Area 51: The Secret land of US Conspiracy Theories or Alien Land with Extraterrestrial Connection
Two unassuming towns, Rachel and Hiko lie in Nevada’s remote southern county Lincoln. A combined population of 173 surrounded by arid landscapes and dusty roads appears unremarkable. On 19th September 2019, tens of thousands of people were supposed to gather for celebrating the festivals of Alenstock and Storm Area 51 Basecamp in these isolated towns. The idea that makes these towns special is their proximity of top-secret base associated US Air Force famously known by Area 51 that has been cemented long in alien folklore.
What's Area 51?
Located at the Groom Lake in southern Nevada, Area 51, lay deep within the high desert and surrounded by mountains, a secret military installation exists as a part of the Nellis Military Operations Area.
The land served as a testing facility since the 1950s and for its role in various conspiracy theories involving the base’s extraterrestrial connection, a locale for capturing flying saucers, and an alien holding site. Originally famed as “Site II” or “The Ranch,” the mysterious place is located at the first testing spot of U2 spy planes and added the SR-71 Blackbird, the A-12, and the F-117. For decades, it’s considered as the most famous clandestine military base, and determined visitors are trying to get the picture and analyze the secrets from closure through their telephoto lenses. However, due to strict patrolling by numerous pickup driving guards armed with M168, the snooping citizens are unable to get close to the area of the base and are shot to death if any outsiders try to enter the protected base.
When the curious locals and tourists try to enter the premises, the guards call on the police who dole out a large sum of fine for getting too close. However, the curious crowd can get access to the place from the nearest vantage point of the base located at the top of Tikaboo Peak, which is 26 miles from the base of Area 51. Over a long period, there was no existence of reliable aerial images of the area and even failed to locate the area on the maps. However, modern technologies have helped a lot in the field with the existence of private satellites.
This has helped capture high-resolution aerial images of the base from the Russian private firms and from IKONOS. A private company started under Lockheed-Martin, the famous aeronautical company expert in building the finest military aircraft in the world.
With the realization of the tourism potential of Area 51, Nevada cropped up with a new element of the bizarre yet famous and secret nature of the base. The state coined the adjacent highway, “The Extraterrestrial Highway,” with nearby towns to drown with extraterrestrial keychains and the state named various T-shirts and alien-themed motels called Little A’Le’Inn.
What's happening in Area 51?
While the base is famous for conspiracy theorists as the site of everything from time-traveling research to underground transcontinental railroad to a secret laboratory where the aliens work with the government to reverse engineering technologies, there is very little evidence fanciful claims that people made.
It’s more exciting, a secret testing space for experimental aircraft of terrestrial nature, most of which could easily have been considered as unidentified flying objects (UFO).
Official Acknowledgement:
Several years later, in 2013, the US government officially acknowledged the existence of Area 51. This was achieved with the help of other agencies, especially when the National Security Archive at George Washington University, through the law of Freedom of Information Act, successfully obtained formerly classified CIA documents chronicling the history of the U-2 spy plane. The same report states that in 1995 the remote site included an additional airfield that was not used by the military since the Second World War and was later used to test U-2 spy planes. Various UFO sightings in the area came into notice.
At the same time, the team continued the spy plane’s test flights. It accounted for the extreme altitude for the U-2 to reach, which was reported to be much higher amongst all the planes of the time. The very next year, U-2 was put into service, and Area 51 became development spots for several other missions. Located near the tiny town of Rachel in Nevada, the facility can be approached from two directions. The first one is close to Rachel, taking the visitors down approximately six miles of winding dirt roads to a guard building and gate in the middle of nowhere.
The other approach, 14 miles down the Groom Lake Road, is located at the base of the Hancock Summit. Only a stopping sign, 37.414741°, and -115.409875° mark the turn. The signs at the gate and border point warn travelers that the attempt of entering are dealt with fines, imprisonment, and even deadly force.
Conclusion:
If you want to visit Area 51, you need to be respectful, clowning around the gates is strictly prohibited, and you’ll have to spend time detained. However, with an open mind and a light heart, you’ll enjoy the experience for what is concerned with.
You can comprehend the details lying at the heart of the Extraterrestrial Highway that makes it so special, unique, and undeniably one of the best drives within the country.
Up Next: Whale Bone Alley: Siberia's Mysterious Shore where Whale Bones are Stabbed Deep into the Earth
SIGN UP to get such articles directly into your inbox.