© ABC NewsGood Morning America - Area 51 Revealed in CIA Spy Plane Documents
Area 51 in Nevada has long been the subject of wild conspiracy theories about extraterrestrials, time travel and alien autopsies, but newly released
declassified documents from the CIA finally acknowledge its existence.
The report does not detail the sensational stories that have played out in pop culture for decades, but states that Area 51 was started as a testing site for the government's U-2 spy plane. The report, more than 400 pages, is titled "Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and Oxcart Programs, 1954-1974."
The U-2 spy planes were commonly used by the United States during the Cold War in reconnaissance missions around the globe.
Officials and former employees have previously
acknowledged in passing the existence of the facility and how it was used for testing U-2 planes, but this is the first time the U.S. government has openly referred to Area 51 and given specifics on its operations. The report also features a map of the area.
It makes no reference to the status of Area 51 after 1974.
© National Security Archives
The U-2 planes flew at an altitude of 60,000 feet, which was higher than any other plane at the time, according to the documents. When people who lived nearby saw the unfamiliar planes, they became suspicious and believed Earth was being visited by aliens.
"High-altitude testing of the U-2 soon led to an unexpected side effect -- a tremendous increase in reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs)," the report states.
Air Force investigators then attempted to explain such sightings by linking them to natural phenomena, the report says.
"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," according to the documents.
Security at the facility and its secretive nature have been a constant in the years since Area 51 officially opened for business in 1955.
"As the deliveries of U-2 airframes to the testing site increased, a major logistic problem arose: how to transfer Lockheed employees from Burbank to Area 51 without arousing a great deal of curiosity," according to the documents.
"The project staff decided that the simplest approach would be to fly the essential personnel to the site on Monday morning and return them to Burbank on Friday evening."
The information also documents three fatal crashes that took place during 1956 with U-2 planes.
To make Area 51, a facility "in the middle of nowhere," sound more attractive to workers, it was referred to as "Paradise Ranch," or simply "the Ranch."
George Washington University's National Security Archive obtained a CIA history of the U-2 spy plane program through a Freedom of Information request and released it Thursday.
National Security Archive senior fellow Jeffrey Richelson reviewed the history in 2002, but all mentions of Area 51 had been redacted, according to The Associated Press.
Richelson says he requested the history again in 2005 and received a version a few weeks ago with mentions of Area 51 restored.
Will the conspiracy theories finally come to an end? Not likely, and after all, some parts of the report are still redacted.
Reader Comments
In short, there seems to be far more than just ''seeing crafts'' involved. It's not only about witnessing a UFO.
When you start to look at the 'alien' abduction phenomena seriously and objectively for instance, you begin to see that there's a real 'paranormal' side to it.
You should listen to Dr Karla Turner's lectures (available on youtube).
You could also start by watching this very well-made video which was made by Cassiopaea forum members. [Link]
Enjoy!
The government would love for the American people to think that all their experiments at AREA 51 are the sole product of human ingenuity. That's the coverup they would like us to think they are covering up. When in fact the rabbit hole goes so much deeper then that: aliens, extraterrestrials, ufos, and the like. The government IMHO, I dont think quite fully understands who and what they are fully dealing with. Only a few privileged ones are in the know, probably on the entire planet. Perhaps they made a deal with the proverbial devil.
In regards to your comment Sass, I would recommend you read Richard Dolans book "UFO's and the National Security State": Dolan details the history of ufos, the military programs that investigated the ufo phenomenon and the massive coverup. He states "they did not do any investigation worth a damn" in relation to the UFO phenomenon. They just want make sure the public never finds out aliens truly exist, and that our government is not near as in control as they'd like to be perceived to be.
Some other alien races may be working with human shadow military factions also, Reptilians being one of them.
Conveniently for these ET's, they exist just outside of the perception of the physical human senses, unless they make energetic adjustments so they can appear in the dense matter of 3D earth environments. People who are psychic enough, with clairvoyance and using their "third eye", or brow chakra, can see them at times. Humans are fully physical, while ET's are to varying extents semi-physical, just putting them outside the perception of the human physical senses.
I know how that may seem to some who read this, but I don't believe conventional Newtonian science has any better explanations about this.