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12 The Real Story Behind the Myth of Area 51

The Real Story Behind the How To Explore Area 51 who asked for the CIA’s U-2 history in 2005.
A newly revised document restoring
Myth of Area 51 Fact or fiction, aliens are a big tourism draw. In numerous references to Area 51 that had been

1996, the state of Nevada renamed Route 375 as redacted in earlier versions was furnished by the
the "Extraterrestrial Highway," and destinations CIA a few weeks ago, he said.
Continued from Page 11
such as the Alien Research Center and the Little “It’s the first time that there must have been a
A'Le'Inn (in the town of Rachel with a senior-level decision to acknowledge the term
population around 54) dot the road. ‘Area 51’ and its specific location,” he told
"This is Earth technology. You got To Area 51's west, there's the Alien Reuters on Friday.
folks claiming it's extraterrestrial Cathouse which is advertised as the only alien- Chapter 2 of the CIA history recounts
when it's really good old American themed brothel in the world. Geocaching also how Richard Bissell, the CIA officer then
attracts visitors here since the highway is overseeing development of the U-2 plane by
know-how."
considered a "mega-trial" with over 2,000 Lockheed, first spotted the site on an aerial
geocaches hidden in the area. scouting mission over Nevada in April 1955,
"They flew them [over Area 51]..and pitted our
Then there's the actual base. While accompanied by an Air Force officer and two
own fighters against them to develop tactics,"
getting inside is not in the cards for most, others.
says Merlin, "They learned that you can't out-
curious civilians can actually drive up to front The four men landed their plane near an
turn it, but you can outrun it. And it's still going
and back gates. Locals will direct you, and the old, abandoned air strip at the edge of a salt flat
on today.... Now, instead of seeing MiG-17s and
website Dreamland Resort is a great resource known as Groom Lake near the northeastern
21s, there's MiG-29s and SU-27s."
full of maps, driving directions, and first-hand corner of the Nevada Test Site, the nuclear
The flights are ongoing. In September
accounts. proving ground then controlled by the Atomic
2017, an Air Force Lt. Col. was killed under
However, one should be careful when Energy Commission.
mysterious circumstances when his plane
planning a trek to Area 51. It's the desert, after
crashed in Nevada and the Pentagon would not
all, so bring plenty of water, snacks, and have IDEAL TEST SITE
immediately ID the aircraft. It seems he was
proper weather gear—for the hot days and the The group agreed that Groom Lake
most likely flying a foreign jet obtained by the
cold nights. Phone service and GPS probably would “make an ideal site for testing the U-2
United States.
won't work, so have printouts and actual maps. and training its pilots.” Bissell subsequently
Even so, the alien conspiracies gained
Gas stations are few and far in between, so carry asked the Atomic Energy Commission to add the
ground in 1989 when Bob Lazar claimed in an
spare fuel and tires. area to its Nevada real estate holdings, the
interview on Las Vegas local news that he'd seen
Also, remember the government doesn't account says.
aliens and had helped to reverse-engineer alien
really want you peering into Area 51. Both “AEC Chairman Admiral Lewis Strauss
spacecrafts while working at the base. Many
Merlin and Pocock confirmed that they have readily agreed, and President Eisenhower also
have disregarded this as fiction and are even
been closely observed or even intimidated by approved the addition of this strip of wasteland,
offended at the notion, including Merlin, who
guards and security (including an F-16 fly-by). known by its map designation as Area 51, to the
has spent years talking with former Area 51
Do not trespass under any circumstances or Nevada Test Site,” the document says.
engineers and employees angered by all the fuss
arrests and heavy fines await you. [] To make the barren new facility seem
about E.T. more appealing to its workers, managers of the
"Some are even mad because they U-2 program dubbed the facility “Paradise
worked on these things and built these amazing CIA acknowledges its
Ranch,” which was later shortened to “the
planes," Merlin says. "This is Earth technology. mysterious Area 51 test site Ranch.”Photos of the site and a newly
You got folks claiming it's extraterrestrial when declassified map outlining and labeling the
it's really good old American know-how." for first time location were also included in the document.
Richelson said he could recall at least
The Truth Is Out There
(Reuters) - August 16, 2013 - National security two previous government documents in which
scholars at George Washington University have an incidental reference to Area 51 appeared, but
Today, Area 51 is still very much in use. he assumed those were inadvertent because they
some good news and bad news for UFO buffs -
According to Google Earth, new construction were devoid of any other details or context.
the U.S. government has finally confirmed the
and expansions are continuously happening. On The multiple detailed references to Area
existence of Area 51 in Nevada, but it makes no
most early mornings, eagle-eyed visitors can
mention of little green men or alien spaceships. 51 in the latest CIA account - the document’s
spot strange lights in the sky moving up and
The government acknowledged the index lists at least 12 mentions - show that they
down. No, it's not a UFO. It's actually the semi- existence of the mysterious aviation test site were deliberate, he said. The intelligence agency
secret contract commuter airline using the call- known as Area 51, a remote installation about 80 had little to say about the disclosure.
sign "Janet" that transports workers from Las “What readers of the CIA study will find
miles northwest of Las Vegas, in a newly
Vegas's McCarran Airport to the base. is that CIA tests its U-2 and A-12 reconnaissance
declassified CIA history of its U-2 spy plane
As for what's happening these days in aircraft at the site in Nevada sometimes referred
program.
America's most secretive military base, few to as ‘Area 51,’” CIA spokesman Edward Price
After decades of extreme secrecy
know for sure. Merlin has some educated said. “What readers won’t find are any
surrounding the site, stoking conspiracy theories
guesses, including improved stealth technology,
about UFOs and experiments on alien references to aliens or other conspiracy theories
advanced weapons, electronic warfare systems
spacecraft, the CIA lifted its veil on Area 51 in best left to the realm of science fiction.”
and, in particular, unmanned aerial vehicles. response to a public records request from Among the more sensational pieces of
Chris Pocock, noted U-2 historian and author of George Washington University scholars in UFO conspiracy lore linked to Area 51 is that
several books about the matter, told Popular the remains of a flying saucer that supposedly
Washington, D.C.
Mechanics he thinks classified aircraft, more crashed near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947,
Publicly released online on Thursday by
exotic forms of radio communication, directed were brought to the site for reverse engineering
the university’s National Security Archive, the
energy weapons, and lasers are currently under experiments that attempted to replicate the
400-page CIA history contains the first
development at the base. extraterrestrial spacecraft.
deliberate official references to Area 51, also
While the lore around Area 51 may be
known as Groom Lake, as a site developed by Richelson said the CIA document makes
nothing more than imaginative fiction, that the intelligence agency in the 1950s to test fly no mention of any such theories. But he pointed
won't stop people from gawking just beyond the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance plane. to one passage that discusses the relationship
those chain link fences. "At the most basic level, Other top-secret aircraft were tested between U-2s and unidentified flying objects “in
anytime you have something secret or the sense that people sighted U-2s in a time that
there later, including the supersonic
forbidden, it's human nature," says Merlin. "You they were very secretive and at very high
reconnaissance A-12 aircraft, code-named
want to find out what it is." altitude and didn’t know what they were, and in
OXCART, and the F-117 stealth ground-attack
jet, said archive senior fellow Jeffrey Richelson, that sense they were UFOs.” []