Area 51

Area 51 is a highly secret United States Air Force facility inside the Nevada Test and Training Range in southern Nevada, about 134 kilometres north-northwest of Las Vegas. Its official name is Homey Airport, and it is also called Groom Lake after the dry salt lake beside its runway.

The Air Force and the CIA acquired the site in 1955, mainly to test the Lockheed U-2 spy plane. The government kept it secret for decades, and the CIA only publicly acknowledged that the base existed on 25 June 2013. Because nobody outside could see inside, the place became famous in UFO stories, even though nothing there has been shown to involve aliens. Everything done there is still classified.

What is known

Details of its work are not made public, but it is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons. Documents released in 2013 described its history and purpose.

The base sits in restricted airspace called the Groom box, about 37 by 40 kilometres, next to Yucca Flat, where 739 of the 928 nuclear tests of the Nevada Test Site took place.

How it began

Before it was an air base, the area had lead and silver mines, and an airfield opened there in 1942. In April 1955 the CIA set up a test base at Groom Lake for the U-2 project. The U-2 designer Kelly Johnson said that from the air, in thirty seconds, you knew it was the place, because the dry lake was as smooth as a billiard table.

He nicknamed it Paradise Ranch to attract workers to the middle of nowhere. A little over three months later the base had a paved runway, three hangars, a control tower, and even a movie theatre and volleyball court.

Why it feels mysterious

Visitors cannot get close. A wide road runs past a security checkpoint, and the restricted zone extends farther east. Stories grew in the gaps that secrecy left. The origin of the name Area 51 is unclear, and nicknames such as Dreamland add to the mystery.

Tourists instead visit the tiny town of Rachel along State Route 375, nicknamed the Extraterrestrial Highway. So the legend is entertaining, but the documents describe a test site for aircraft.

On the globe

The model shows the secret desert base in Nevada, with its runway beside the dry lakebed.