Top 10 Facts - Area 51

So, why is it called Area 51? To begin with, it's not the official name the official name is Nevada test and training range or simply the Groom Lake Base It's believed the name Area 51 came about because the facility borders a place called Nevada Test Site this place which was used to test nuclear bombs after World War II is mapped as a grid of squares numbered between one and thirty, Area 51 while not part of this grid borders Area 15 which many say is the reason for its now iconic name. In 1997 the radio program Coast To Coast AM Got a call from a frantic man claiming to be an ex-Area 51 employee After a while the radio station suddenly loses the connection "In some way something knocked us off the air, and we're on a backup system now" "Government or.

. . " "I don't know!

" "Has to be something though. . " Many believe that the area 51 we see on the surface is only the tip of the iceberg It's thought that the area also has a huge network of tunnels and facilities going several stories underground Entrances like this can be found around the complex, for example.

However like most things about area 51, it's impossible to say for sure One of the most controversial and famous stories surrounding area 51 is that of Bob Lazar Ever since 1989 he claims to have worked near area 51 in a facility called S-4 Where he supposedly worked on reverse engineering alien technology Lazar claims he saw a range of different alien spacecrafts and has provided detailed information on how these vehicles actually worked. For example it says the few these vehicles used was an element with an atomic weight of 115 which allowed the craft to create some sort of anti-gravity effect. Interestingly element 115 or ununpentium was first discovered in 2003 14 years after Lazar first mentioned it.

He also claims that he was given briefings describing how extraterrestrials Have visited earth for the past 100 thousand years. The beings originated from a planet within the Zeta Reticuli star system which is located about 39 light years from Earth. However so far No planets have been found to orbit the binary star system But he's been largely discredited for several other reasons as well for example He claims to have a master's degree from MIT But there's no records of that whatsoever no one at the school remembers him and when asked to name some of his professors He gave the name of a professor at a different school named Peirce Junior College Lazar was also registered in one of his courses at Pierce Junior College the same time he claims to have attended MIT so if he's lying about his education What else is lying about?

however Lazar still stands by his claims 25 years later But also adds that he doesn't want anything to do with UFOs anymore and has left it all in the past Today the only place where you can actually see area 51 with your own eyes is a place called Ticaboo Peak. However you still need Binoculars or some sort of telescope to see it as it's 42 kilometers away Previously you could view it at much closer distances from two places called White Sights and Freedom Ridge But these locations were later ceased by the government in 1995 Each weekday about 20 flights in each direction transports around 1,000 workers between Las Vegas and their jobs at area 51 The unmarked white planes with a single red line on the side uses the call sign Janet and takes off from their own terminal at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas Janet is believed to stand for joint air network of employee transportation. The planes are the only ones allowed to enter the airspace above and around area 51 not even military Aircrafts are allowed to enter.

It's also interesting that no one seems to wear suits or uniforms Everyone is dressed pretty casual In 1974 astronauts aboard a space station Skylab 4 inadvertently photographed area 51 while in orbit There were specific instructions not to do this and was the only location on earth Which had such an instruction. The photograph was published despite discussion of classified information however, no one noticed the photo until 2007 33 years later During the production of the 1996 movie Independence Day the US military had agreed to support the film by providing vehicles costumes and allowing the crew to film at military bases however after learning of the area 51 references in the script they immediately withdrew their support Even though some form of military base at Groom Lake has been known to exist for several decades now, the US government has never Actually acknowledged this. This is until July last year when the CIA released papers documenting the history of several previously classified Projects these documents make several references to the area 51 facility And reveals that it was for example used to test the spy planes Lockheed u2 And a12 and in December of last year Obama became the first US president in history to publicly mention area 51 So the question you're all asking: what is really going on at area 51?

Crashed UFOs Extraterrestrial experimentation Cutting-edge technological developments Weather controlling devices Or super mega sensational uber top-notch smashing glorious marvelous outstanding amazing bewildering secret military. . .

stuff. "In a world with secrets. .

exists a place that is secret" Okay, I'm sorry. I'm gonna stop now. When I started making this episode I was quite optimistic really and wanted to find some truth some Fact about what might be going on at area 51 and what I found in all the stories I've read is that when a secret creates an information vacuum wild speculation often fills the void Basically it can be boiled down to this- the government won't reveal what's going on there so it MUST be something ultra super amazingly secret.

The thing is if we look at historical evidence and not the word of any single person area 51 is a military base used for the development and testing of Experimental aircrafts and weapon systems. After all that's why the base was created in the first place They needed a suitable testing site for the spy plane U-2. I mean come on You don't test a spy plane, Which is all about being secret, out in the open, especially during the time of the Cold War.