In 1955 President Eisenhower, "'approved the addition of this strip of wasteland, known by its map designation as Area 51, to the Nevada Test Site,' according to a CIA history of a spy plane declassified in 2013."(Washington Post). However the truth was that this barren area in Nevada was used to test high altitude U2 reconnaissance planes. At this particular location, other special planes and technology were tested as well including the F-117 ground attack plane, and the A-12 a jet that was rumored to be faster than the speed of sound.
But the area was quick to develop many conspiracy theories, and the most prominent was that of alien and super-natural testing given the expansions in space exploration from the cold war. Meanwhile, the government attempted to keep the whole thing "under wraps" only adding to the secretive and mysterious reputation of the testing site.
One particular story that threw the public in the direction of Area 51 was the questionable debris found by William "Mac" Brazel in 1947. Brazel had apparently found undefinable debris that was confiscated by the military and taken away in special cars when he reported his findings to the police. Since Brazel, people have feed off of the various lights that have come out of area 51 claiming that the lights were from the landed space ships. The film released by Ray Santilli in 1995 didn't exactly help either as it added to the alien theory fuel that apparently documented an autopsy done on an alien that had been found after the crash Brazel had found. However even after authorities offered an explanation that it was the remains of a high altitude air balloon similar to the ones the US used in the cold war for reconnoissance of Russia, the conspiracy persisted.
Another conspiracy that persists is that Area 51 is also home to the elite government group known as the "Men in Black". According to common conspiracy (and wikipedia) the Men and black are supposed to be men in black suits who will come harass and speak to any UFO witnesses. They are essentially the cover up men and a very covert group of the government agencies that is solely meant to help keep area 51 secret, almost like Area 51s private security.
While it is quite clearly all bologna and just a regular conspiracy, in Nevada, their is extreme tourism today over area 51. Though Vegas doesn't take people to the airbase , there are various gift shops and tours which add to the conspiracy as tours will point out faux cameras in the cacti and "military testing" signs that warn people to keep out.
All and All while the story of area 51 is all fabricated, the story continues to live on in todays youth and the conspiracy grows more and more, as cameras and video editing have allow for people to edit more fake footage towards the belief of extra-terrestrials.
Bibliography
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/18/the-government-admits-it-studies-ufos-so-about-those-area-51-conspiracy-theories/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1599a5de1a79
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/area-51-sightseeing-12081.html
https://www.history.com/news/ask-history/what-goes-on-at-area-51
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_in_black
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871_1860876_1861006,00.html
Leah, this was a very interesting and well written post! I especially liked the part about the Men in Black, I grew up loving those movies but now they seem much more interesting now that I know that they are based off of a conspiracy. If you are looking for more sites that are famous for UFO sightings Sedona, Arizona and Joshua Tree, California are on the list. Thanks for such a great post!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2018/01/28/the-worlds-8-best-places-to-hunt-for-extraterrestrials-and-search-for-ufos/#537cb5742ddb
This is such an interesting topic Leah. I am definitly an avid watcher of James Dausen's conspiracy theory videos! It is so strange to know that these movies were based on conspiracies, and not oure creative imagination, and that some people actually believe in extra terestrial sighting's phoning home (E.T reference!). I found a link to another interesting articlke that talks about this topic, specifically the doctored photos... maybe they were real after all!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/12/18/the-government-admits-it-studies-ufos-so-about-those-area-51-conspiracy-theories/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.0500ef9c0def
LEAH,this post is so cool! I love how keeping the conspiracy alive is generating so much its sustaining peoples lively hoods! I think is so funny especially because it has this child like believe in Area 51 that older people like. Its another reason to believe. Hey who am I to criticize they might have brain sucked me too or whatever aliens do!
ReplyDeleteCheck my article out for more bellow!
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-mag-april052009-backstory-story.html