People across the globe are fascinated with the possible existence of alternate life and indulge in sky-watching to look out for UFOs. So here were are, to give you something more to indulge in!
World UFO Day is celebrated on July 2 to acknowledge the existence of UFOs and the intelligent foreigners from cosmic space to rule out the possibility of us being alone in the universe.
Going back to history, as per conspiracy theorists, an alien spacecraft struck in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico on an unknown day in July 1947 but the US government presumably tried to cover it up with Project Mogul balloon. The Roswell incident remains the top-secret project by the USA Army Air Forces.
Now, a UFO museum has been built in the area along with a research centre with alien-themed streetlights and a flying saucer-like McDonald’s outlet!
The popular name for a United States Air Force base, Area 51 is a ‘map location’. It is situated at a dry lake bed called Groom Lake in the Nevada Desert, 85 miles north of Las Vegas.
UFOs are not the only things that have everyone’s attention. Here are some interesting facts about the famous Area 51:
Area 51 is a top-secret federal facility created to develop and test advanced espionage and fighting technologies
The Atomic Energy Commission was the first organization to run operations inside the Area 51
Area 51 was initially known as ‘Groom Lake’, the name later changed to ‘Paradise Ranch’ and then to ‘Dreamland Resort’ before finally settling for Area 51. These fancy names were chosen to attract workers and pilots to reside in the area.
A Russian-style steam bath is one of the perks not offered to the employees of Area-51.
When a ‘Janet’ plane flies over the restricted area’s airspace, the windows are drawn from blocking people to look down.
To make sure that ‘what happens in the desert stays in the desert,’ Area 51 enforces stringent security measures like a secrecy oath for employees, extensive camera surveillance, and blackout curtains on bus transports around the site.
Area 51 personnel sometimes inspected and reverse-engineered aircraft built by U.S. adversaries. The first such program was code-named: Project Have Doughnut.
The U-2 reconnaissance plane was the first to be tested at Area 51 with features including the ability to fly at altitudes of 70,000 feet (nearly twice that of commercial jets) to avoid detection, high-powered aerial photography gear and fuel capacity of nearly 3,000 gallons, to fly longer distances.
In 1982, an unexpected mock helicopter attack occurred during an A-bomb test prompted both White House and Pentagon to intervene.
The Soviet Union’s own version of Area 51, named NII-88 was located in a small industrial town 40 miles from Moscow.
After the U-2 debacle, the CIA worked on developing planes that could better elude Soviet missile defenses, like the super-speedy A-12, and fly at the speed of 2,200 m.p.h.
In 1957, at the height of the Cold War, the U.S. government ordered Tthe detonation of a ‘dirty bomb’, a top-secret operation at Area 51.
Annie Jacobsen’s book Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base cites a former Area 51 engineer making a controversial claim that Area 51 analyzed a Soviet-made flying saucer manned by alien-looking child-size aviators.
The first U.S. aircraft designed specifically to elude radar was developed at Area 51. It took seven years for the F-117 Nighthawk to remain under wraps.
Area 51 became a virtual ghost town for almost two years between 1957 and 1959 because dozens of nearby atomic explosions had left too much radioactive fallout.
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