AREA 51 NEVADA
WHAT IS AREA 51 AND WHY SO MUCH SECRETCY?
It's been a perennial American obsession for more than 50 years. It's provided a shadowy backdrop for shows like "The X-Files" and movies like the 1996 summer blockbuster "Independence Day." And in 2019, this well-known but little-understood location took over social media when one jokester inspired millions of people to RSVP "yes" to trespassing.
The place: AREA 51, a remote patch of desert some 83 miles north-northwest of Las Vegas, next to a salt flat at the foot of a mountain. This military outpost — and what's happened inside it — is so top-secret that its very existence was disputed until 2013.
In short, Area 51 was created during the Cold War to help America peek in on the Soviet Union. But, because of its clandestine beginnings and cutting-edge tech, many Americans came to associate the base with extraterrestrial ships and little green men.
So, what is Area 51 really? What do we know for sure? How did a Cold War espionage operation become associated with theories of deep-state cover-ups of crash-landed aliens? And why did dozens of people put their lives on hold in September 2019 to drive into the Nevada desert to stand outside of it?
Here's what we know for sure… and what secrets are yet to be revealed. Spy games and unmarked planes. Here's what we do know about Area 51: Today, the U.S. Air Force uses the 38,400-acre patch of desert as a training site. Sometimes called the Nevada Test and Training Range, the base is located next to a salt flat called Groom Lake and is home to some of the longest runways in the world.
The closest town is Rachel, Nevada, population 54. The airspace above the base is extremely off-limits. And the land around it is peppered with warning signs to would-be trespassers.
We also know that workers aren't commuting there by car. Air traffic control audio out of a private terminal at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport suggests that government-owned passenger jets flying under the name "Janet Airlines" make daily flights to and from… somewhere in the Nevada desert.
If you ask air traffic control, that "somewhere" is Homey Airport (KTXA) otherwise known as Area 51. Through the years, the base has also been called Dreamland, Watertown, Yuletide and Paradise Ranch.
A war wakes up the desert
Not much was happening on this swath of land before World War II. In 1864, prospectors discovered silver and lead around Groom Lake salt flat. A man named Patrick Sheahan built a humble homestead and founded Groom Mine in 1889. The Sheahans' homestead was about as isolated as it gets; Las Vegas wasn't even founded as a city until 1905 and was inaccessible by railroad until 1906.
But the family's quiet lifestyle abruptly changed in 1941, when the government sent agents to scout the area for use as a training site for bomber planes. An airstrip, called Indian Springs Auxiliary Field No. 1, was constructed where Area 51 sits today, six miles from the homestead. In 1951, the United States Department of Energy began nuclear detonation tests at the Nevada Test Site, 20 miles from the Sheahans' homestead. After WWII, the military training airstrip fell quiet, but not for long.
Keeping the Cold War cool
In March 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was worried that America's lack of knowledge of Russia's military developments might leave America vulnerable to attack. So Eisenhower recruited a panel of experts to figure out how the United States could use science to thwart a potential Russian attack.
One thing was clear: The U.S. would need eyes in the skies over the Soviet Union. And once America had a blueprint in the works for a cutting-edge surveillance plane, a secure location would be required to assemble and test it. A scouting group flew over Groom Lake. From above, they could see it was remote, unassuming, and it already had an airstrip. It was perfect. That's how Area 51 was born.
In the early days, Lockheed engineer Kelly Johnson nicknamed the base Paradise Ranch. This was Johnson's way of making the arid patch sound more appealing to potential staff. Despite the lack of cultural attractions, nightlife or vegetation, workers embraced the moniker and began referring to themselves as "ranch hands."
Area 51 quickly became a favorite location for the CIA's classified airborne espionage ops. But as projects became more technologically complex, the bare-bones facility needed major upgrades. By 1964, Area 51 was transformed into a fully functional spy-plane factory.
Contractors poured a new asphalt runway to accommodate faster planes, replacing the old, 5,000-foot one with one that stretched 8,500 feet. Workers delivered disassembled Naval housing units and plane hangars to Groom Lake. Construction crews dug a new water well and erected recreational facilities. They added all the necessary warehousing, shop space and fuel storage.
In the summer of 1955, sightings of "unidentified flying objects" were reported around Area 51. That's because the Air Force had begun its testing of the U-2 aircraft. The U-2 can fly higher than 60,000 feet. At the time, normal airliners were flying in the 10,000 to 20,000 feet range. While military aircraft topped out around 40,000 feet. So if a pilot spotted the tiny speck that was the U-2 high above it, they would have no idea what it was. And they would usually let air traffic control know someone was out there. Which is what led to the increase of UFO sightings in the area. While Air Force officials knew the UFO sightings were U-2 tests, they couldn't really tell the public. So they explained the aircraft sightings by saying they were "natural phenomena" and "high-altitude weather research."
The testing of the U-2 ended in the late 1950s; but, Area 51 has continued to serve as the testing ground for many aircraft, including the F-117A, A-12, and TACIT BLUE.
Included is some testimony of UFO'S of an eye witness: The UFO description:
“It is white, oblong, some 40 feet long and perhaps 12 feet thick. . . . The pilots are astonished to see the object suddenly reorient itself toward the approaching F/A-18.“In a series of discreet tumbling maneuvers that seem to defy the laws of physics, the object takes a position directly behind the approaching F/A-18. The pilots capture gun camera footage and infrared imagery of the object. They are outmatched by a technology they’ve never seen.”
The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program generated at least one report, a 490-page volume that describes alleged UFO sightings in the United States and numerous other countries over multiple decades.
So is their absolute proof that all of these sightings in and around area 51 is simply our government testing airplanes or is our government lying to us about documented UFO sightings. You be the judge I will try to be openminded on the subject of UFO'S. In conclusion there's appears to be something out there?
Humans Will Meet ALIENS Within a FEW YEARS! Former NASA Scientist Reveals.
THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW: Mysterious lights. Sinister saucers. Alien Abductions. Between 1947 to 1969, at the height of the Cold War, more than 12,000 UFO sightings were reported and they are still being reported today.
THINGS YOU MAY WANT TO SAVE: Crashed spaceships, actual encounters with aliens include photos and audio recordings.
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