Have you ever thought about what the government does in its bases? How about how it keeps these bases secure? Have you ever wondered what testing and research the government has kept hidden from the public? These questions and many more have been asked about the mysterious base Area 51. Area 51 interests many people because of its background, what is done there, and the theories surrounding it.
Area 51 is protected in many different ways to ensure all of the projects done there are kept secret. The first way they protect the base is by its isolated location. Area 51 is in the middle of nowhere in the hope that it would stay hidden.The government owns and protects thousands of acres surrounding Area 51, including a mountain range 25 miles away, …show more content…
One of the projects that they have done is the U-2 Program. During World War II, Area 51, or Groom Lake was used for artillery and bombing practice. They stopped using Groom Lake for testing until 1955 when it was selected by Lockheed for testing the U-2 spy plane. It was selected because it was private due to the mountains and the Nevada Test Site, and it offered a great airstrip. In 1955, they built an area to suit the testing needs including a 5,000-foot runway, houses for the workers, and workshops. Within a month of finishing the runway, the first U-2 arrived. A month later, that plane took flight. U-2 planes were dispatched to Soviet ground. A year later, there were many interruptions by NTS activities. At the same time the base was working on the U-2 project, Lockheed started making a reconnaissance aircraft that would become the SR-71 Blackbird, a mach-3 plane that is part of the OXCART Project. This plane is what forced the expansion of the U-2 base. They had to make a new runway that is a lot longer, housing, and buildings for the aircraft. In 1962 the airspace above and around Groom Lake was off limits to everyone except for the workers of Area 51 and a number of planes were close by. The first OXCART plane arrived in 1962 and took flight just and flew two months later. In 1977, a Lockheed Have Blue stealth fighter prototype was finished and took flight. Over the next
Area 51 is protected in many different ways to ensure all of the projects done there are kept secret. The first way they protect the base is by its isolated location. Area 51 is in the middle of nowhere in the hope that it would stay hidden.The government owns and protects thousands of acres surrounding Area 51, including a mountain range 25 miles away, …show more content…
One of the projects that they have done is the U-2 Program. During World War II, Area 51, or Groom Lake was used for artillery and bombing practice. They stopped using Groom Lake for testing until 1955 when it was selected by Lockheed for testing the U-2 spy plane. It was selected because it was private due to the mountains and the Nevada Test Site, and it offered a great airstrip. In 1955, they built an area to suit the testing needs including a 5,000-foot runway, houses for the workers, and workshops. Within a month of finishing the runway, the first U-2 arrived. A month later, that plane took flight. U-2 planes were dispatched to Soviet ground. A year later, there were many interruptions by NTS activities. At the same time the base was working on the U-2 project, Lockheed started making a reconnaissance aircraft that would become the SR-71 Blackbird, a mach-3 plane that is part of the OXCART Project. This plane is what forced the expansion of the U-2 base. They had to make a new runway that is a lot longer, housing, and buildings for the aircraft. In 1962 the airspace above and around Groom Lake was off limits to everyone except for the workers of Area 51 and a number of planes were close by. The first OXCART plane arrived in 1962 and took flight just and flew two months later. In 1977, a Lockheed Have Blue stealth fighter prototype was finished and took flight. Over the next