Area 51 is small area within the Nellis Air Force Bombing and Gunnery Range and is often referred to as ‘Dreamland’ on aviation frequencies. Area 51 was build in the early 1950’s by the CIA to test its top secret U-2 program. The base was built for its great year-round flying conditions, remoteness and flat lake bed on which to make runways.
Area 51 has hosted such secretive programs as U-2, F-104, SR-71, and F-117A and the F-22 long before these aircraft were known to the public. Allegedly, Area 51 is the testing ground for a new top secret hypersonic stealth aircraft project called Aurora.
These classified aircraft are reportedly designed and built in Palmdale, California (USA) in a base known as Air Force Plant 42. This location has a high number of defense contractors who allegedly work on secret government contracts. Once the secret aircraft are built they are loaded onto transport planes during the night and shipped out to Area 51.
Area 51 is operated by military personnel in conjunction with private contractors. Allegedly, private contractors such as Lockheed Martin and EG&G have personnel working within Area 51. These workers are regularly flown into Area 51 aboard unmarked 737 aircraft from McCarran Airport (Las Vegas, Nevada USA). They are flown out of a separate hanger at McCarran Airport that is heavily guarded and surrounded by high fences. These flights are known only by their call sign ‘JANET’ over aviation frequencies.
“There are a variety of facilities throughout the Nellis Range Complex. We do have facilities within the complex near the dry lakebed of Groom Lake. The facilities of the Nellis Range Complex are used for testing and training technologies, operations, and systems critical to the effectiveness of U.S. military forces and the security of the United States. Specific activities conducted at Nellis cannot be discussed any further than that.ยป
told an anonymous Air Force employee to a famous newspaper.
The base consists of a hangar, a guard shack, a few radar antennas, some housing facilities, a mess hall, offices, runways and shelters. The shelters are “scoot and hide” buildings, designed so aircraft can quickly move under cover when satellites pass overhead. Some allege that the surface buildings rest on top of a labyrinthine underground base. A few claim the underground facility has up to 40 levels and that it is attached via underground railways to other sites in Los Alamos, White Sands and Los Angeles. Skeptics are quick to point out that such a massive construction project would require an enormous labor force, the removal of tons of earth that would have to go somewhere and the need for a huge amount of concrete and other construction material.
Area 51 is protected by warning signs, guarded by sentries, helicopters, ground sensors and the airspace is restricted to both civilian and military aircraft 24 hours a day. Camouflaged guards (nicknamed Cammo Dudes) driving white Jeep Cherokees regularly patrol the borders of the base. These borders are also patrolled 24 hrs a day by heavily armed helicopters which survey the border for any intrusion.
Individuals who happen to wander across the border are promptly arrested by the Cammo Dudes and handed over to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department. The trespasser usually has their film confiscated and they are later released after paying a $600 (US) fine. The only place that you can view Area 51 without being arrested is at a distant mountain called Tikaboo Peak.