Really, there are plenty of places around the world that are completely
(or mostly) off limits to the public – and for various reasons. Menwith Hill in the UK,
the Secret Archive in the Vatican City, and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault on a Norwegian island
are all places that most people will never be able to see. Almost every other mysterious location,
however, is overshadowed by the most famous, most secretive base in the world - Area 51.
So, this is Unveiled, and today we’re examining the real reason why you can’t visit Area 51.
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Despite its pop culture prominence, Area 51’s very existence wasn’t formally recognised by the CIA
until 2013. Before then, whether or not there even was such a base was officially disputed.
The first strange thing about it? Its name. The title “Area 51” is widely used, but the reasons
for that aren’t altogether known. The CIA itself more often refers to the southern Nevada site as
“Homey Airport” or “Groom Lake”. One theory says that the Area 51 tag was given to it by the Atomic
Energy Commission… but no one is sure. And it goes by various other aliases, too, including
“Dreamland”, “Paradise Ranch” and “Watertown”. Call it what you will, though, Area 51 likely
started up as a particularly secret base in (or around) 1954, when the US government needed a
remote location to test a new and classified spy plane, under the codename Project Aquatone.
That plane was the Lockheed U-2 strategic reconnaissance aircraft, a feat of cutting-edge
design at the time. In its previous life, the region had been something of a mining hotspot
for silver, but that fell by the wayside when it was repurposed for the military. Situated in the
middle of nowhere and surrounded by mountains, the location was deemed suitably difficult for
spies to find, for visitors to visit, or for unsuspecting folk to randomly wander into.
The land is also extremely flat and therefore ideal for the building of landing strips.
It was the perfect playground for any would-be secret pilot or clandestine government worker.
The controversy started almost immediately, however, as nearby civilians began reporting UFO
sightings around Area 51 in the ‘50s. The bizarre stories and unusual claims have essentially been a
constant ever since, as Area 51 became more and more steeped in spooky, paranormal, and ET legend.
When, toward the end of the twentieth century, one Bob Lazar claimed to have worked at Area 51 in
the 1980s – during which time he allegedly studied and handled genuine alien technology – that legend
took yet another turn. The American people and the watching world became hooked on finding out
the truth. But, of course, the US authorities have never been especially free with that information…
which is one leading reason why so many of alternative theories are still so widespread.
To this day the government is extremely tight-lipped about what goes on inside
the base. For miles around, the surrounding area is permanently off limits to anyone except those
with specific, high security clearance. Even most military air traffic is banned across
local airspace. No cameras are allowed near or inside. All roads going in are blocked off,
and the desert plains are always being watched. Area 51 employees are sworn to secrecy, allegedly
to the point where many who work there also don’t technically exist… or else, they officially lead
wholly different lives. It’s said that most can’t even commute to work via car, instead
being ferried in and out of the base via a fleet of passenger jets known as “Janet Airlines”.
There are locals that don’t work at Area 51, though, and they can be expensive – according to
reports. There are various claims of hush money being doled out… with one former base employee,
for example, James Noce, revealing to the Seattle Times in 2010 that the government once gave around
$50,000 to a local deputy and passing family after they’d witnessed an “accident” nearby.
If anyone is found to have filmed anything at Area 51, that film is promptly destroyed.
Audio recordings and photographs, too. With rumors of harsh threats made to anyone who doesn’t
comply. We got a brief insight into the hard-line response during the “Storm Area 51” craze in 2019.
Participants had wanted to “see them aliens”, but the somewhat foreboding government response was a
pledge that “the US Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets”.
Most agree that the extreme secrecy dates to the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union,
when America was determined to get ahead. It’s now widely reported how local pilots knew back then,
while all other aircrafts flew below 40,000 feet, there were objects around the base that
flew higher. The military was testing planes that flew 60,000 feet (and more) in the air, which
hadn’t previously been thought possible. And, in general, the top-secret airplane explanation
does still seem to stick. Area 51 is home to some of the longest runways in the world.
And the original U-2 is now known to be just one of many, similarly futuristic flying machines that
debuted there. Although at least two pilots were reportedly killed while testing the U-2,
Project Oxcart came after it… and produced two more of the fastest vehicles ever made,
the Archangel-12 and, later, the SR-71 Blackbird. Soaring up to 90,000 feet in the air and hitting
more than three times the speed of sound, these were game changers… but officials wanted to keep
them under wraps for as long as possible. Other known projects based at Area 51 have included
the F-117 Nighthawk and the Boeing “Bird of Prey” tested as recently as the 1990s.
Whenever mention of Area 51 comes up, it’s usually not long followed by the
term “reverse engineering” – with most theories suggesting that they’ve got alien tech in there,
that they’re trying to replicate. What we do know is that the base has been used to reverse engineer
foreign aircrafts from Earth, at least… such as a captured Soviet plane in the 1960s,
a MiG-21 fighter jet, said to have at one time been operated on under the bizarre codename “Have
Doughnut”. What’s more, the data from that project is then said to have been vital to the success of
the famous Top Gun fighter pilot school. These missions have all been variously
declassified over the years, to the point where some believe that the speculation about Area 51
should’ve ended by now. It’s a covert facility for testing state-of-the-art aircraft in a bid
by America to get ahead of its rivals, and that’s that. But, for others, that’s still only what
they want you to believe. A smokescreen to hide the aliens at Area 51’s beating heart.
Again, Bob Lazar is probably the most well-known and outspoken advocate for this,
claiming to have worked on extraterrestrial projects himself. The US authorities deny any
links to Lazar, but he has gone into detail about his time at Area 51… even describing or predicting
some things that have since been revealed, or have come to pass. Think Element 115. Lazar’s claims
are then perhaps heightened by local UFO reports from both before and after his story first made
the press, in the late ‘80s. Again, though, there are two sides to the debate. On one,
there are stories of witnessed UFOs that seemingly defy physics and must be alien… on the other, such
futuristic aircraft (as the Nighthawk, Blackbird, or Bird of Prey) might easily have been mistaken
for alien vehicles, by anyone without advanced military know-how. Which is most people. Hey, even
the name “Bird of Prey” takes inspiration from the “Star Trek” universe, so out-of-this-world
was it deemed to be, at the time. Unfortunately, that’s the extent of
the knowledge that most of the watching world currently has on Area 51. The government remains
intent (to an exceptional degree) on keeping the projects housed there a secret. And while there
have been attempts in the past to learn more – including the recent “Storm Area 51” event,
and a reasonably high-profile environmental lawsuit in the mid-1990s, following the
reported deaths of two more Area 51 employees – the incredible intrigue remains. The veil of
mystery is defiantly drawn shut, and Area 51 is still one of the most secretive places on Earth.
But finally, there’s one last theory that flips the narrative again. Because what if Area 51 is
actually a bluff within a bluff within a bluff? Again, this place might reasonably be described
as the most famous, most secretive base in the world… which begs the question; what if everyone
has been led to think that the aliens are here, when really they’re somewhere else entirely? It
would be a classic case of misdirection on a massive scale… but also, probably,
a topic for another video. Until then, that’s the real reason why you can’t visit Area 51.
What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these other
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