Phillips 1 Robyn Phillips Prof. Presnell English 1103 6 November 2013 Its a bird! Its a plane!

No, its a UFO! For thousands of years, the night sky has been looked to as an infinite mystery. The question has always been what lies within the stars and the hidden secrets they hold. And while it is difficult to imagine the enormity of space with a universe as infinite as ours, it is near impossible to believe that humans are the only living organisms out there. If there were another species in the cosmos, what is to say we have never had contact with them before? Or have we? There has been speculation for centuries that extraterrestrials have visited planet Earth and interacted with humans through the great wonders of the world. Some theories suggest that extraterrestrials assisted in building the Great Wall of China and the pyramids, silly as it may sound. Nonetheless, the conspiracy of extraterrestrials is a part of our history and is still debated today. However, the place most associated with aliens is the one and only: Area 51. Movies and Television When I think of Area 51, the image of little green men with abnormal heads and large bug eyes come to mind. With the help of all those late night Sci-Fi movies, my impression of Area 51 revolves around military men and people in white suits who rush around long underground tunnels beneath a deserted desert. Within these tunnels, I picture enormous hangars with dissected alien spacecrafts and enhanced alien technology. Everybody knows the popular movie, E.T. in which a lone alien is accidently separated from his kind after their spaceship crashed on Earth. With the help of a group of kids, E.T. is able to be rescued and make it back

Phillips 2 home to his own planet. One of my favorite television shows growing up was one involving the mysterious Roswell Crash in the 1940s. Titled Roswell, this program is the story of four aliens who are from the Roswell crash in which they hide their identity as teenagers. They do their best to fit in and live a normal life despite having powers; however, they run into trouble as their secret identities are jeopardized. Both of these fictional entertainments share common similarities. From alien crashes, super powers, to the governments involvement, it is easy to see the majority of the populations, as well as my selfs, intake on visitors from outer space. Not only that, but also the fact that most Sci-Fi movies revolving around extraterrestrials are set at Area 51. The real question is: how has Area 51 come into speculation of being home to UFOs and alien encounters? And most importantly, why has it been kept a secret by the United States government? What is Area 51? My research all began with what exactly is Area 51. Aside from aliens and UFOs, Area 51 is a mystery all in itself. Before deciding I was going to write about this topic, I mentioned to my classmates what they thought. Every response was Oh, you mean like aliens? Clearly, I wasnt the only one who knew just one thing on Area 51s obvious reputation. Therefore, I started with the basics. In Annie Jacobsens book titled Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, Area 51 is known for having multiple names; some are official while some are given due to its notoriety. Its official name is Groom Lake, after the dry bed lake in which it is located; others refer to it as Paradise Ranch or Dreamland. The original and most popular name, Area 51, comes from its grid number found on maps marked by boundaries. In order to keep Area 51 isolated from the public, Jacobsen states that it is located in the Nevada desert about 80 miles north of Las Vegas. Originally, this area was a secret

Phillips 3 military base fortified by the government with its purpose unknown as of yet. Why it was meant to be kept a secret is still a mystery. Continuing on my research, it occurred to me as to how Area 51 was brought to the public eye. A Game of Cat and Mouse The desert, alongside Tikaboo Peak, was the perfect cover up for whatever secrets were underway; however, not from far up above noted Jacobsen. In the mists of the cold war between the Soviets and the United States, it was not uncommon for satellites to be rotating high up above. The Soviet Union was the first to capture an insight as to what really occurred in the mysterious Area 51. In images such as Figure 1, Soviet satellites have discovered the outlining truth in which uncovers what appear to be clusters of buildings with streams of airline strips. With airline strips, the first thing that comes to my mind: airplanes. But this was not an ordinary airport. At this point, my research has brought me to a fork. With this knowledge, I am now aware that not only is Area 51 an airbase of some sort, but also that the Soviets were more knowledgeable then the American public about the sort
Figure 1

of aircraft being taken off at this site. Aware of the Soviets watchful technology, it appears to me that the

United States was determined to keep secret of whatever it was they were hiding to both the Soviets as well as its own citizens. In a National Geographic news article written by Brian Handwerk, Revealed: How Area 51 Hid Secret Craft, Handwerk describes the technique in which the United States used to deceive the watchful eyes of the Soviets known as the hoot and scoot.

Phillips 4 While it was clear to the Soviets from their spy satellites that there was some sort of military aircraft excursion occurring over the Nevada desert, the United States did not make it apparent as to what it was they were operating on. Area 51 was said to have had buildings designed specifically to ensure the aircraft was hidden in a timely manner before the satellites flew over head. This would hide the machinery in order to prevent duplication. Handwerk describes how this precaution was not enough as infrared satellites obtained sketches of the planes due to ground temperatures. This obstacle required the people at Area 51 to get crafty as they constructed fake cut outs of planes in order to cast shadows and confuse the Soviets. As a result, the purpose of Area 51 and its secret aircraft still remained a mystery. U-2s and Other Rouse At this point in my research, I was sure about one thing: Area 51 was a secret base used to test military aircraft used in the cold war and among other reasons. What I am still unclear about is what these aircrafts were, why they were so secretive, and how this comes into play with the idea of aliens and UFOs. The truth of Area 51 may have never been known until the government released the declassified material of Area 51 in a document called The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974 written by agency historians Gregory Pedlow and Donald Welzenbach. Jeffery Richelson, editor of "The Secret History of the U-2 and Area 51," writes in an article the specifics of the document. He states that in this 400 plus page document, requested by the Freedom of Information Figure 2

