box on the Google Earth screen, then press “Enter.” I think I saw a Del Taco on the map too… very interesting.
NASA is a government agency, so it may be cooperating with military officers at Area 51. Photo Credit: U.S. Geological Survey/Public Domain
24. NASA images of Area 51 are mysteriously missing.
This notorious government agency NASA has pictures of Area 51 from space, right? In 1974 the Skylab astronauts were told to take and bring back a series of photographs. They were only forbidden to take photos of the Groom Lake area (Area 51). Somehow photos were taken of the highly secretive area.
Spacecraft Launch Into Space. Photo Credit: Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock
When the images were reviewed by national security, those particular photos were seized and locked away, never seen by anyone outside of the NPIC. All film rolls have cuts missing from them, and the pictures, nor their contents, have never been leaked. Extraordinarily high security, missing photos? The heavily guarded secrets of Area 51 are the fuel to conspiracy theories.
How would you feel if something like this landed in your backyard? Photo Credit: National Archives
23. Soviet pictures leaked in the 1990s.
In 1992, Russia and the U.S. (along with 22 other nations) signed an “open skies” treaty that allowed them to fly over and photograph each other’s territories to ensure steps toward disarmament. Russia captured and released very detailed images of Area 51. But almost immediately after publishing them on the internet, the website was hacked, which eventually crashed.
UFO sighting The ‘alien’ craft. Photo Credit: Yuri A/Shutterstock
The pictures confirm what we know: the area is a large military base, and there are planes (covered by tarps) and entrances to underground facilities. The Russians, however, did not see any form of alien life or UFOs. And much has changed since then.
Living near an active government site is not all alien fun and games. Photo Credit: Reddit
22. The locals have their own problems with Area 51.
There are many local souvenir shops and alien museums nearby, but what about families and people who own homes near the area? The Sheahan family-owned Groom Mine, an area rich in ore and family legacy since 1889.
Road sign for the Extraterrestrial Highway covered with stickers. Photo Credit: Nick Fox/Shutterstock
Over the years, they endured a bombing of their property, gunfire, nuclear contamination, and physical and financial bullying from the U.S. government. The Sheahan family refused to sell their mines and property to the USAF for a whopping 5.2 million dollars, indeed much more than the property was worth. But who wants to be bribed by the government, especially when there might be alien cover-ups involved? In return, the USAF condemned the mines so they could take them over as government property.
Nevada Test Site. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
21. There is a specific reason behind the name “Area 51.”
Today, the official name of Area 51 is Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3, or AFFTC Det. 3 for short. But honestly, the term “Area 51” is scary, right? It is so mysterious and enigmatic that it demands someone to reckon with it. Is Area 51 only a military nickname? Are there 50 other areas somewhere else?
Area 51 typed on a typewriter on red. Photo Credit: Manuel Esteban/Shutterstock
As part of the Nevada National Security Site (originally the Nevada Test Site), the name Area 51 came from how the land appeared on a geological map from the Atomic Energy Commission. People thought that the original numbers went from the Nellis Air Force base, located nearby, which named the designated safety areas to keep track of them.
The local newspaper is telling the story of the Roswell crash when it first happened. Photo Credit: Smithsonian Magazine
20. The alien conspiracies have an origin that still hasn’t been fully explained.
As mentioned, the alien fever that has since come to dominate popular lore about Area 51 started in the summer of 1947. An unidentified object crashed on a ranch in Roswell, and the front-page headline of the local newspaper was “RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region.” That was all it took for stories to start and for people’s imaginations to go wild. The U.S. military claimed the object was a weather balloon, but recently (in the mid-90s) released a full report that indicated that it was an atomic monitoring balloon meant to detect nuclear testing, and possibly Russian. But what does that official report mean, especially when the government secrets throughout the Cold War fueled conspiracy theories?
Who knows what kinds of chemicals have leaked into the ground and air? Photo Credit: KsanderDN/Shutterstock
19. There is a crazy smell in the area.
There are many crazy smells around Area 51, which might be because of aircraft chemicals like burning fuel or coatings meant to shield aircraft from radar. Perhaps at the base, the military is testing new kinds of jet fuel in addition to test-flying new types of stealth aircraft. Whatever the case, the place stinks. Literally.
