10 Facts about Area 51


10 Facts about Area 51:

1. On August 15, 2013, the CIA finally acknowledged the existence of Area 51. After repeated freedom of information request made by George Washington University, the CIA lifted the veil of secrecy on Area 51. 


2. Area 51 was also referred to as Groom Lake (the name of the dry lake Area 51 was built around), Paradise Ranch (a half-serious way to entice employees to accept positions at the remote, rustic base), Watertown (the official name of the test site, given in 1956), and Dreamland (after an Edgar Allan Poe poem).


3. When Area 51 was chosen as the testing site for the OXCART, a new, 8,500-foot runway had to be built. So as not to draw attention, contractors worked under cover of night.
4. Flying at 2,200 mph, it took OXCART pilot 186 miles just to make a U-turn. To accommodate the plane, an additional 38,400 acres of land around the base had to be withdrawn from public access and the restricted airspace expanded to create a 440-square mile box.



5. Early on, the only entertainment at Area 51consisted of a single cement tennis court and a small bowling alley. There was no television, and radio signals only made it through the surrounding mountains in the evening.
6. There is a sliver of truth to the conspiracy theory that the moon landing was staged at Area 51. Various space equipment – including land rovers and life support systems – were tested by the astronauts at the adjoining nuclear testing grounds.


7. After an increase in UFO sightings in 1952, the CIA concluded that "there is a remote possibility that they may be interplanetary aircraft," and that it was necessary to investigate each sighting.


8. The A-12 OXCART required special fuel in order to fly at such extreme speeds and heights. The fuel was made to withstand extremely high temperatures and would not ignite even if someone threw a match into a barrel full of it.
9. The OXCART cruised at 2200 miles per hour, but because the plane was secret it was kept out of official speed competitions.
10. The A-12 OXCART consisted of more than 90% titanium. It was the world's first titanium plane.

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