What is Area 51 and why is it so fascinating? What we know and don't know

For decades, Area 51 has long been a place where the US Government It keeps dark secrets about aliens and UFOs. 

What is Area 51 and why is it so fascinating? What we know and don't know

According to the Government itself in 2013, it is nothing more than an Air Force base, but that has not stopped conspiracy theories that claim that Area 51. It was recently confirmed that the US has invested $ 22 million investigating UFOs.

Look at these data on Area 51 and why it has been the focus of conspiracy theories:

What is Area 51?

It is a US Air Force facility. at Groom Lake, Nevada. In 2013, the CIA declassified documents that officially recognized that the area was a secret military base. It was the first time that the Government recognized the existence of Area 51.

According to that report, we now know that the facility was used to test the U-2 and Oxcart aerial surveillance programs.

Where do conspiracy theories come from?

Everything would have started in 1989 by the testimony of Robert Lazar, explains the Encyclopedia Britannica. Lazar told the media that he had worked in an area of ​​Area 51 and that he allegedly saw autopsy photos of aliens. In addition, he claimed that the Government used the base to examine extraterrestrial ships. Lazar's testimony has been discredited, but it was the spark that sparked many of the theories that the government knows about, and hides, extraterrestrial life.

Why so much mystery?

This is a usual question: why, if there has been so much speculation, did the government take so long to speak out? 

According to declassified CIA documents in 2013, the purpose of the facility was kept hidden so that the Soviets would not know what it was about.

What about the UFO sightings?

Over the years, many people have reported seeing unidentified flying objects near Area 51, explains the Encyclopedia Britannica. According to the CIA, test flights from U-2s and Oxcarts explain the sightings. 

Something to clarify, the word UFO is already part of popular culture and is easily associated with extraterrestrial life, but the truth is that any unidentified flying object is a UFO, but it does not necessarily come from outer space.

What happens in Area 51?

Beyond saying that it is a military installation, the Government has not specified what type of investigation or operations are carried out in Area 51.

The employees who work there arrive by plane, says the Encyclopedia Britannica. They take flights from a restricted terminal at McCarran International Airport "on one of the several unmarked planes that are allowed to fly over Area 51," which is a flight restriction zone.

Why is it called Area 51?

As with everything in Area 51, there is a lot of speculation, but the truth is that for sure it is not known how it received its name.