For decades, Nevada’s Area 51 Air Force facility has represented the

eye of a conspiratorial hurricane that swirls around “evidence” that

aliens (and their technology) exist and are hiding behind its walls.
Books, TV shows, and even massive online “raids” have tried to glimpse
beyond its stark signs warning against trespassers.

While aliens aren’t taking up residence in the compound, what is going

on there is just as interesting.

In the middle of the barren Nevada desert, there’s a dusty unmarked

road that leads to the front gate of Area 51. It’s protected by little more
than a chain link fence, a boom gate, and intimidating trespassing signs.
One would think that America’s much mythicized top secret military
base would be under closer guard, but make no mistake. They are
watching.

Beyond the gate, cameras see every angle. On the distant hilltop, there’s
a white pickup truck with a tinted windshield peering down on
everything below. Locals says the base knows every desert tortoise and
jackrabbit that hops the fence. Others claim there are embedded sensors
in the approaching road.

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What exactly goes on inside of Area 51 has led to decades of wild
speculation. There are, of course, the alien conspiracies that galactic
visitors are tucked away somewhere inside. One of the more colorful
rumors insists the infamous 1947 Roswell crash was actually a Soviet
aircraft piloted by mutated midgets and the wreckage remains on the
grounds of Area 51. Some even believe that the U.S. government filmed
the 1969 moon landing in one of the base’s hangars.

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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 forbidden aspect of Area 51 is what makes people want to know

what’s there,” says aerospace historian and author Peter Merlin who’s
been researching Area 51 for more than three decades.

“And there sure is still a lot going on there.”

The Origins of a Mystery

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 1950, 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.
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I WANT TO BELIEVE 👽

 Study Says Alien Contact 400,000 Years Away

In the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force sent low-flying
aircraft on reconnaissance missions over the USSR, but they were at
constant risk of being shot down. In November 1954, 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. They found it in the southern Nevada desert near a salt flat
known as Groom Lake, which had once been a World War II aerial
gunnery range for Army Air Corps pilots.

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.

Making a Myth
U-2 testing began in July 1955, and immediately, reports came flooding
in about unidentified flying object sightings. If you read the details in a
1992 CIA report that was declassified with redactions in 1998 (and
subsequently released nearly in full in 2013), 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-2. Whereas
today’s airliners can soar as high as 45,000 feet, in the mid-1950s
airlines flew at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet. Known
military aircraft could get to 40,000 feet, and some believed manned
flight couldn’t go any higher than that. The U-2, flying at altitudes in
excess of 60,000 feet, would’ve looked completely alien.
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Kelly Johnson, left, and Francis Gary Powers with U-2 aircraft behind.
Powers was eventually shot down in the USSR in 1960.
U.S. Air Force

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
1960 when Gary Powers’ U-2 was shot down over Russia.
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What’s also interesting about the most recent 2013 report is that it
confirms Area 51’s existence. While the 1998 version does have
significant redactions when referencing the name and location of the U-2
test site, the nearly un-redacted version from 2013 reveals much more,
including multiple references to Area 51, Groom Lake, and even a map of
the area.

“This Is Earth Technology”

U-2 operations halted in the late 1950s, but other top secret military
aircrafts continued tests at Area 51. Over the years, the A-12 and
numerous stealth aircrafts like Bird of Prey, F-117A, and TACIT
BLUE have all been developed and tested in the Nevada desert. More
declassified documents reveal Area 51’s role in “Project Have
Doughnut,” a 1970s attempt to study covertly obtained Soviet MiGs.

“This is Earth technology. You got folks claiming it’s extraterrestrial when
it’s really good old American know-how.”

“They flew them [over Area 51]..and pitted our own fighters against them
to develop tactics,” says Merlin, “They learned that you can’t out-turn it,
but you can outrun it. And it’s still going on today.... Now, instead of
seeing MiG-17s and 21s, there’s MiG-29s and SU-27s.”

The flights are ongoing. In September 2017, an Air Force Lt. Col.
was killed under mysterious circumstances when his plane crashed in
Nevada and the Pentagon would not immediately ID the aircraft. It
seems he was most likely flying a foreign jet obtained by the United
States.

Even so, the alien conspiracies gained ground in 1989 when Bob

Lazar claimed in an interview on Las Vegas local news that he’d seen
aliens and had helped to reverse-engineer alien spacecrafts while
working at the base. Many have disregarded this as fiction and are even
offended at the notion, including Merlin, who has spent years talking
with former Area 51 engineers and employees angered by all the fuss
about E.T.

“Some are even mad because they worked on these things and built these
amazing planes,” Merlin says. “This is Earth technology. You got folks
claiming it’s extraterrestrial when it’s really good old American know-
how.”

Area 51 on July 20, 2016.

Getty Images
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The Truth Is Out There

Today, Area 51 is still very much in use. According to Google Earth, new
construction and expansions are continuously happening. On most early
mornings, eagle-eyed visitors can spot strange lights in the sky moving
up and down. No, it’s not a UFO. It’s actually the semi-secret contract
commuter airline using the call sign “Janet” that transports workers
from Las Vegas’s McCarran Airport to the base.

As for what’s happening these days in America’s most secretive military

base, few know for sure. Merlin has some educated guesses, including
improved stealth technology, advanced weapons, electronic warfare
systems and, in particular, unmanned aerial vehicles. Chris Pocock,
noted U-2 historian and author of several books about the
matter, told Popular Mechanics he thinks classified aircraft, more exotic
forms of radio communication, directed energy weapons, and lasers are
currently under development at the base.
Essential UFO Reading

While the lore around Area 51 may be nothing more than imaginative
fiction, that won’t stop people from gawking just beyond those chain link
fences. “At the most basic level, anytime you have something secret or
forbidden, it’s human nature,” says Merlin. “You want to find out what it
is.”