Area 51 and Groom Lake

Most of the known universe (at least United States citizens) know something about the place called Area 51. It's a hotbed of controversial conspiracy theories and governmental cover-ups. At some points in recent history our government has denied its very existence but that idea can be thrown out as soon as you try to come within a mile and a half of its physical barriers. Submachine gun carrying military representatives will quickly dispel the notion that uninvited guests may have conjured up in their head that the “No Trespassing” signs were just a joke. Area 51, as a result of such tactics and encounters, has become something of a pop culture/alien culture icon. Without question Area 51 produces its fair share of unexplained events and controversial happenings, however to get behind the story of Area 51’s intrigue it will take more than a compulsory examination of the out of context claims and awkward ranting on conspiracy theory forums.

The area surrounding Area 51 began its life as a nuclear testing area sanctioned by the United States atomic energy commission during the cloud of the Cold War. The Groom Lake area and the Area 51 facility was used in the 50s to test potential nuclear weapons and determine their destructive capabilities. The actual name for Area 51 came from its simple map designation and stayed intact for whatever reason.

In the mid-50s due to increasing concerns in the Cold War, the US government's military funding had awarded Lockheed, a military contractor with the contract to produce the ultra modern U2 plane. Tony Levier a pilot with a penchant for the experimental, suggested to Lockheed engineers that they consider "Area 51" it was then that the original infrastructure was built.

The plane became a boon to the CIA and already the government was working with the media to produce a cover story regarding weather balloons. Militarily the U2 plane was considered by many to have averted a World War III. Subsequent designs within the same family of airplanes have been tested at the Groom Lake facility including the A12 and SR71. In the 60s and 70s the long history of reverse engineering purportedly began as a result of the United States’ clandestine organizations somehow obtaining Russian aircraft technology. It was in the 70s that the United States era of stealth technology came into being, with so many residents and onlookers surrounding Groom Lake reporting sightings of awkwardly shaped aircraft above the base.

Decades ahead of its time even upon its release in 1988 the B2 stealth bomber appeared to replicate in its design, the "awkward shape" that have been seen nearly 20 years earlier in the sky above Area 51. To this day Area 51 is purportedly maintained as a testing ground for technology which can fly an aircraft at over mach 12. While the government of course will not admit such theories as a reality, it will at least humor the media and the mainstream by admitting such a technology would be "useful".  Such ambiguous statements made so publicly by a government who so vehemently protects the privacy of Area 51, fuels conspiracy theorists, aviation aficionados and proud patriots. In the late 90s Nevada officially gave a nickname to state Route 375 calling it "Extraterrestrial Highway" because of the abundance of UFO culture and reported sightings of UFOs.

Many of the modern conspiracy theories tied to the Groom Lake area and Area 51 have some tacit connection to Bob Lazar, who, in 1989, claimed he had been an engineer tasked with reverse engineering a fallen alien craft. Bob Lazar claimed he was stationed at an area called S4 an even more secret facility in the Groom Lake area.

While it is beyond the scope of this particular article to go into detail about Bob Lazar to any specific depth, suffice it to say he is a persona non gratain the eyes of the US government.  His claims to be a Massachusetts Institute of technology graduate and an engineer at the S4 base, have of course been "officially" removed from public record.

In the late 90s amid speculation that the government was covering up more than it should to avoid the public from understanding its inner workings, the US government released the statement which claimed that "thousands upon thousands" of "UFO sightings" were perpetrated by government agencies to encapsulate and cover up real militarily significant aircraft testing.

Thousands of acres in the middle of the dry desert surrounding Groom Lake have simultaneously been used as the focal point in winning the Cold War and fueled a community of conspiracy theorists, UFO hunters and aircraft lover’s imaginations for over 50 years.

While it is clear that many unexplained occurrences have been the subject of speculation since Area 51's opening, it can neither be proven nor disproven that such occurrences have anything to do with extraterrestrial technologies, regardless, area 51 is a fascinating topic of discussion.

Related Articles:

1. The Lake Erie UFO’s
2. Unexplainable Sightings – Iran 1978
3. UFO Encounter Falcon Lake
4. Area 51 Aliens: Real or Fiction?
5. Close Encounters – Falcon Lake, Canada 1967