Woman in front of the gate of Area 51. Photo Credit: Ric LaFollette/Shutterstock
Guards have actually sought compensation for breathing problems they’ve experienced, claiming that they’ve been inhaling toxic chemicals. Given how remote and vast the territory is, for people who work outside in the fresh air to experience breathing problems, something has to be going on. And of course, this adds fuel to the fire that something weird is going on within the legendary site.
The moon landing was real… but some Area 51 conspiracy theorists want you to believe that it was fake. Photo Credit: Leul Allebahew/Shutterstock
18. Conspiracy theorists think that the man on the moon and Area 51 planners are in cahoots.
You probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that many of the people who think that the U.S. government is hiding aliens at Area 51 are also lying about the men walking on the moon. And there have been conspiracy theories about the moon landings for almost as long as there have been conspiracy theories about Area 51.
Astronaut saluting the American flag. Photo Credit: Merlin74/Shutterstock
What you may not know, however, is that a lot of people think that the moonwalk was filmed AT Area 51, according to the book “We Never Went to the Moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle.” While it is true that some rovers and life support systems built by NASA were tested at a nuclear testing site nearby to Area 51, the moon landings weren’t faked and brought back a lot of moon rock to prove it.
Federal land in southern Nevada. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
17. Area 51 is part of the Nevada Test and Training Range.
The Nevada Test and Training Range, the most extensive base for peaceful military operations globally, encompasses Area 51. It covers 2.9 million acres and 5,000 square miles of restricted airspace. Almost all of the region is so remote that people have to travel far out of their way to get anywhere close to it. Area 51 is officially considered to be a part of the NTTR. This site is used to test and develop new helicopters, airplanes, unmanned drones, and other modern military technology. The site also intersects with a wildlife range, so hopefully, no animals have been harmed in making alien conspiracy theories.
A U2 spy plane, which made Area 51 famous. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
16. The NTTR is best known for test-flying the U2 spy plane.
The U2 spy plane’s first flight took place at Area 51 in 1955. It exceeded the capabilities of modern aircraft by such a high degree that its test flights provided the foundation for many of the UFO conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51. Many of the alleged UFO flights are thought to have been U2 testing flights. This plane that would ultimately make Area 51 so notorious was initially shrouded in so much secrecy that people nearby had absolutely no idea what they were looking at. And here you may have thought that U2 was just an excellent band, up until a few minutes ago.
Would you believe anything that the government said about Area 51? Photo Credit: Bruce Stanfield/Shutterstock
15. The Air Force was so secretive about test-flying the U2 planes that it fueled the UFO theories.
Had the Air Force admitted what was happening, there may not have been so many theories about UFOs and aliens. However, they continued to say that high-altitude weather research and natural desert phenomena were going on instead of the truth. If they revealed what was truly taking place, some theorists might not have created such imaginative conspiracies about the area.
UFO crash on a field with smoke. Photo Credit: Fer Gregory/Shutterstock
But then again, the Air Force was conducting top-secret programs as part of the Cold War standoff with the Soviet Union. The U2 had to be undetectable, and if the Soviets knew that the U.S. was flying this new stealth reconnaissance plane, the whole secret would have been blown. But at least now people who visit Nevada can get their cheap plastic alien toys and say that they were near Area 51.
Many stealth planes have been tested at Area 51. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
14. The U2s weren’t the only secret aircraft tested at Area 51.
The U2 spy plane program lasted throughout the 1950s, long enough for Area 51 to become a developed military base with a reputation for housing flying saucers. Since then, the government has been test-flying stealth aircraft at Area 51, and these new aircraft have features that have never been seen before. Their novel flight patterns further fuel the conspiracy theories around Area 51.
Lockheed Martin U2. Photo Credit: Pixabay
In addition to those U2 planes, other aircraft were tested, including the Nighthawk, the A-12 Oxcart by Lockheed, and the D-21 Tagboard. Today the site is still used, and airplane housing buildings and runways can be seen from many aerial shots. However, once again, all of the testings is even being done in secret.
