Area 51may be the humankind ’s most noted privy military root . Established on an abandoned airfieldin the Nevada desert , the facility has fueled the imaginations ofconspiracy theoristsscanning the skies forUFOsfor decades . But the truth about Area 51 ’s descent , while closemouthed , is n’t as thrilling asalien autopsiesand flying saucers .

grant toBusiness Insider , the U.S. government intended to make a base where they could test a top - hole-and-corner military aircraft without drawing tending from civilian or undercover agent . That aircraft , the U-2 aeroplane , needed to fly higher than any other manmade object in the skies . That way it could execute recon missions over what was then the USSR without getting inject down .

Even over the desert , the U-2 did n’t go entirely undetected during run flights . pilot burner who noticed the craft luxuriously above them report it as an “ nameless flight object . ” Not wanting to reveal the dependable nature of the project , Air Force officials render tenuous account for the sightings pointing to either natural phenomenon or weather research . UFO believerswere right to think the government activity was cover something up , they were just incorrect about the alien part .

The connection between Area 51 and UFOs started with a top-secret aircraft.

The governing has n’t been able to dispel UFO conspiracy theories in the decades since . In 2020 , the Pentagon made headlines by releasingformerly separate videosof “ Unmanned Aerial Systems ” they could n’t explain . Whether the strange object originate on this major planet or elsewhere has yet to be determined .

you could get the full story of the origins of Area 51 conspiracy theories in the video below .

A version of this tale ran in 2017 ; it has been updated for 2024 .

The U-2 reconnaissance aircraft in flight.