In the aftermath of the 2nd World War the U.S. in realisation that its intelligence gathering capabilities had been, historically, sadly lacking and the perceived threat from the Soviet Union, President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947. This act set up the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.) and was followed in 1949 by the CIA Act which determined that the CIA's activities and budget would be classified and also stipulated that any other government agency could transfer funds to the CIA - without regard to any provisions of the law. The CIA Act also decreed that if any of its activities were exposed, the U.S. Government could "plausibly deny" any responsibility for the CIA 's actions.

In the bid to improve methods of gathering "intelligence" regarding the military activity of the Soviets, Major John Seaberg, an aerospace development engineer at Wright Patterson AFB, conceived the idea of a very fast jet capable of over-flying Russia at 70,000ft. - well out of the range of Russian weapons. This jet would be equipped with the latest "intelligence gathering "equipment, cameras etc. and would be capable of obtaining highly detailed photographs from a safe altitude.

This concept gained approval, however the administration of the project was allocated to the CIA. Initially Seaberg offered the contract to build the aircraft to 3 small companies but Kelly Johnson of Lockheed managed to outsmart him - Johnson took his design with a delivery date of 8 months directly to the CIA. and succeeded in obtaining the contract.

The proposed aircraft was code named "Aquatone".

Edwards Air Force Base was deemed not to be "secure" enough for the test of such a craft so Johnson gave his top test pilot, Tony Levier, the task of finding a suitably secure area in the Southwest where it would safe to do so. Levier checked a number of sites before arriving at a dry lake - Groom Lake in Nevada - adjacent to what was called the Atomic Energy Commission Proving Grounds (later re-named the Nevada Test Site). Groom Lake proved to meet the requirements of a testing site for a top-secret aircraft - a ready surface for landing, unpopulated and unattractive because of the pollution caused by radio active fall out.

The controlled area of the AEC was expanded to include Groom Lake and the CIA set up a fake company - CLJ -to administer the sub-contractors who were hired to construct the base. Initially a mile long runway, hangars, a concrete ramp, a control tower and mess hall were constructed and although described as Watertown Strip officially, the base became known as "Paradise Ranch" or simply "The Ranch" by air crews.

The first prototype "Aquatone" was flown (dismantled on a transport plane) out to Groom Lake on 24th July 1955 - later became known as the U-2.The Ranch, however, was administered by the CIA and Lockheed - it was not an Air Force base - and U-2 pilots when recruited had to resign from the Air Force and become employed by the CIA. Such secrecy was enforced by the CIA that the pilots who flew the transport aircraft bring U-2s to the base were not told where they were heading and for the latter part of their journey were guided in by radio. All personnel working at the Ranch used aliases whilst on duty - returning to their normal I.D.s when they left the base.

The successor to the U-2, code-named "Archangel", required a much longer runway than that at Groom Lake. However, security was so good at the base that it was decided to extend the runway and in effect, build a small town which included a movie theatre, a bar and a baseball field. In 1962, Groom Lake or the Ranch was renamed, it now became known as "Area 51". To add even more confusion, Nellis AFB began calling the base by the call sign of its control tower - "Dreamland". At this time the restricted air space above Area 51 was extended to 600 square miles. The new aircraft, a high altitude reconnaissance plane, was originally called the RS-71 but due to a mistake by a president's aide it came to be known as the SR-71 and because it was painted black (part of its anti-radar protection), it became known as "Blackbird".

Area 51, a History and Update

For a place that doesn’t officially exist, Area 51 has been referred to by a lot of names over the years. Some of those names included; GroomLake, Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, Watertown Strip, the Box, the Pig Farm and several others. Many people do not know how or when Area 51 came into existence in thedesert some 85 miles northwest of Georgia Nevada.

Most people believe it was a military base, when in fact it was originally opened by the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency).

President Truman through the National Security Act of 1947 set up both the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency. Back then, the Director of the CIA answered directly to the President. In 1949 the CIA Act was passed which stipulated that not only would the CIA’s activities be classified but that it’s budget would also be classified. The U. S. Government could also deny any responsibility for the CIA’s activities should they be exposed.

Area 51 is still alive and well. The signs around the perimeter still indicate “the use of deadly force is authorized”, and the patrols by the “cammo dudes” in their Jeeps, and 4 wheel drive Ford and Chevy pickups, still monitor any unauthorized individuals approaching to close to the boundary of the base.

After World War II the United States was very concerned about whether the Soviet Union had developed an atomic bomb. One way to find out would be to over fly the Soviet Union in a high altitude aircraft equipped with cameras. Lockheed’s Kelly Johnson designed such an aircraft and went directly to the CIA with it. Normally such aircraft would have been test flown at Edwards Air Force Base, but with the security required for such a top-secret project as this, it was decided to look for a new secure site somewhere in the Southwest. A dozen sites were looked at before deciding on Groom Lake, Nevada, adjacent to the Nevada Test site. The area which was previously controlled by the Atomic Energy Commission for testing atomic weapons was expanded to include Groom Lake and by July 1955 the CIA had its secret base. A fake construction firm “CLJ” was formed to oversee the construction on the base mostly done by sub-contractors to build hangars, a mile long runway, ramps, control tower, mess hall and other required structures.

The airplane designed by Kelly was known as the “Aquatone” by the CIA, and as “Angel” by Lockheed. The first prototype was called “Article 341”, and flown to Groom Lake. Eventually that aircraft became known as the U-2.

