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Area 51

Base

Remote Nevada test range, home to U-2 and stealth programs, shrouded in secrecy and continuous expansion

Status — Confirmed

Area 51 is a remote flight-test enclave on the southern shore of Groom Lake, Nevada. Chosen in 1955 by CIA program chief Richard M. Bissell Jr. for the U-2 spy-plane effort, the site has since supported every generation of high-performance U.S. reconnaissance and stealth aircraft, protected inside a 600-square-mile box of permanently restricted airspace (R-4808 N). Officially designated Homey Airport (KXTA) and administered today by the Air Force Test Center, the base remained unacknowledged until a 2013 FOIA release, yet continues to expand hangars, runways and radar ranges while operating under stringent secrecy and heavily enforced security.123

  Geographic Profile

Groom Lake is a 3.7-mile dry salt flat at 4,409 ft elevation in Lincoln County, about 83 nm north-north-west of Las Vegas. The main paved runway (14L/32R) is 3,657 m long; five additional lakebed runways up to 3,470 m complement it.45 Mountain ridges shield the valley from public roads; the only access is a security checkpoint on Groom Lake Road, which joins Nevada State Route 375, the "Extraterrestrial Highway."6

  Founding and Early Operations

Bissell’s AQUATONE team over-flew more than fifty candidates before spotting an abandoned WWII gunnery strip on Groom Lake that offered a flat, radar-sheltered surface ideal for quick construction.78 President Eisenhower approved Atomic Energy Commission acquisition in May 1955, and Lockheed’s Kelly Johnson re-branded the camp “Paradise Ranch” to lure workers.9 By July the first U-2 airframe arrived in disassembled form aboard a C-124; the aircraft’s accidental first hop on 1 Aug 1955 marked the base’s debut flight.1011

  Project Timeline

Year(s)Project/ProgramDetails
1955–1960Project AQUATONE / U-2 EraInitial facilities included a 5,000-foot runway, three hangars, and trailer housing. Lockheed delivered the first U-2 in July 1955; contractor flights began weeks later. CIA and Air Force pilots (Francis Gary Powers, Hervey Stockman, Carmel "Duke" Vito) trained here before overseas deployments. Project RAINBOW radar-absorbent experiments briefly modified several aircraft, foreshadowing later stealth work.23
1960–1968OXCART and Blackbird ProgramsRunway 14/32 lengthened to 8,500 feet for the A-12 (OXCART) reconnaissance aircraft. Louis Schalk flew the prototype in April 1962. Derivatives including the YF-12 interceptor and M-21/D-21 reconnaissance drone pair were flight-tested from Groom. Pilots Walt Ray, Ken Collins, and Mele Vojvodich advanced the envelope; several fatal mishaps occurred.45
1968–1980Foreign Technology ExploitationCaptured Soviet fighters arrived for evaluation: HAVE DOUGHNUT (MiG-21F-13), HAVE DRILL and HAVE FERRY (MiG-17Fs). Red Hats and Red Eagles squadrons operated additional MiG variants. "Slater Lake" hosted radar emitters simulating a Warsaw Pact air-defense network for tactical testing.6
1977–1990Stealth DevelopmentGroom Lake became the cradle of low-observable aviation. Lockheed's HAVE BLUE prototypes proved faceted shaping (both crashed on site in 1978–79). Northrop's TACIT BLUE followed in 1982, demonstrating all-aspect low signature and real-time battlefield sensors. The first F-117A pre-production jet flew here in 1981 before moving to Tonopah. Later demonstrators included Boeing's Bird of Prey. Missile projects such as SENIOR PROM and AGM-137 TSSAM validated stealth cruise profiles.78

Beyond the Mach-3 D-21B, the base hosted CIA solar-powered HALSOL flights (1983) and endurance drones that presaged modern HALE platforms. Subsequent activity likely supported the RQ-170 Sentinel and classified follow-ons, indicated by hangar expansions completed in the early 2000s.9

  Flight-Test Programs

U-2 high-altitude trials (1955–60) proved the concept of over-Soviet reconnaissance.12 The CIA returned in 1962 with Project OXCART: the A-12, precursor to the SR-71, achieving Mach 3.2 at 90,000 ft.13 Subsequent efforts included evaluation of captured MiG-21s under HAVE DOUGHNUT (1968), early stealth prototypes HAVE BLUE (1977) and the F-117 Nighthawk (first Area 51 flight 1981).14 Modern activity ranges from RCS testing of novel shapes to ongoing F-117 sorties, documented again in April 2025 when spotters filmed two jets returning to Groom Lake during Tonopah runway repairs.15

  Infrastructure and Logistics

A self-contained town supports several thousand personnel with dormitories, dining, medical and recreation. Daily worker rotation is handled by the unmarked “Janet” airline—white-and-red 737s flying roughly twenty round-trips between Las Vegas and KXTA since the early 1970s.16 Continuous expansion is evident: satellite imagery shows a 2007 south-ramp hangar and a larger 2014 bay sized for next-generation bombers.

