Area 51: Declassified

le Roi-Soleil

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Area 51: Declassified





"Until Thursday, the U.S. government had never publicly acknowledged the existence of Area 51—a remote spot in the Nevada desert that has long been associated with conspiracy theories, alien sightings, and talk of tiny spaceships.

But a newly declassified CIA document—which was written in 1992—shows a map labeled with the name of the remote land parcel, 75 miles from Las Vegas, used to test and develop top-secret U.S. military projects, including the U-2 spy plane."





Here is an interview, directly from the article, with Annie Jacobsen, an investigative journalist and the author of Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base.

National Geographic said:
Why did people think that Area 51 housed alien spaceships?

A lot of it was because of the U-2 planes program that started out of Area 51 in 1955. The U-2 planes were used extensively by the U.S. during the Cold War for reconnaissance missions. They flew at an altitude of 60,000 feet (18 meters)—considerably higher than any other plane in existence at the time.

As soon as test flights began, people wrote letters to their congressmen and to their local mayors saying, "I saw a UFO." But what they saw was the U-2 spy plane.

Why did they mistake the U-2 plane for a UFO?

Two reasons. One, it had an almost vertical takeoff. Anyone who happened to see it gaining altitude would have thought it was very unusual.

The second reason is that it flew so high. At the time, no one believed that airlines could fly that high. Commercial flights were flying 20,000 feet (6 kilometers) in the air. If you saw [a U-2 plane], you were going to think it was a UFO.

Why are we so fascinated with Area 51?

I call it the grassy knoll of Nevada. So many stories surrounded it. People clamor to read about it. It makes it exciting to report on.

Discuss!​
 
Misleading as hell, call me when they let civilians in
 
What if they are aliens

Like PMJ said, when we can go in, we got proof. And I'm pretty sure that the planes aren't the only thing in there. Then again, my knowledge of area 51 is low.
 
Flame Claw said:
Area 51? That's the place where all the Pokémon live.
They might as well call it Route 51, heheheheh.

But for anyone interested in this, you should definitely check out Louis Theroux's documentary on this. He's really hands-on in his programs. He visits Area 51 to as far as civilians can go before supposedly getting shot, then tests the guards by going past that "line" a little and looking over the hills that surround the area.

To save you guys some effort, here's the video. It's a long one. Oh, and, mind the wackos in this, there's some crazy people and even some pretty graphic imagery in some parts of cattle mutilation - to our young'uns of PB, you might want to have your parents supervise.
[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHenDIyPOKY[/video]
 
Aaaaaand...why does this matter? If the government sets up high security somewhere, there is something they don't want you to see. Didn't they just state what everybody already knew? Or am I missing something?
 
@r3skyline: Yeah, I know. But hey, let's face it, the military have to keep some secrets, don't they? I mean, if they don't, then how would we ever have a trick up our sleeve that the enemy didn't know about? We'd lose pretty much every conflict we ever would go into.

I also agree with PMJ on the title. That's pretty darn misleading.
 
Kecleon-X said:
@r3skyline: Yeah, I know. But hey, let's face it, the military have to keep some secrets, don't they? I mean, if they don't, then how would we ever have a trick up our sleeve that the enemy didn't know about? We'd lose pretty much every conflict we ever would go into.

I also agree with PMJ on the title. That's pretty darn misleading.

You know what, I like you just because of this post. You have my respect.
 
"Declassified."
More like "You were right for the last 70 years. Here's us admitting."

Also: Dammit Colress, I wanted to post this story!
 
Great, now there will be tourists all over the place...the aliens are gonna be pissed, if they weren't before.
But now I kinda want to see if they have a gravity gun in there.
 
r3skyline said:
Gravity Gun? Thats Black Mesa.

Oh, you're right...

Great, now there will be tourists all over the place...the aliens are gonna be pissed, now, if they weren't before.
But now I want to see if they have a gravity gun universal constructor, a rogue, omnipresent AI and a crazy, naked madman in there.

Better?

Fun fact: at the time of this writing, my PC is playing the deus ex soundtrack.
 
Wow so all they said is area 51 exists and they got planes there.

(also everyone knows area 51.1 has the alienz guys gosh)
 
I have seen a document where somebody who used to work there tells about it anyway. :3
 
Well, hearing a story from someone who claims to have worked there, vs knowing are two entirely different beasts.

We will probably never know what truly goes on there. BUT on the surface, I can say what everyone already knows. The military tests secret aircraft there.
 
r3skyline said:
Well, hearing a story from someone who claims to have worked there, vs knowing are two entirely different beasts.
Not really, if that person really worked there... :p
 
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