The CIA has at last revealed details about the enigmatic Area 51 site and its actual purpose.
The Air Force base located at Groom Lake in southern Nevada has been at the center of numerous conspiracy theories for years.
Legends about the heavily secured, barbed-wire-surrounded Area 51 suggest it is a hub of extraterrestrial activity, with numerous accounts of UFO sightings and alien encounters reported over the years.
Its operational secrecy has only fueled the mystery, leaving most people with little understanding of what actually occurs at this desert location, approximately 83 miles from Las Vegas.
In 2019, a viral Facebook event encouraged people to ‘storm Area 51’ with the slogan: “They Can’t Stop All Of Us.” Despite some individuals showing up, no one successfully breached the site.
So, what is the true purpose of Area 51?
It’s a test facility for the US Air Force (USAF).
The site was first acquired by the USAF in the 1950s, with the military using it to test aircraft like the U-2 spy plane.
This aircraft is a high-altitude reconnaissance plane, capable of operating above 70,000 feet in the stratosphere.
Given Area 51’s secretive nature, it comes as no surprise that it has been a focal point for alleged UFO sightings.
Documents released after a Freedom of Information Act request in 2013 highlighted the U-2 specifically.
The documents stated: “High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect – a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).”
They further noted: “U-2 and later Oxcart flights accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the late 1950s and most of the 1960s.”
During the Cold War, the U-2 played a vital role in U.S. intelligence, used to monitor the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba.
Its significance peaked during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where it was instrumental in detecting the Soviet Union’s nuclear presence in Cuba.
During this tense period, U-2 pilot Rudolf Anderson from South Carolina was killed when his aircraft was shot down over Cuba in 1962.
The plane’s wing configuration, optimized for high-altitude flight, means it essentially needs to be stalled to land.
Speculation about extraterrestrial life at the site may not be entirely baseless either, as pilots had to wear specially designed spacesuits to withstand the high-altitude atmosphere.
In conclusion, Area 51 was used for testing experimental aircraft during the Cold War when maintaining secrecy on U.S. intelligence was paramount.
But that doesn’t rule out the possibility that extraterrestrial beings might be interested in the site as well, does it?