A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51: My Own Views on the World\’s Most M̳y̳s̳t̳e̳r̳i̳o̳u̳s̳, and S̳e̳c̳r̳e̳t̳, Facility

There is no doubt that the story of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 is filled with facts that may well be fiction, and tales that sound like fiction, but that just might be filled with incredible truths. Add to all of that, cloak-and-dagger characters who prefer to stay in the shadows, but who claim to know a great deal and occasionally reveal it, disinformation experts, counterintelligence personnel, and a host of figures who suggest that there really might be an ex̳t̳r̳a̳t̳e̳r̳r̳e̳s̳t̳r̳i̳a̳l̳ presence at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51, and what we have is a story that truly boggles the mind. Perhaps those in charge of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 want our minds boggled. After all, a state of confusion might be the perfect way to keep people away from the truth and have them focused on conspiracies that may not actually be real. Let’s take a look at what we know for sure.

It is a fact that the origins of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 date back to the early years of the Second World W̳a̳r̳. The Nevada Test and Training Range soon came to fruition and planted the seeds for what would come in the mid-1950s: A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. Highly advanced aircraft, such as the U-2, the SR-71 Blackbird, the Stealth Fighter and the Stealth Bomber were all secretly test-flown from A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. Probably the near-mythical Aurora plane, too. In that sense, many might say, there is no doubt that A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 has a valid reason for keeping just about everything under wraps. Indeed, considering the fact that those aforementioned aircraft were being built, tested, and flown when the Cold W̳a̳r̳ was still in place and the Soviet Union had still yet to fall, one can easily see why measures would be taken to ensure that the U.S. Government’s most advanced aircraft would be subject to incredible secrecy. But, is there just too much secrecy for a squadron or several of radical, futuristic aircraft? Maybe.

(Nick Redfern) The most mysterious facility on the planet

As we know, there is one thing – more than any other – that sets A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 apart from just about every other military or government facility in the United States: it’s the sheer extent of the government’s determination to make sure that absolutely nothing gets out of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 and no-one gets in. Of course, and particularly so in today’s climate of uncertainty, everyone needs to be vigilant. And that includes everyone who works at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51, too. They are, when all is said and done, just like us, regular people with lives and families. The big difference, though, is that they know the reasons for so much secrecy and we don’t. It would be hard – in fact, impossible – to find a military installation in the United States that protects its secrets to a greater degree than A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. People have been forced to leave their homes and their land – solely due to U.S. Government concerns and worries that those same people just might see something they shouldn’t see. The outrageous story of the Sheahan is a perfect example. Those who stray too close to portions of the Nevada desert that the staff of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 would prefer to keep under wraps risk large fines, imprisonment and even de̳a̳t̳h̳, and all in the name of national security.

Aircraft are banned from flying close to or over A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. They can even be shot down out of the sky, if circumstances dictate and w̳a̳r̳rant such drastic action. When, in 1974, NASA’s astronauts on-board Skylab took an aerial photo of the base, all hell broke loose in the defense- and intelligence-based communities of the United States. The C̳I̳A̳ and the Department of Defense quickly got involved. Major concerns were expressed about how on Earth (or, in this case, off it) such a thing could have happened. S̳e̳c̳r̳e̳t̳ files were created, most of which have never publicly surfaced. Motion-detector equipment peppers the landscape. Cameras are everywhere. Guards patrol the local roads for any perceived suspicious characters. Night-vision technology ensures that no-one can penetrate the base in the early hours of the morning.

The government practically refuses to acknowledge not just the existence of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51, but even its name. That same government refused to offer help on the 1996 movie Independence Day, and all because a substantial portion of the movie revolved around A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 and the 1947 incident at Roswell, New Mexico. All of the above is astonishing. No facility in the United States comes even close to the level of secrecy and paranoia that surrounds A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. Which brings up an important question: is all of this overwhelming secrecy just in place to protect next-generation after next-generation of aircraft? Or, are the rumors and the whispers true? You know the ones, of course:  the claims that deeply hidden at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 are the remains of the Roswell wreckage, recovered flying saucers, and a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳ corpses. Maybe, even living a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳s are at the base, too. Regardless of where you, me and everyone else stands on the matter of what goes on at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51, there can be no doubt that it is the U̳F̳O̳-driven rumors and revelations which attract so much attention. Certainly, there’s no doubt that it was Bob Lazar who, in the late 1980s, set the wheels in motion for the controversy to begin and for the media and the public to sit up and take notice. And, as we have seen, accounts relative to a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳s and U̳F̳O̳s – all in relation to area 51 – abound, and have done so for decades.