  Airspace and Security

Area 51 occupies the core of Restricted Area 4808 N—nicknamed “the Box” or “the Container”—prohibiting civilian or military transit below FL600.1718 Outer coordinates of the no-fly zone (NW 37°28′00″ N 116°00′03″ W, etc.) appear on FAA charts as R-4808A.19 Ground security combines electronic sensors, radar and armed patrols colloquially called “camo dudes.” Trespass warnings are posted miles from the perimeter; photography from public land is closely monitored.20

  Environmental and Legal Issues

From the late 1970s to early 1990s, contractors burned classified coatings and solvents in open pits, producing toxic “London Fog” smoke that former workers blamed for cancers and skin lesions.2122 Their 1994 lawsuit was dismissed after the government invoked the state-secrets privilege; courts accepted presidential directives exempting the base from hazardous-waste disclosure laws.2324 The episode remains the principal acknowledged environmental controversy.

  Recent Activity and Status

A declassified CIA U-2 history in 2013 formally named “Area 51,” ending six decades of official silence.25 Since then, commercial imagery has tracked new high-bay structures, extended taxiways and upgraded radar cross-section ranges—signs the installation continues to host black-world prototypes. News outlets and aviation forums routinely note night-time departures of unidentified fast-movers, suggesting continued advanced flight testing.15

  Timeline Overview

YearMilestone
1955Groom Lake added to AEC range; U-2 arrives; first flight 1 Aug 1955.10
1962A-12 OXCART begins flight tests.13
1968HAVE DOUGHNUT MiG-21 evaluation completed.14
1977-81HAVE BLUE stealth demonstrator and F-117 prototypes fly.14
1994Burn-pit toxic-exposure lawsuit filed.21
2007-14Construction of two large south-ramp hangars visible in imagery.
2013CIA FOIA release publicly acknowledges Area 51.25
2025F-117s redeploy to Groom Lake during Tonopah closure.15

  In media

Early-1990s readers of the Los Angeles Times could indeed see the name “Area 51” in print years before Washington ever admitted the base existed, but those stories were journalistic disclosure, not official government recognition.

    What the Times put in the public domain

  • 29 April 1990 front-page report (Sunday national edition) – headlined "There’s a Name for This Place: ‘Area 51’—But It’s Not on the Map," staff writer Kenneth Reich pulled together interviews with aviation-watchers, satellite imagery then circulating in hobby circles and Air Force budget documents to describe a “top-secret flight-test range on Groom Lake known informally as Area 51.”26
  • 3 Apr 1994 — “CLOSE-UP: A Model Spy” – a profile of model-aircraft designer John Andrews noted that he had climbed a ridge to watch “planes housed at the nearby Groom Lake military facility,” adding that the government had closed the overlook because of growing interest in “Area 51.”26
  • 3 Feb 1996 — “Extraterrestrial Highway Gets Green Light in Nevada” – while covering the renaming of State Route 375, staff writer Carla Hall matter-of-factly described the road as running past “a top-secret Air Force range known informally as Area 51.”27

These stories show the Times treating the name as common knowledge by the mid-1990s even though Defense Department lawyers were still telling federal judges “there is no name for the operating location near Groom Lake” as late as 1995.28

    Why that still wasn’t “official acknowledgment”

  • No declassified documents: the Air Force and CIA continued to keep every reference to Area 51 (or its internal designators—“Watertown,” “Paradise Ranch,” “Homey Airport”) classified or redacted.
  • Litigation posture: in the 1994-1996 toxic-burn-pit lawsuit, government counsel refused to utter the nickname in court, insisting that revealing it would breach national security.28
  • FOIA milestone (2013): only when the CIA released a previously redacted U-2 history on 16 Aug 2013 did an official document finally print the words “Area 51” and place it on a map—an event the Times covered in “Area 51 mapped: CIA shows where it is, details Cold War missions.”29

Area 51 thus remains the United States’ primary covert flight-test venue—conceived in the Cold War, continuously upgraded, and still active in shaping the next generation of aerospace technology.

