Located at Groom Lake in the middle of the barren desert of southern Nevada, Area 51 is a US Air Force installation that has become infamous for a speculated connection with unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Conspiracy theories surrounding the base suggest that it’s used for the testing of alien technology recovered from supposed crash sites, like the one in Roswell, New Mexico. This has been fuelled by the fact that the base was a secret for many years and is still inaccessible to the general public. As a result, this innocuous-looking military installation has become an intrinsic part of modern mythology and urban legends of the 20th century, with a large influence on media and pop culture.
WHERE IS AREA 51 AND HOW BIG IS IT?
Area 51 is located 120 miles (200 kilometres) northwest of Las Vegas, near the small towns of Rachel and Hiko. The name Area 51 seems to come from the designation the base had on Atomic Energy Commission maps, with this name sticking in the mind of the public but mostly unused by the military. Established in 1955 as part of the Nevada Test and Training Range complex, the area was also given the name ‘Paradise Ranch’ in an attempt by aerospace company Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin, to draw employees to the base.
Today the base and the wider Nevada Test and Training Range complex are part of the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS), with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) referring to it
