10 Things You Should Know about the Area 51 and the Aliens

One of the reasons the base is so confidential is because no visitors are allowed. This extends far beyond regular civilians, as members of the well-established media are not allowed on the site. Even normal military air traffic is prohibited from passing above the area. There are a border situated miles outside of the base that the public is not allowed to cross. There are signs at the edge of the border that indicate the same. The signs also indicate the fact that the use of deadly force is authorized simply for crossing the line.

There are also fences around the base’s perimeter, as well as heavily armed guards who are always on patrol. These guards are commonly referred to as “Camo dudes” simply because of the camouflage apparel they wear while on duty.

While the area between the border and the facility extends for miles, its entirety is well secured. In 2014, 8NN reported a story where an Adventure Photo Tour driver/tour guide accidentally crossed the border. The footage from the bus’s dashboard camera showed that he was distracted as he was answering a question from one of the tourists on the bus. As a result, he passed the border and the warning signs. Within minutes, three security vehicles arrived on the scene, and military personnel removed everyone on the bus. Lincoln County sheriffs were called onto the scene and they were removed. All parties on the bus were fined $650, however, the fines against all parties except the driver were dropped.

If you have ever heard of this base before, chances are “Area 51” is the only name you have noticed being used to refer to the facility. You may have also noticed that this is the name being used in this article as well. This is because this name has become somewhat universally accepted over the years. However, “Area 51” is only a nickname for the site.

There is no clear reason for the choice of the name “Area 51.” Some believe the name was created after a man who falsely claimed to be a former employee stated that the facility was reverse-engineering alien aircraft. It is also believed that it originated from an Atomic Energy Commission numbering grid. On this grid, Area 51 is adjacent to Area 15. An explanation was given that the number 51 was chosen because the AEC was unlikely to use it, but this remains unconfirmed. Note that a CIA document recovered from the Vietnam War uses the name Area 51.

“Paradise Ranch” and “Dreamland” are two of the other known nicknames for the facility. The PR team of the USAF only refers to the base as “an operating location near Groom Dry Lake.” Area 51 has two known official names, which are Groom Lake and Homey Airport (KXTA). The name Groom Lake is based on the salt flat that is situated next to the facility’s airfield. Restricted Area 4808 North (R-4808N) is the name given to the special use airspace that surrounds the field.

As stated before, Area 51 is at the center of many theories and folklore because of the mystique created by the base’s confidential nature. Below is an overview of some of the most common theories.

The first theory is that the base is believed to be working on (and has possibly completed) the development of weather control technology. It is further theorized that the base is working on developing teleportation and traveling mechanisms. Many people also theorize that the facility found crashed alien spacecraft. It is said that the spacecraft was taken and that the base’s team recovered materials and occupants from it. They then stored the spacecraft, materials, and occupants for examination purposes. The theory then states that not only did the base successfully reverse-engineered the spacecraft, but it also manufactured aircraft based on the design of same.

Another theory is that Area 51 has engaged (and possibly continues to engage) in meetings and agreements with extra-terrestrials. A lot of these theories relate to Groom Lake underground facilities. In fact, theorists also claim that there is an underground transcontinental railroad system, in addition to a disappearing airstrip that is only visible when water is sprayed onto its asphalt. This is believed to have been achieved through a camouflage system that is based on alien technology.

Some of the theories were sparked from personal accounts such as one in 1996 from a 71-year-old mechanical engineer. He claimed to be a former employee of Area 51 and claims that he worked on a flying disc simulator.

This point goes to show why it is important to be careful about what you choose to post on social media sites. The possibility now exists that Area 51 may be stormed by numerous civilians in the future. The event is formally known as “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.”

It was started by a man named Matty Roberts. Roberts created a Facebook event, which is set for September 20, 2019. The idea is to raid the military base to search for extra-terrestrial life. The premise is that if enough persons take part in the raid, it is impossible for the base to stop them all. Roberts has since confirmed that his intention was a comedic one and it was never meant to garner much attention. However, 3.5 million people have responded to the event.