  References

  References

  1. Wikipedia – Area 51 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51) ↩

  2. CIA – Area 51 and the Accidental Test Flight (https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/area-51-and-the-accidental-test-flight/) ↩ ↩2

  3. Dreamland Resort – 50 Years of Research at Area 51 (https://www.dreamlandresort.com/area51/dreamland_50years.html) ↩ ↩2

  4. Skybrary – KXTA Homey Airport (https://skybrary.aero/airports/kxta) ↩ ↩2

  5. Wikipedia – Area 51 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51) ↩ ↩2

  6. Wikipedia – Area 51 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51) ↩ ↩2

  7. Wikipedia – Area 51 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51) ↩ ↩2

  8. CIA – Area 51 and the Accidental Test Flight (https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/area-51-and-the-accidental-test-flight/) ↩ ↩2

  9. CIA – Area 51 and the Accidental Test Flight (https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/area-51-and-the-accidental-test-flight/) ↩ ↩2

  10. CIA – Area 51 and the Accidental Test Flight (https://www.cia.gov/stories/story/area-51-and-the-accidental-test-flight/) ↩ ↩2

  11. History.com – Area 51 Top Secret Spy Planes (https://www.history.com/news/area-51-top-secret-spy-planes-u2-blackbird) ↩

  12. History.com – Area 51 Top Secret Spy Planes (https://www.history.com/news/area-51-top-secret-spy-planes-u2-blackbird) ↩

  13. History.com – Area 51 Top Secret Spy Planes (https://www.history.com/news/area-51-top-secret-spy-planes-u2-blackbird) ↩ ↩2

  14. History.com – Area 51 Top Secret Spy Planes (https://www.history.com/news/area-51-top-secret-spy-planes-u2-blackbird) ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  15. The Aviationist – Spotter Captures F-117s Returning to Groom Lake (https://theaviationist.com/2025/04/27/spotter-captures-f-117s-groom-lake/) ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  16. Simple Flying – Janet Airlines Destination List (https://simpleflying.com/janet-airlines-destination-list/) ↩

  17. Dreamland Resort – Range Flight (https://www.dreamlandresort.com/info/range_flight.html) ↩

  18. Dreamland Resort – 50 Years of Research at Area 51 (https://www.dreamlandresort.com/area51/dreamland_50years.html) ↩

  19. Dreamland Resort – Janet Routes (https://www.dreamlandresort.com/info/janet_routes.html) ↩

  20. Dreamland Resort – Range Flight (https://www.dreamlandresort.com/info/range_flight.html) ↩

  21. Review-Journal – Area 51 Burning Revealed (https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/area-51-burning-revealed/) ↩ ↩2

  22. Spokesman-Review – The Secrets at Area 51 Deadly Real (https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/jul/20/the-secrets-at-area-51-deadly-real-its-toxic/) ↩

  23. Las Vegas Sun – Feds Investigating Burning of Hazardous Waste at Area 51 (https://lasvegassun.com/news/1996/aug/08/feds-investigating-burning-of-hazardous-waste-at-a/) ↩

  24. RCFP – Poisoning Case Dismissal Compelled State Secrets Privilege (https://www.rcfp.org/poisoning-case-dismissal-compelled-state-secrets-privilege/) ↩

  25. NFOIC – CIA Acknowledges Existence of Area 51 (https://www.nfoic.org/blogs/cia-acknowledges-existence-area-51-newly-declassified-docs/) ↩ ↩2

  26. Los Angeles Times – There’s a Name for This Place: ‘Area 51’—But It’s Not on the Map (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-03-tm-41482-story.html) ↩ ↩2

  27. Los Angeles Times – Extraterrestrial Highway Gets Green Light in Nevada (https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-02-03-mn-31776-story.html) ↩

  28. Washington Post – Government officially acknowledges existence of Area 51, but not the UFOs (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/government-officially-acknowledges-existence-of-area-51-but-not-the-ufos/2013/08/16/ca4feaec-06be-11e3-a07f-49ddc7417125_story.html) ↩ ↩2

  29. Los Angeles Times – Area 51 mapped: CIA shows where it is, details Cold War missions (https://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-area-51-cia-20130816-story.html) ↩

Published on May 1, 1955

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