It ’s officially a U.S. military flight testingfacility , yet Area 51 in Nevada has been associate withaliensightings and cloak-and-dagger governance study for 10 . Accounts ofextraterrestrial sightingshave sparked public imagination andconspiracy theoriesworldwide . Here are a few facts you might not know about Area 51 .

1. The U.S. government didn’t acknowledge the existence of Area 51 until 2013.

The military machine chose Area 51 as a situation to quiz aircraft in 1955 , but did n’t intromit it until 2013 . grant to CNN , maps and other documents created by the CIA wereuncoveredby Jeffrey T. Richelson , a senior swain at the National Security Archives , who secured access to the documents under the Freedom of Information Act . Unfortunately , the written document made no reference oflittle fleeceable menrunning around the facility .

2. We still don’t really know why it’s called Area 51.

The blood line of Area 51 ’s name is mysterious , actuate many possibility over the eld : ABusiness Insidervideo suggests the name stems from the position ’s law of proximity to nuclear test sites divided into numbered areas .

3. Area 51 is expanding.

Area 51 isgrowing , something that reliable truster may assign to the need for moreUFOparking spaces . Satellite imageryof Area 51 displays significant structure aim place within the expanse between 1984 and 2016 , including young rails and hangars . The development may intend the B-21 Raider stealth bomber is being test at the land site .

4. The moon landings were supposedly faked at Area 51.

One of the most ill-famed conspiracy theories interrelate to Area 51 doubtfulness the genuineness of the 1969moon landingand claims it was shop at the Nevada examination situation . Bill Kaysing — source ofWe Never run to the Moon : America ’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle — believesNASAofficials filmed the fake landing within the radix , brainwash the cosmonaut , and used lunar meteorite picked up in Antarctica as a stand - in formoonrocks .

5. The first UFO “sightings” in Area 51 were easily explained.

In its early years , Area 51 was used to testU-2 planes — which flew at altitudes in high spirits than60,000 feet — in an expanse far from civilian and spies . During these tests , pilot flying commercial aircraft at 10,000 to 20,000 feet would detect the planes far above them , completely in the darkness about the government ’s project . Hence , sighting of unknown object were reported when in realism it was a military woodworking plane — unless that ’s what they require you to think .

6. Area 51 employees might travel to work on planes.

Those who work at Area 51 appear to have a pretty sweet commuter train transportation program . Employees can board unmarked aircraft at the McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas , which ferries them to and from an unrevealed locating . nickname “ Janet”—an acronym of its call sign , which some say stands for “ Just Another Non - Existent Terminal”—the exact destination of the Boeing 737 - 600s is formally nameless , though some conjecture that the planes go to Area 51 and other top - secret locations . A former posting for an opened flight meeter positioning state applier “ must be spirit level - headed and clear thought process while handling strange incidents and situations , ” but did n’t remark any encounters of the third kind .

7. Former employees have revealed what they did at Area 51.

Some former employees who were once trust to secrecy about what happened at Area 51 are now free to share their stories . One Area 51 vet , James Noce , retrieve handling various mishap that were accidentally exposed to the public eye — for illustration , the clash of a clandestine aircraft that was witnessed by a police officer and a vacationing family . The fellowship had taken pic ; Noce confiscate the pic from their camera and told the family and the deputy not to mention the crash to anyone .

Noce narrate how there was no prescribed documentation submit he worked at Area 51 , and that his salary was paid in cash . He also confirmed that he never saw any alien activity at the site .

8. Area 51 employees once took the facility to court over hazardous working conditions.

In the 1990s , country 51 workers approachedJonathan Turley , a lawyer and professor at George Washington University , with complaints about exposure to the website ’s hazardous material and waste that was making them sick . In aLos Angeles Timesop - ed , Turley write that the doer " described how the governance had place dispose equipment and risky waste in exposed trenches the distance of football fields , then douse them with spirt fuel and set them on fervency . The highly toxic smoke blowing through the desert cornerstone was bang as ' London fogginess ' by worker . Many come down with classical pelt and respiratory malady associate with exposure to burn wild waste . A principal aim of the causa was to discover exactly what the workers had been exposed to so they could get appropriate aesculapian caution . "

consort to Turley , " we prevailed in demonstrating that the government had act in violation of Union police . However , the politics refused to declassify entropy about what it had burned in the trenches , which meant that workers ( and their doctors ) still did n’t have a go at it what they had been expose to . The politics also refused to acknowledge the name of the base . The burning at Area 51 was in all likelihood a federal crime . But the governing escaped responsibility by hiding behind concealment [ . ] "

9. The best place for UFO-spotting near Area 51 is supposedly by a mailbox.

According to knownhoaxsterRobert Lazar , allegedly a former employee at Area 51 , there’sone spotin particular where he would land people to see scheduled UFO flights : The Black Mailbox , an unassuming pair of mailboxes that ’s apparently a hot spot for alien action ( they ’re located about 12 miles from Area 51 ) . It was originally a single black box seat for owner Steve Medlin ’s mail , but as people who wanted to believe start to monkey with and destroy that mail ( and pop in varsity letter to unknown ) , Medlin was forced to put another postbox label “ Alien ” beneath it to appease visitor and to continue his own postal deliveries .

10. It’s impossible to sneak into Area 51 without being spotted.

It should come as no surprisal that Area 51 isheavily guard . pilot program who purposefully fly into the restricted air zone can confront courtroom martial , dishonorable discharge , and a possible prison conviction . man wear out camouflage have been seen driving around the area keep an centre out for nosey civilians . But verity - seekers beware : Signs placed outside the border discourage that field 51 surety is pass to utilize pestilent force on anyone creep onto the belongings .

A interpretation of this tale black market in 2019 ; it has been updated for 2022 .

Area 51: keep out.

A bar in the Nevada desert with an Area 51 alien sign