Also known as Groom Lake, Area 51 was originally called Paradise Ranch, and then later shortened to “The Ranch” in hopes that it would attract construction workers to the area.

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The perimeter is reportedly surrounded by motion sensors, and it’s also thought that hi-tech electronic surveillance systems are installed to insure no potential intruders can get in.

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Employees used to enjoy a once-a-week steak night, with oysters and lobsters. They apparently tested military jets by asking them to fly cross-country and stopping in Maine to pick up the foods.

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Earlier this year massive object was escorted along what locals call the “Extra-terrestrial Highway” which is close to Area 51. Admittedly, if it was actually an alien spacecraft the government probably would have opted for a more subtle way of moving it, but the similarities of what we know as a UFO are uncanny.

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The US Military originally intended to help out with costumes and equipments for the film Independence Day but reportedly pulled out because of the filmmakers’ refusal to take out Area 51 references from the script.

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The CIA only acknowledge the existence of Area 51 in 2013. Before then, the nature of the work was considered so sensitive by the US government that the CIA refused to acknowledge the existence of the site in all official documents.

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The site began in 1955 as a test center for the U-2 spy plane an aircraft developed after WWII. It was capable of carrying out surveillance over the Soviet Union, and practice flights were carried out using the runways built onsite. When it began operations over the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, a cover story was made to portray it as a weather research plane.

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The US used Area 51 as a site for testing captured technology from aircraft belonging to foreign, hostile powers. The first one to arrive was from Russia and had been captured by Israel in 1966.

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Perhaps the most bizarre conspiracy theory about Area 51 was written by Annie Jacobsen in 2011. She thinks that the site was the center of a US cover-up that went into motion following the crashing of a UFO at Roswell in 1947, and she claims the ‘UFO’ was a Soviet craft piloted by genetically engineered children to make people think it was an alien craft in order to spread fear.

In this theory, Area 51 was used as the storage site for the ‘Soviet’ ship and the remains of the crew. She also claims that the genetic modification of the children was carried out by Nazi scientist Josef Mengele, who is infamous for his concentration camp experiments during WWII.

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Even the US President is on a ‘need to know’ basis and doesn’t know everything about the site.

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President Obama is the first US President to even have made a comment about Area 51; he made joking comments about the base during an award ceremony on December 8, 2013.

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Some conspiracy theorists believe the lunar landing was staged at Area 51 since astronauts tested lunar rovers and live support systems at the atomic testing grounds next door.

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In 1995, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order protecting Area 51 from any legislation or investigation in the aims of national security.

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To keep locals from suspecting something strange happening, most of the base staff are flown in daily from Las Vegas, which is 90 miles away, on planes they call JANET, which stands for “Just Another Non Existent Terminal.”

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There’s an association for former Area 51 employees called Roadrunners Internationale. They meet up to discuss their work experiences, but with most information still classified, there’s little they can actually talk about.

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