The thing to remember about the inception of Area 51 is that it was not an Air Force base, but rather that Lockheed and the CIA were in charge, not the military. Pilots were recruited from the F-84 pilots with top-secret clearances from SAC bases. If they became U-2 pilots they resigned from the Air Force and became CIA employees.

The first mission over the Soviet Union took place on July 4, 1956, and the missions were quite effective due to their speed and high altitude capabilities, until May 1. 1960 when Francis Gary Powers was shot down by a Soviet missile, captured and forced to confess to spying. That same day the first American spy satellite film was retrieved which showed more information about the Soviet Union than all the previous U-2 flights combined. The satellites however did not put an end to spy planes developed and test flown at Area 51.
Area 51 has long been the source of much speculation about UFOs and advanced aircraft.

While many in the UFO enthusiast community suggest that these advanced vehicles are a result of extraterrestrial technology, the fact is that these new systems are of very earthly origin.

It is true that UFOs are the subject of a government conspiracy and cover-up. During the early 1960s the CIA launched a secret project called "Ox Cart," not to hide alien life forms but to hide a multimillion-dollar spy plane.

Ironically, for a project named after one of the slowest vehicles on Earth, Ox Cart involved one of the fastest creations in flight history, pioneered by aviation legend Kelly Johnson.

With Project Oxcart, which eventually became the SR-71, a longer runway was needed and in fact a small town was built for the support personnel assigned there. Area 51 probably is hidden in underground facilities or in hangars to keep the prying eyes of foreign satellites from knowing what is going on there. Rumors have surfaced over the years that the base has as many as 22 levels underground, and some of the hangars seen from locations miles from the base indicate structures of gigantic size. One of the two runways at Groom Lake is 30,000 feet long, indicating some aircraft are landing at tremendous velocity, to require that length of runway. As a comparison, one of the Roswell Army Airfield runways is 13,000 feet and was used by B-29 and B-52’s to carry atomic bombs in the 40’s, 50’s and early 1960’s.

MYSTERY OF THE LONG RUNWAY: During the close of WWII, General Patton's army came upon a very unusual find at a captured German facility in France (near the V1 and V2 launch sites). This finding was described in Patton's biography, which included specific data and photos, and also in an official document known as the "Patton memo". In fact, General Patton specifically warned the U.S. military of unbelievable facilities being found. General Patton described coming upon a huge runway that was 200 feet wide, 11,300 feet long, and was made of concrete which was 14 feet thick. The memo stated that the runway was built by the Germans using thousands of slave laborers, and took several years to complete. It was his written opinion that the construction materials and labor force "surpassed that of the great pyramids" (his words). The runway incorporated a unique feature at the far end. An upward turned "ski slope" was built into the runway to allow larger aircraft with heavy cargo loads to take off more easily. This "ski slope" feature was later incorporated into the designs of British and Russian aircraft carriers. The U.S. constructed such a runway in 1972 for our incoming and outgoing SECRET horizontal take off and landing spacecraft at Hunter Army Airfield (Savannah GA.), which was never officially closed.

As part of Ox Cart, the CIA also launched an effort to cover up the testing of its new high-flying reconnaissance plane. That effort included circulating stories of space aliens and flying saucers flying over the Western skies.

The CIA cover story for the SR-71 worked well enough for it to remain a secret until President Lyndon Johnson released details of the aircraft during a speech.

For nearly 30 years the SR-71 remained the fastest aircraft in active service, flying over global hot spots in Europe and the Middle East. No Blackbird aircraft was ever lost to enemy action, but one was destroyed when it was launching an even faster vehicle. During the 1980s, several SR-71s were modified to carry a ramjet-powered unmanned vehicle designed to over-fly the most dangerous targets.

The single-engine ramjet pilotless craft were carried aloft on the back of the Blackbird and launched at over 100,000 feet and at speeds in excess of 2,000 miles an hour. One of these unmanned aircraft failed immediately after launch, colliding with the SR-71, instantly destroying both aircraft.

The Stealth project began in 1973 and was referred to as “Project Harvey”. Because of the flat surfaces on the plane to reflect radar away from their source, such as the appearance of facets on a diamond, Lockheed named the project “the Hopeless Diamond”. It was renamed “Have Blue” when the prototypes began arriving at Area 51 in 1977 for testing.

Other aircraft that have been test flown at Area 51 include the A-10, A-12, B-1 and the B-2. Captured foreign aircraft are also flown there such as the MIG-21. Under development and being test flown there today are such names as the TR-3A Black Manta, the Pumpkin Seed and the Aurora. Within the last few years, contrails have been seen that leave a trail that look like “doughnuts on a rope” which is believed to be a pulsating propulsion system, possibly from the Aurora.

Although never officially confirmed, Aurora was also developed by the Lockheed Skunk Works during the 1980s. The space plane was designed to operate either in a manned or unmanned mode. Its Cold War mission was to penetrate the anti-missile defenses surrounding Moscow at Mach 8+ speeds and deliver nuclear bombs onto multiple targets.

Aurora was described as a very large diamond-shaped vehicle and most likely powered by a hybrid jet-rocket engine technology. The craft could attain speeds in excess of 8,000 miles an hour and fly at altitudes of over 50 miles. was armed with over a dozen nuclear warheads.