Phillips 5 Act in 2005, the United States government published the secrets and operatives of U-2 spy planes and other programs including both one and two unmanned reconnaissance efforts known as Axillary and Aquiline. The declassified material gave information regarding the names of pilots, locations, codenames, funding, organization, etc. With all this released information, I was surprised to find that nowhere were the words Area 51 in the 400 paged document, and maybe that was on purpose. You see, the declassified information released by the government is not what captured the publics attention; rather, it was small map that was attached to it like the one in Figure 2 and pointed out by Jessica Tozer, an Army veteran and blogger for DoDLive . In her article, Area 51, Declassified, she states that with the government still not recognizing the existence of Area 51, the map said all that it needed to. Located in the corner of the map are the two small words that reiterated the existence of what all Americans suspected: they were the words Area 51. Pieces of the Puzzle While it might not seem like a big deal, the acknowledged existence of Area 51 confirms all the conspired beliefs of this mysterious place and the secrets that were held there. This document proved that this base was used to experiment with top-secret aircraft used in military projects. All thats left in my discovery is the big question: where do aliens and UFOs come into play? Without the released information on the U-2s, I might not have my answer. To illustrate, Patrik Jonsson wrote an article called "CIA confirms Area 51. Will 'Project Axillary' Defuse Alien Conspiracy Theories?" in which he described U-2 spy planes as not the typical plane, especially not in the fifties. Rather, these planes were built with slick bodies to reach immeasurable heights up to 60,000 feet in the air in order to surveillance enemies noted Jonsson. They dont even fly the same as normal aircraft civilians are accustomed to. U-2s can

Phillips 6 take off at a more vertical angle and can maneuver more so than the average passenger plane. In todays society, picture an aircraft straight out of a Star Wars movie. Something so high-tech and advanced looking can only be explained as being out of this earth. Back then, it wasnt so different and therefore, the answer is simple. It is easy to see where people got the impression of UFOs from after witnessing these aircrafts fly overhead out of Area 51. Reverting back to Annie Jacobsens book, Jacobsen announced the U-2 flights accounted for the increase in UFO sightings in the area drastically. This further concludes that the presence of these aircrafts were what gave people the idea that spacecraft was flying overhead, when in fact it was the secret advanced jets by the United States government. I was curious to find out what people believed they saw when proclaiming they had seen a UFO fly up above. I then came across a newspaper article referring to the famous Roswell crash located near Area 51, shown in Figure 3. This newspaper article is a section from the Roswell Daily Record printed on July 8th in 1947. Titled RAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell Region, this article is the report of a UFO sighting in the Roswell vicinity. The observer of the incident was a man and his wife: Mr. and Mrs. Wilmot. The article states that the couple had been sitting on their porch Figure 3 when a large glowing object flew overhead at a height of around 1,500 feet at an estimated high speed of 400 to 500 mph. The Wilmots described the unidentified flying object as being oval in shape like two inverted saucers, faced mouth to mouth. He and his wife described it as being a flying saucer in which glowed throughout its surface. The man was reported to have heard no

Phillips 7 sound, but the women said she heard swishing. Obviously nothing like my favorite T.V. show, the Roswell crash was another military spy craft gone wrong, and with the imagination of witnesses, Area 51s reputation revolves around the theory of extraterrestrials that have made contact with our planet. Up, up and away While the government may hold secrets that will never be released, at least one is for sure in my opinion. Area 51 is not the home for captured spacecraft. Although the government will still only say so much about this place, the decision as to whether or not Area 51 really houses alien spacecraft is clearly a no in my eyes. For so long, Area 51 was the center rumor on military secrecy and perhaps the attention on aliens played to the governments advantage in hiding Area 51s true purpose. Whatever the case, the popular belief of visitors from another planet is debatable according to the public as it is up to each person as to if they believe aliens are out there in the universe or if we are really, truly alone. The fabricated illusions of aliens as a result of Area 51s mysterious purpose may have lead to something even greater. The secret to innovation and success can only be one thing: imagination. Without imagination, where would the world be today? Creativity is what inspires ideas and innovations never thought of before by pushing boundaries and seceding limits. As a result, people are able to see the world in a new light, sparking interests and making discoveries. There is no difference in when people would question the existence in living organisms outside our planet. The fantasy of Area 51 and the thought that aliens are among us affects the lives we live today. Take a look at the movies that are result of alien conspiracies; it involves life outside of Earth with technology beyond recognition. And it very well may be a reflection of our future. In the end, Area 51s true identity is not what was hidden from the public, but rather the inevitable forthcoming of the future.

Phillips 8 Works Cited Handwerk, Brian. "Revealed: How Area 51 Hid Secret Craft." The National Geographic Daily News. The National Geographic Society, 20 May 2011. Web. 3 Nov 2013. Jacobsen, Annie. Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2011. Print. Jonsson, Patrik. "CIA confirms Area 51. Will 'Project Axillary' Defuse Alien Conspiracy Theories?" Christian Science Monitor 17 Aug. 2013: N.PAGE. Academic Search Complete. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. "RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region."Roswell Daily Record 08 July 1947, n. pag. Print. Richelson, Jeffrey, ed. "The Secret History of the U-2 and Area 51." The National Security Archive. The National Security Archive, 15 Aug 2013. Web. 24 Oct 2013. Tozer, Jessica. "Area 51, Declassified." Armed With Science. Armed With Science, 02 Sep 2013. Web. 21 Oct 2013.