Laura McAndrews, an Air Force spokeswoman reported that government officials are aware of the event. She discouraged everyone from attempting to enter the base, citing that it is a training ground for American armed forces. McAndrews further went on to state that the USAF stands ready to protect both America and its assets. It is believed that many of these people do intend to take part in the alien search as businesses in Nevada and others around the country are seeing the effects of the event. There have been spikes in accommodation bookings around the proposed date. Many businesses have been getting in on the action in various ways such as launching merchandise based on the event.

While no one can prove that they have seen real alien spacecraft, it is understandable why some eyewitnesses believe that they have seen them.

Over time, Area 51 has been used as a staging ground for testing out experimental aircraft. Lockheed Martin, the USAF, and the CIA have all performed aircraft tests using the facility. The purpose, details, and results of these tests are usually kept confidential. Based on government documents that became declassified in 2007, there was a Cold War-era program taking place at Area 51 during the 1950s and the 1960s. This program, which was known as Oxcart, was a confidential one to create a stealth aircraft for gathering intel covertly. The plane was not only supposed to be undetectable to all existent radar systems, but it was also supposed to abnormally reach high speeds.

The Archangel-12 aircraft was born from this project. It could travel at over 2,000 MPH and could take clear pictures of the ground from a height of 90,000 feet. The SR-71 Blackbird and the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighter were also born from this project.

When these aircraft were traveling at the Mach-3 speeds that they were capable of, they looked a lot like the typical idea of alien spacecraft. Upon seeing them, many people reported seeing UFOs above Nevada. As Area 51 is such a secretive place, there wasn’t an official confirmation or lack thereof regarding these sightings. Therefore, the rumor mill began turning and the mystique surrounding the base only grew from that point onwards.

The Roswell UFO incident is one of the most popular conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51. The incident occurred in 1947 where there was a crash landing of a “flying saucer” near the New Mexico city of Roswell. As many people believed it to be an alien aircraft, there was a lot of speculation and interest surrounding the crash. In response, the US military gave an official statement that wrote it off as a regular weather balloon.

The suspicions and interest all but died down over the next few decades. In the late 1970s, however, the spark was renewed by ufologists. They started to come up with increasingly questionable out theories about the crash. They claimed the aircraft was an alien spacecraft and stated that not only did the Area 51 team recover it but that the team also had the occupants in custody. Fuel was added to the fire when it was stated that the government was actively covering up the truth.

To put the issue to rest and to shed some light, the US military did two media releases to give some context to the event. They stated that it was a surveillance balloon for nuclear testing. The balloon was associated with Project Mogul, which was a confidential atomic bomb sound wave detection project. The project ran from 1947-1949.

Even though the official story has now been broken, ufologists and civilians not only still believe that there is more to the incident, but they have also come up with newer theories surrounding it.

As stated before, there are numerous reasons why many people believe that aliens are being held at Area 51. One of these was a 1995 film about an alien autopsy at the base. In that year, film footage emerged that “exposed” an alien autopsy. This autopsy was supposedly conducted by an official of the US military. The alien was apparently recovered from the crash site of Roswell Incident, and when the footage was released, it created a tremendous buzz around the world.

The film was released by Ray Santilli, who was an entrepreneur based in London. Over the next 11 years, there were many inconsistencies noted and questions directed at Santilli about the film. Among these were the facts that the extra-terrestrial did not seem to have wounds from a crash, and that the pathologist doing the autopsy did not seem to know how to hold the scissors like a professional.

Ray responded with a confirmation that the film was mostly reconstructed; however, he went on to say (presumably to preserve his reputation) that it was based on genuine footage that was no longer available. Trey Stokes, a special effects expert who had a hand in films such as Batman Returns, stated that the alien corpse did not seem genuine. He said that it appeared to be composed of rubber and it had the build quality of a dummy.

As a result of Santilli’s footage being debunked, a fictional rendition of the film was created as a comedic piece named Alien Autopsy.

Much of the documentation and discussion surrounding Area 51 is based on theories and the Majestic 12 or MJ-12 is a great example of this. The theory surrounding MJ-12 also began because of the “lack of clarity” surrounding the Roswell incident.

