Area 51 is a highly classified United States Air Force facility located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada. It is officially called Homey Airport or Groom Lake, and is a remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base. The installation has been the focus of numerous conspiracies involving extraterrestrial life, though its only confirmed use is as a flight testing facility. Here is what we know about Area 51:
- Area 51 is a U.S. Air Force military installation located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada.
- It is administered by Edwards Air Force Base in southern California.
- The only confirmed use of the installation is as a flight-testing facility.
- The site is known as Area 51 because that was its designation on maps created by the Atomic Energy Commission.
- During World War II, the U.S. Army Air Corps used the site as an aerial gunnery range.
- In 1955, the area was selected by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a testing site for the Lockheed U-2, a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.
- The US government’s official name for Area 51 is the Nevada Test and Training Range, which is a unit of the Nellis Air Force Base.
- Area 51 is not accessible to the public and is under 24-hour surveillance.
- The site is heavily guarded and patrolled by armed guards.
Although there have been many conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51, the US government has officially acknowledged its existence and confirmed that it is a military installation.