The military base at Area 51 is constantly expanding. Photo Credit: Reddit
13. But what’s with all the construction?
If you keep your eyes on Area 51 through Google Earth, you will notice a continually shifting landscape out there. It seems like there is ongoing construction from a series of changing photographs taken over the years. This idea makes many people wonder what are they making room for and what’s next to come to Area 51? Does the government need to house more secret aircraft? Maybe a bigger and better mortuary for aliens that were dissected? The place is growing, but for what purpose? We might not know the truth about this new construction for decades to come.
The closest you can get to Area 51 may be the small town of Rachel. Photo Credit: Logan Bush/Shutterstock
12. Many tourists visit Rachel, Nevada, for something close to an alien experience.
Tourists can’t visit Area 51, but the small town of Rachel, Nevada, might be the next best thing. The nearby village boasts a population of 98 humans and “?” aliens. This area once housed an “Area 51 Research Trailer,” which has since shut down, but there is a cute little restaurant called the Little A’Le’ Inn, as well as a Dreamland Resort. You may want to pass on the overpriced plastic alien-themed coffee cups and instead focus on taking pictures in front of all the alien-themed places in town (and pretty much every store in the city is alien-themed). The coffee cup will wear out, but the alien-themed village is a slice of pure Americana that is priceless.
Seeing a plane like this in flight might make people think they were looking at a UFO. Photo Credit: Everett Collection/Shutterstock
11. Area 51 was used to house captured aircraft.
In 2013, the government released declassified files regarding Area 51, including an official recognition that the place really exists (of course, it does). Documents in the files showed that the United States did test Soviet Union MiG fighters captured during the Cold War in the 1970s and 1980s. These projects have been dubbed names like “Have Doughnut,” “Have Drill,” and “Have Ferry.” The enigmatic terms give people even more reason to believe that many secret classified things are going on over there that may be released in the future. And of course, there are — it’s a military base. Everything is secret.
Nighthawks look like something straight out of science fiction, but they are out there. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
10. F-117 Nighthawks called Area 51 home.
Another elusive yet famous aircraft that has links to Area 51 is the F-117 Nighthawk. It was an aircraft specializing in stealth attacks and was made by Lockheed in the late 70s. The craft started operating in the early 1980s but was kept secret from the public until 1988. Nighthawks were used in the Gulf War as well as in the Iraq War.
F-117 Nighthawks fly over New Mexico. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nighthawks certainly looks like something straight out of a Star Trek episode from the 1970s, or maybe even Star Wars. With so much of pop culture going the way of science fiction and intergalactic travel, of course, people were going to look in the sky and think they saw UFOs.
Hillary wanted to make the government more transparent, starting with Area 51. Photo Credit: Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock
9. Hillary Clinton made Area 51 part of her presidential campaign.
During her 2016 Democratic nomination race, Hillary promised the public that she’d make more Area 51 files public if elected. “If there’s nothing there,” she said, “let’s tell people there’s nothing there.” She announced this on the Jimmy Kimmel Show. Of course, Clinton was unsuccessful in securing her spot in the oval office as the first female president, so those files remained secret.
Secretary Hillary Clinton talks to the standing-room-only audience. Photo Credit: Gregory Reed/Shutterstock
But would declassify more of the Area 51 files do anything to build public trust in the government or mitigate the conspiracy theories about alien research going on there? Probably not, because by now, the conspiracy theories have a life of their own, enough that people who distrust the government because of Area 51 are unlikely to start trusting the government just because it reveals more weather balloons and familiar weather phenomena.
So did her husband, Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States. Photo Credit: Mark Reinstein/Shutterstock
8. Bill Clinton also looked for UFOs.
It is said that Bill Clinton tried extensively during his eight-year presidency to try to find information about alien life but couldn’t find anything about aliens or that the government had any knowledge about extraterrestrial life at Area 51. Perhaps he was secretly an alien enthusiast. Although to be fair, the then-president also signed a bill exempting Area 51 from certain disclosures that would have made the government have to share information with a legal team as part of a dispute about the workers who were getting sick from fumes, so who knows what happened.
No U-Turn Sign. Photo Credit: Roberto Marantan/Shutterstock
7. For a while, you couldn’t make a U-turn at Area 51.
Not for regular vehicles — very few land-based cars go in and out of Area 51. Pretty much everyone flies into work, so there is little need for a car or truck to have to make a U-turn on the dirt roads surrounding the base. But planes couldn’t make U-turns. Why?