According to theories, the committee consists of government officials, leaders of the military, and scientists. The group exists to recover alien spacecraft and conduct experiments on them and their contents. The name MJ-12 prominently features in the conspiracy theories of ufologists and the evidence that “confirms” the organization’s existence was circulated by these ufologists. This evidence was a collection of documentation that was billed as “leaked government documents” in 1984.

An investigation was ordered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and at its conclusion, the documents were deemed to be fabricated. In fact, some ufologists agree with this and consider the documents to be no more than a hoax. MJ-12’s first major action according to theories was the cover-up of the details surrounding the Roswell incident. As stated earlier, it was believed that the government was hiding something, but ufologists took it further when they stated that there was a secret upper government tier that spearheaded the cover-up.

The organization is rumored to have been started by Harry S. Truman, during his tenure as US president and rumored members are Donald Menzel, Robert Montague, Sidney Souers, Nathan Twining, Hoyt Vandenberg, Vannevar Bush, James Forrestal, Lloyd Berkner, Detlev Bronk, Gordon Gray, Roscoe Hillenkoetter, and Jerome Clarke Hunsaker.

Today, it seems as if it is commonplace for people around the world to know about Area 51. There is so much discussion and media presence surrounding it, that you don’t even need to try to do research. Even if you were unaware before, the potential plan to storm the base mentioned above has brought more eyes onto Groom Lake than ever.

The government doesn’t refer to the base like Area 51, as they are more comfortable using the official naming conventions. There was a time, however, when no name was used. This is because the government used to deny that the facility even existed. For years people speculated about the base, and their theories were all meant with denials.

This all changed in 2013 when newly declassified documents came to light. The documents revealed the CIA’s acknowledgment of the mysterious Nevada-based site.

Jeffrey Richelson, a National Security Archive senior fellow, stated that he reviewed the history in 2002. However, there were no mentions of Area 51, as they had been redacted. He went on to state that he made a request for the history again in 2005. He received the document eight years later, and the mentions of Area 51 had been restored. Following the document release, officials began acknowledging the facility as a place where the government conducts classified operations. It is believed that the document release was a conscious CIA move to put an end to the pretending.

As stated above, it was in 2013 that the facility was officially acknowledged by the CIA. However, rookie astronauts almost gave the world the reveal almost 40 years prior, as a result of unauthorized images being captured.

The astronauts were William Pogue, Edward Gibson, and Gerald Carr, who was the final Skylab crew to head to space in November 1973. The mission was noted as a success, and it included their snapping of photos of the earth from space. The problem is that they took a couple of photos of Area 51 while they were doing so. Based on an agreement between the US intelligence committee and NASA, all images taken from space were subject to examination by the Washington D.C. based National Photographic Interpretation Center. This meant that there was no choice, but to turn over the pictures of Groom Lake.

The discovery of these pictures caused both CIA panic and much debate in the intelligence community on what was supposed to be done with the pictures. NASA and the state department believed that the images should’ve been released. The Department of Defense believed it should be revealed.

The eventual decision was to withhold the photos and, therefore, the public was not clued in on the base’s existence. The only reason the photos are now available is that the CIA chose to declassify the documents. Over 60 documents were declassified in total, which included not only the photographs, but they also provided details on the attempts to create a stealth aircraft.

Conclusion

Area 51 is one of the most confidential places on earth. Members of the public speculated that the base existed, however, the government was adamant that this was not the case. The passage of time revealed differently, and now the world knows about the base. Even though the existence was confirmed, there is still no way to be completely sure about what takes place there. The problem is that people tend to fill in what they don’t know with theories, and Area 51 is subject to some of the most creative, imaginative theories ever.

It was because of this level of mystery surrounding the base, as well as, the sight of a couple strange looking planes that largely contributed to the belief. While some people are clearly aware of the fact that there are no aliens, others are willing to stand by the belief. This is so much so that people have responded positively to a Facebook event that was done in jest. The event is supposed to be a storming of the military base under the premise that with enough participants, the military cannot stop them all. To the event creator’s surprise, millions of people have run with his joke, and even businesses are getting ready to support those who intend to take part.

The government is aware of these intentions, and statements have been made discouraging people from attempting this as storming a military training base is dangerous. Also, the USAF has permission to use deadly force if necessary, which means this could spell disaster for many.