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Real Story Behind Myth of Area 51 87

The Real Story Behind the

Myth of Area 51

There are no aliens at America's
most famous top-secret military
base, but what is there is just as

interesting.

By Matt Blitz

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. constant risk of being shot down. In November "This Is Earth Technology"
Beyond the gate, cameras see every 1954, President Eisenhower approved the secret
angle. On the distant hilltop, there's a white development of a high-altitude reconnaissance U-2 operations halted in the late 1950s, but other
pickup truck with a tinted windshield peering aircraft called the U-2 program. One of the first top secret military aircrafts continued tests at
down on everything below. Locals says the base orders of business was to track down a remote, Area 51. Over the years, the A-12 and numerous
knows every desert tortoise and jackrabbit that covert location for training and testing. They stealth aircrafts like Bird of Prey, F-117A, and
hops the fence. Others claim there are embedded found it in the southern Nevada desert near a salt TACIT BLUE have all been developed and
sensors in the approaching road. flat known as Groom Lake, which had once been tested in the Nevada desert. More declassified
What exactly goes on inside of Area 51 a World War II aerial gunnery range for Army documents reveal Area 51's role in "Project
has led to decades of wild speculation. There Air Corps pilots. Have Doughnut," a 1970s attempt to study
are, of course, the alien conspiracies that Known by its map designation as Area covertly obtained Soviet MiGs.
galactic visitors are tucked away somewhere 51, this middle-of-nowhere site became a new
inside. One of the more colorful rumors insists top-secret military base. To convince workers to "This is Earth technology. You got folks
the infamous 1947 Roswell crash was actually a come, Kelly Johnson, one of the leading claiming it's extraterrestrial when it's really
Soviet aircraft piloted by mutated midgets and engineers of the U-2 project, gave it a more good old American know-how."
the wreckage remains on the grounds of Area 51. enticing name: Paradise Ranch.
Some even believe that the U.S. government "They flew them [over Area 51]..and pitted our
filmed the 1969 moon landing in one of the Making a Myth own fighters against them to develop tactics,"
base's hangars. says Merlin, "They learned that you can't out-
For all the myths and legends, what's U-2 testing began in July 1955, and immediately turn it, but you can outrun it. And it's still going
true is that Area 51 is real and still very active. reports came flooding in about unidentified on today.... Now, instead of seeing MiG-17s and
There may not be aliens or a moon landing flying object sightings. If you read the details in 21s, there's MiG-29s and SU-27s."
movie set inside those fences, but something is a 1992 CIA report that was declassified with The flights are ongoing. In September
going on and only a select few are privy to redactions in 1998 (and subsequently released 2017, an Air Force Lt. Col. was killed under
what's happening further down that closely- nearly in full in 2013), it's easy to see why. mysterious circumstances when his plane
monitored wind-swept Nevada road. "The Many of these sightings were observed crashed in Nevada and the Pentagon would not
forbidden aspect of Area 51 is what makes by commercial airline pilots who had never seen immediately ID the aircraft. It seems he was
people want to know what's there," says an aircraft fly at such high altitudes as the U-2. most likely flying a foreign jet obtained by the
aerospace historian and author Peter Merlin Whereas today's airliners can soar as high as United States. []
who's been researching Area 51 for more than 45,000 feet, in the mid-1950s airlines flew at
three decades. altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet.
"And there sure is still a lot going on Known military aircraft could get to 40,000 feet,
there." and some believed manned flight couldn't go
any higher than that. The U-2, flying at altitudes
The Origins of a Mystery in excess of 60,000 feet, would've looked
completely alien.
The beginning of Area 51 is directly related to Naturally, Air Force officials knew the
the development of the U-2 reconnaissance majority of these unexplained sightings were U-
aircraft. After World War II, the Soviet Union 2 tests, but they were not allowed to reveal these ICUUCMETV
lowered the Iron Curtain around themselves and details to the public. So, "natural phenomena" or
the rest of the Eastern bloc, creating a near "high-altitude weather research" became go-to
intelligence blackout to the rest of the world. explanations for UFO sightings, including in Is
When the Soviets backed North Korea's 1960 when Gary Powers' U-2 was shot down
invasion of South Korea in June 1950, it became over Russia. Coming!
increasingly clear that the Kremlin would What's also interesting about the most
aggressively expand its influence. America recent 2013 report is that it confirms Area 51's
worried about the USSR's technology, existence. While the 1998 version does have
intentions, and ability to launch a surprise significant redactions when referencing the
attack—only a decade removed from the name and location of the U-2 test site, the nearly
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. un-redacted version from 2013 reveals much
In the early 1950s, U.S. Navy and Air more, including multiple references to Area 51,
Force sent low-flying aircraft on reconnaissance Groom Lake, and even a map of the area.
missions over the USSR, but they were at