# It turns out that Area 51 does actually exist **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529 "2013-08-18T02:30:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/1 "2013-08-18T02:30:50Z")
You don’t say? Yup. It came in the form of [unredacted redactions](http://www.businessinsider.com/cia-area-51-is-real-2013-8), but hey, for the CIA - baby steps. > [@](#): > > Richelson says he requested the history again in 2005 and received a version a few weeks ago with mentions of Area 51 restored. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/2 "2013-08-18T02:37:57Z")
Which proves absolutely nothing about the claims as to what goes on there. It doesn’t create aliens. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/3 "2013-08-18T02:41:02Z")
I have no opinion on the alien issue. My snarky tone was about the existence or not of the facility. No one has ever doubted its existence. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/4 "2013-08-18T02:51:30Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > I have no opinion on the alien issue. My snarky tone was about the existence or not of the facility. No one has ever doubted its existence. So why the “baby steps” remark? What evil did lurk there that the Government still conceals? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/5 "2013-08-18T02:51:46Z")
The first person I thought of when I read the news is [Glenn Campbell](http://area51looseends.blogspot.com/2013/08/area-51-declassified.html). A UFO non-believer, he spent a few years in the mid-90s blogging about the goings-on in and around Rachel, NV. I like his quote regarding the de-classification: _“Darn! It was way more fun when it didn’t exist.”_ ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/6 "2013-08-18T03:07:49Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > So why the “baby steps” remark? What evil did lurk there that the Government still conceals? How is that not obvious? It’s a non-admission admission isn’t it? First they redact any mention of the label ‘area 51’ then subsequently fail to redact it - unless you want to claim it was just an oversight the second time around. I’ve only seen a few documentaries on the subject and it’s pretty clear that any information about the place that has come out has been grudging to say the least - hence my comment. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/7 "2013-08-18T08:13:28Z")
Things got really confusing when the big green space ship showed up to rescue the lobster alien and the reconstructed UFO. They didn’t know if they should continue with the fake moon landing set, or the real moon missions. I think they just did both, but no one knew for sure. So you have some people trying to keep Area 51 a secret, and others who thought it wasn’t a big deal. Hence the conflicting redactions. Truman could have sorted it all out, but he was too embarrassed about that gas bladder incident. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/8 "2013-08-18T09:35:54Z")
> [@Amblydoper](#): > > when the big green space ship showed up … Please don’t spread unfounded rumors. This is the Straightdope, a site dedicated to fighting ignorance, not compounding it. So let’s get it right: The spaceship was not green. The little men inside it were. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/9 "2013-08-18T09:41:17Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Please don’t spread unfounded rumors. > This is the Straightdope, a site dedicated to fighting ignorance, not compounding it. > > So let’s get it right: The spaceship was not green. The little men inside it were. This “Woosh” brought to you by Lightspeed Briefs, Glagnar’s Human Rinds and Fishy Joe’s, Ride the Walrus… ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/10 "2013-08-18T09:41:48Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > So let’s get it right: The spaceship was not green. The little men inside it were. Not really. I saw a documentary about it, and they were sorta brown, with really big ears. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/11 "2013-08-18T10:18:54Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I saw a documentary about it. Aha…the spirit of the Dope comes through once again! Because now we finally have a cite!!! So I apologize. The aliens actually are brown, not green. Sorta. Thank you, O great Oakminster, for fighting my ignorance. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/12 "2013-08-18T16:03:42Z")
I think it was rather silly to maintain the ‘Area 51 officially doesn’t exist’ routine for so long. When did they drop it, anyway? I know there have been documentaries over the years explaining the moniker and saying that testing and development went on there. If you lived in the Antelope Valley you heard about people getting on 737s with the windows blocked out, who would go away to a secret base for a week and then come home. It was an ‘open secret’ that: [ul][li]There is a secret base in Nevada[/li][li]Testing of advanced aircraft takes place there[/li][li]The name ‘Area 51’ refers to a real or unused grid number on an AEC map[/ul][/li]‘Secret base? What “secret base”?’ may have worked in the 1950s and 1960s, in the early days of spy satellites, but by the late-'70s there’s no way the Soviet Union, China, East Germany, and all of our other foes didn’t know a base was there. UFOs were a handy thing to let people believe in at the time, in case someone should see a strange aircraft. So gullible people naturally assumed that there’s no such place as Area 51 because that’s where They are trying to reverse-engineer the alien space ships. But come on. Reasonable people would come to the reasonable conclusion that there is a base in the desert where secret aircraft are being tested. These are Top Secret programs because we don’t want our adversaries to know about them. If they look weird, it’s because they are unfamiliar designs that are being tested. No space aliens. Again, our adversaries did not believe we had space ships out there. They knew that we were testing advanced weaponry. They knew there were no ‘UFOs’. I downloaded the complete .pdf file Thursday, but haven’t had a chance to read it yet. (It’s what, 400 pages?) At a glance, it looks like a history of the U-2 and SR-71 (A-12) programs, rather than a detailed history of the base itself. We’ve known of the existence of U-2s and SR-71s – and even F-117s and B-2s – for decades. We’ve known, or at least could reasonably assume, that testing of these and other aircraft were and are conducted at the Groom Lake facility. The document sheds light on things that were rightfully classified at the time, and gives us valuable historical information on some important aircraft. But this being a Big Revelation that ‘Area 51’ is real? :eek: Meh, everyone already knew that. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/13 "2013-08-18T18:44:22Z")
A few years ago, I met someone who worked at Area 51. They could pretty much tell me zip about what they did, but I do know that they went to the local airport here in Las Vegas and flew up to Area 51 every day, and then flew back at night. It seemed so weird to have to fly to work everyday…but that was their “commute” and paid for by - well, by whoever was paying for them to work there. That was back when I think there was a bit of a scandal due to the Google Maps showing a tad more info than the US Government wanting to be shown - I think those images have been taken down since, but there were several reports showing the buildings up there. ---
**Author:** ![runningdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e9c0ed/32.png) [@runningdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runningdude)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/14 "2013-08-18T19:46:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > What evil did lurk there that the Government still conceals? I’ve heard credible rumors of improperly stored/disposed toxic waste… (Not too much different than any major early industrial site in this country) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/15 "2013-08-18T19:46:29Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > A few years ago, I met someone who worked at Area 51. > They could pretty much tell me zip about what they did, but I do know that they went to the local airport here in Las Vegas and flew up to Area 51 every day, and then flew back at night. > > It seemed so weird to have to fly to work everyday…but that was their “commute” and paid for by - well, by whoever was paying for them to work there. The famous [Janet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_%28airline%29) flights. A guy I knew used to like to listen to McCarren ATC and would go all giddy every time a Janet wanted to take off or land. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/16 "2013-08-18T19:49:23Z")
> [@runningdude](#): > > I’ve heard credible rumors of improperly stored/disposed toxic waste… [Feds investigating burning of hazardous waste at Area 51](http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1996/aug/08/feds-investigating-burning-of-hazardous-waste-at-a/) _Las Vegas Sun_, Thursday, Aug. 8, 1996 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/17 "2013-08-18T20:03:32Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Aha…the spirit of the Dope comes through once again! > Because now we finally have a cite!!! > > So I apologize. The aliens actually are brown, not green. Sorta. > > Thank you, O great Oakminster, for fighting my ignorance. 🙂 Oh, you wanted a cite? Well, [OK, then](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7B3Ypqpxh0). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/18 "2013-08-19T14:19:19Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > That was back when I think there was a bit of a scandal due to the Google Maps showing a tad more info than the US Government wanting to be shown - I think those images have been taken down since, but there were several reports showing the buildings up there. Well, how much is too much? [Individual cars and aircraft in the aerial views](https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Groom+Lake,+Lincoln,+NV,+United+States&hl=en&ll=37.245011,-115.816144&spn=0.002626,0.003975&sll=51.528642,-0.101599&sspn=0.525428,1.017609&oq=groom+la&t=h&hnear=Groom+Lake&z=18)? Each building and satellite dish [rendered in 3D](https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Groom+Lake,+Lincoln,+NV,+United+States&hl=en&ll=37.247998,-115.81981&spn=0.001313,0.001988&sll=51.528642,-0.101599&sspn=0.525428,1.017609&oq=groom+la&t=m&hnear=Groom+Lake&z=19) in map view? ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/19 "2013-08-19T14:44:57Z")
I also recently discovered that the Pope is Catholic. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529/20 "2013-08-19T15:09:09Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > …and they were sorta brown, with really big ears. You Rodeo Clown! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-turns-out-that-area-51-does-actually-exist/666529.md?page=2)