Consider the following: Annie Jacobsen’s source, Alfred O’Donnell, told her that the Roswell wreckage and the grossly mutated human crew were secretly transferred to the Nevada Test and Training Range in 1951, after previously being secretly stored at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. The story suggest the bodies may well still be stored there. Perhaps in a museum-like state. The alleged May 1953 crash of a U̳F̳O̳ in Kingman, Arizona also had a connection to the Nevada Test and Training Range. The so-called “a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳ interview” footage led many to believe that living a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳s are housed somewhere at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. Boyd Bushman told incredible stories of a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳ life and A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 connections. But, it was Lazar – more than anyone else – who defined the beliefs and suspicions, and who still defines those beliefs and suspicions. We should note, though, that there are certain threads running through the tales of U̳F̳O̳s at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 that should make us cautious of what we are told. Let’s not forget that Lazar told of how his mind may have been messed with – possibly using updated MK-Ultra-type technologies. Certain portions of his memories were wiped clean. He felt that his very brief glimpse of a small creature at S-4 may have been a staged event; an event designed to make him think that live ex̳t̳r̳a̳t̳e̳r̳r̳e̳s̳t̳r̳i̳a̳l̳s were hidden at the base, when they may not have been.

 (Nick Redfern) The real crash-site of “something” in 1947. Is there an A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51-Roswell connection?

There can be no doubt that the a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳ angle of the history of A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 excites many. Maybe that’s what the U.S. Government is counting on. After all, not even the power of all the military-, defense-, and intelligence-based agencies in the United States can prevent a few leaks of classified information. So, perhaps to keep eager Ufologists away from stumbling on covert programs concerned with new aircraft designs, next-generation weapons-systems, mind-control techniques and more of a down to earth nature, they swamp those same Ufologists with enticing tales of ex̳t̳r̳a̳t̳e̳r̳r̳e̳s̳t̳r̳i̳a̳l̳ conspiracies, the Roswell affair, and interviews with a sickly creature from another world. For the people at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51, it may be a case of this: if you can’t plug the genuine leaks, then swamp them with far more tantalizing and enticing tales of E.T. A good argument could be made that this is exactly what has happened. At times, the targeted people might have been patriotic American citizens who overstepped the mark in their quests to find out if a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳ life really does hang out at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51. On other occasions, and particularly during the Cold W̳a̳r̳, the targets may have been Soviet spies, seeking the very same answers. Dangling an a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳ carrot – so to speak – would be the perfect way to reel in and arrest eager Russian agents. And if that carrot never really existed – except in the minds of those running the disinformation programs – then all the better.

Something that dates back decades has prompted the U.S. Government to turn A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 into a veritable impenetrable fortress, to steal peoples’ land and kick them to the curb, to threaten inquisitive souls at gunpoint, to chastise NASA for daring to take an overhead photo of the base, and to try and bully Hollywood movie-makers from making references to the installation. Is this all about secret aircraft? A̳l̳i̳e̳n̳s? Both? Even after the wild ride that this article details, we still don’t know. It is, perhaps, highly appropriate to end this article with the words of David Duchovny’s character of F̳B̳I̳ Special-Agent Fox Mulder in The X-Files. Episode seventeen of the first season is titled “E.B.E.,” (that is said to be an abbreviated term used by staff at A̳r̳e̳a̳ 51 to describe a̳l̳i̳e̳n̳s: “E̳x̳t̳r̳a̳t̳e̳r̳r̳e̳s̳t̳r̳i̳a̳l̳ Biological Entities”). As the episode comes to an end, Mulder says to one of his well-informed sources on the inside, dubbed Deep Throat, “I’m wondering which lie to believe.” We can all surely relate to that.