Area 51 conspiracy theories are out of this world
Area 51 is a well-known United States Air Force base — but the site's infamy stems from people's belief of what truly goes on there
Welcome to a new issue of Humber Views! Today I’m bringing you a view into one of North America’s most popular conspiracy theories: Area 51. It houses extra-terrestrial life — well, according to conspiracy theorists.
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— Kevaughn Wilson
“Wouldn’t anyone want to know if there is life outside our planet?” The Area 51 conspiracy explained
Welcome to Area 51 — a United States Air Force base located at Groom Lake which is a dry lake bed in the Nevada desert 85 miles north of Las Vegas.
Area 51 was created during the Cold War between the U.S and the Soviet Union, in order to test and develop aircraft, including reconnaissance planes. It was originally opened in 1955 but was only recently acknowledged by the CIA in 2013. The entire range covers over 2.9 million acres of land and is constantly being patrolled by armed guards. According to the U.S military it is a multidimensional battle-space to conduct tests, tactics development and advanced training.
Area 51’s secrecy has led to many conspiracy theories. The most popular is the claim that the site hosts aliens as well as their spacecrafts. It is a widely-held belief that they also conduct experiments on aliens at the site. People have also claimed to have seen unidentified flying objects (UFOs), above or near the site while others have claimed to be abducted there and experimented on.
The site became infamous again last year when a 21-year-old Bakersfield, California native named Matty Roberts turned his viral meme of storming Area 51 into a movement. In July 2019, Roberts created a fake “Storm Area 51” page on Facebook, setting the date for September 20, 2019. This Facebook group expanded to millions of people and over two million of them confirmed they were attending.
Member of the group and York University student Jaedon Gordon said he has always been intrigued by the conspiracies surrounding Area 51. “I find this conspiracy theory particularly interesting because I genuinely do believe they are hiding something at the site,” he said. “The group had some really good articles as well which immediately attracted my interest.”
Roberts bailed out of his original plan less than two weeks before the storm Area 51 date, blaming his decision on security concerns and the town’s lack of amenities. The town of Rachel, the meeting point for the Facebook group members, originally expected about 30,000 people to take the trip but in the end only about 6,000 were present. Attendees wore a variety of alien-like outfits to the events. These outfits ranged from a simple alien-themed T-shirts to full head-to-toe alien green spandex.
Owner of the “Area 51 the truth is out there” group on Facebook, Darnell Bartholomew says that this conspiracy is unlike any other.
“This conspiracy is unique because we are talking about extra-terrestrial life here,” he said. “Wouldn’t anyone want to know if there is life outside our planet?” Bartholomew started the group in 2018 and has over 6,000 current members. “It’s a nice space to be in,” he said. “We share information, discuss our thoughts and most importantly we never judge anyone based on their beliefs.”
The conspiracy behind Area 51 originated in the summer of 1947 when the U.S Army Air Force sent out a shocker press release that they had recovered a “flying disk” from a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. The following day, the Roswell Daily Record ran a story about the crash but disregarded the previous story about the flying disk. They stated that instead of a flying saucer, it was actually debris from a weather balloon. They also released photographs of supposed weather balloon debris as proof.
Many alien and UFO conspiracy theorists were skeptical of the government’s changed account and, in 1994, the U.S Air Force released a report stating that the weather balloon story, originally published in 1947 was indeed bogus. The 1994 statement explained that the wreckage came from a spy device created for a classified project called Project Mogul. Project Mogul was a string of high-altitude balloons, equipped with microphones that were designed to float stealthily over the USSR, in order to detect sound waves. These sound waves would then relay information back to the U.S when the Soviets would test their nuclear bombs. They explained that because of the importance and stealth of the mission, a false explanation was necessary in order to avoid giving away details of their spy work.
If Area 51 doesn’t already have enough theories and theorists that makes you question what really goes on there, here’s another. Meet Bob Lazar, a physicist who worked for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, in his 20s, before being supposedly recruited to a secretive government base known as S4, in Area 51. He claims to have been hired for the purpose of developing advanced propulsion engines but was surprised when, according to his account, he was given a book that outlines extraterrestrial spaceships and bodies. Lazar claims that these ships work from an undiscovered element known as Element 115. This unknown element was, in his words, responsible for powering the craft and was capable of manipulating gravity.
Lazar, however, has no record of him working at a government base known as S4, nor is there any record of him working at Los Alamos National Laboratory. But Lazar’s claims have made him very popular, even landing him a Netflix special. He claims to this day that the U.S government still keeps tabs on him and he always feels he’s being watched.
Conspiracy theories can be drawn from any bit of information or misinformation. There is currently no evidence to suggest that Area 51 is a front for an alien operation happening right under the nose of the people in the United States. Maybe it’s because of the base’s secrecy that people have developed their own ideas as to what happens behind those closed doors. The failure of the “Storm Area 51” group approach certainly didn’t add any facts to the theory. Also, if the government was truly hiding something at the site, at this point — after decades of conspiracy theories —wouldn’t they be motivated to vacate the area or use this place as a distraction while they pursue their hidden agenda somewhere else?
Related Reading
This story is a summarization of the conspiracies, myths and the strange reality of area 51.
Psychologist’s account of why area 51 conspiracies are so captivating.
The history of the Area 51 conspiracy and the leading factors that have promoted the sites popularity.
About the author
Kevaughn Wilson is an adaptable investigative journalist that is deadline-driven and focused on completing assignments. Familiar with issues surrounding the Greater Toronto Area, he previously worked as a part of the National Student Investigative Reporting Network.