No u tern sign, traffic sign with traffic light background. Photo Credit: Alist/Shutterstock
Some of the planes that were tested at Area 51 fly so quickly that it takes them almost 200 miles to make a U-Turn! This is partially why the government had to seize an additional 38,400 acres of land around the base and withdraw it from public access. It’s also why the restricted airspace makes a 440 square mile box — for U-Turns.
Even though aliens are interesting, this place is as dull as dry toast. Credit: Google Maps
6. At Area 51, there is literally nothing to do for fun.
Although there aren’t many people around the area other than qualified personnel, there isn’t much to do in the way of fun. Decades ago, there was only a single cement tennis court and a small bowling alley. Radio signals are only evident in the evening because of the nearby mountains, and until recently, there was no television. It is unclear if they’ve added any additional recreation to the area since then, although satellite images appear to show a baseball field. But seriously, scientists in Antarctica have more ways to spend their free time than the government employees installed at Area 51.
Grilled Medium Rare top sirloin beef steak or rump steak on a steel tray. Photo Credit: Mironov Vladimir/Shutterstock
5. However, the food is rumored to be good at Area 51.
It is said that the Area 51 mess hall sometimes served lobsters and oysters, and that steak is served once a week. The employees have to eat every day, right? Maybe one of the perks of working with aliens is preceding the paper sack lunch. Perhaps that’s the real reason they’re trying to keep us out — so we don’t eat all of their delicious food. And maybe there are some Martian recipes or cuisine from other galaxies that employees can try! But really, workers at Area 51 apparently don’t like being associated with aliens, so doubtful the mess hall has a chef specializing in food from Uranus.
The OXCART plane is super lightweight because it is made of titanium. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
4. The world’s fastest plane was tested at Area 51.
The OXCART, manufactured and tested at Area 51, cruised at 2200 miles an hour but unfortunately didn’t set any speed records because it was kept secret. But at those speeds, it had to have created sonic booms that were heard by locals — locals who are used to the mysterious flights and lights coming out of the military base. The plane was also made of more than 90 per cent titanium — an incredibly lightweight metal — and is considered the world’s first titanium plane. Just imagine getting from one part of the globe to the next in that great aircraft!
Working at Area 51 isn’t all about shooting down alien UFOs. Credit: Flickr
3. Keeping the runways clean at Area 51 is a full-time job.
The OXCART also had engines that would suck up debris like powerful vacuum cleaners, so the base’s personnel had to vacuum the runway before each test flight to ensure a smooth takeoff and landing. Since the site is located in the middle of the desert, you can only imagine the amount of dirt and dust that swept across the runway every single day. A broom probably just wouldn’t cut it, especially when high winds pile sand onto an active runway.
Runway rubber removal system. Photo Credit: United States Air Force
How do Area 51 employees get to work? According to Business Insider, Area 51 employees take small, unmarked flights from the Las Vegas airport into the area each day. Not much beyond that is known about the travel. Now that is a commute! Imagine having to take a secret plane to work every single day. Although this concept might seem a bit extreme, at least they can skip the bumper-to-bumper traffic jams.
Welcoming our alien friends, in true American style with beer. Credit: Bud Light/Twitter
2. Aliens can get free beer if they survive Area 51.
In light of the news surrounding the march on Area 51 back in 2019, Anheuser-Busch offered free Bud Light beer to any alien who makes it out of the Area 51 storming alive. They even included a special greeting on each can! Naturally, though, we aren’t sure if these aliens can read English. Of course, this idea is all fun and games… or is it? We hope they get the message loud and clear, but everyone will only know after it is all said and done! If nothing else, it is a good marketing scheme for the beer company,
Area 51 sign in the middle of the road with UFOs in the sky. Photo Credit: Fer Gregory/Shutterstock
1. There have been credible observers who have identified UFOs at Area 51.
Despite what you believe or don’t believe about Area 51, 90% of reported UFO sightings could be easily debunked. In comparison, the other 10% were “several incredible reports from credible observers,” according to the National Geographic. 10% may be a small number until you consider the thousands and thousands of stories people have circulated about alien visitations. Nevertheless, people often have to see things for themselves to believe it. With this concept in mind, it makes you wonder if there really could be any of the rumors at Area 51 and why people are so anxious to storm it.