Area 51 Area 51 , also officially known as Groom Lake or Homey Airport is a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base . According to the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) , the correct names for the Area 51 facility are the Nevada Test and Training Range and Groom Lake , though the name Area 51 has been used in official CIA documentation . Other names used for the facility include " Dreamland " , " Paradise Ranch " , " Home Base " , " Watertown Strip " , and most recently " Homey Airport " . The area around the field is referred to as ( R - 4808N ) . It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States , 83 miles ( 133 km ) north - northwest of Las Vegas . Situated at its center , on the southern shore of Groom Lake , is a large military airfield . The base ' s current primary purpose is officially undetermined ; however , based on historical evidence , it most likely supports development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems . The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of and a central component to unidentified flying object ( UFO ) folklore . Although the base has never been declared a secret base , all research and occurrings in Area 51 are Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information ( TS / SCI ) . In July 2013 , following a FOIA request filed in 2005 , the Central Intelligence Agency publicly acknowledged the existence of the base for the first time by declassifying documents detailing the history and purpose of Area 51 . Geography . Area 51 . The original rectangular base of is now part of the so - called " Groom box " , a rectangular area measuring , of restricted airspace . The area is connected to the internal Nevada Test Site ( NTS ) road network , with paved roads leading south to Mercury and west to Yucca Flat . Leading northeast from the lake , the wide and well - maintained Groom Lake Road runs through a pass in the Jumbled Hills . The road formerly led to mines in the Groom basin , but has been improved since their closure . Its winding course runs past a security checkpoint , but the restricted area around the base extends further east . After leaving the restricted area , Groom Lake Road descends eastward to the floor of the Tikaboo Valley , passing the dirt - road entrances to several small ranches , before converging with State Route 375 , the " Extraterrestrial Highway " , south of Rachel . Area 51 shares a border with the Yucca Flat region of the Nevada Test Site , the location of 739 of the 928 nuclear tests conducted by the United States Department of Energy at NTS . The Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository is southwest of Groom Lake . Groom Lake . Groom Lake is a salt flat in Nevada used for runways of the Nellis Bombing Range Test Site airport ( KXTA ) on the north of the Area 51 USAF military installation . The lake at elevation is approximately from north to south and from east to west at its widest point . Located within the namesake Groom Lake Valley portion of the Tonopah Basin , the lake is south of Rachel , Nevada . History . The origin of the Area 51 name is unclear . The most accepted comes from a grid numbering system of the area by the Atomic Energy Commission ( AEC ) ; while Area 51 isn ' t part of this system it is adjacent to Area 15 . Another explanation is that 51 was used because it was unlikely that the AEC would use the number . Groom Lake . Lead and silver were discovered in the southern part of the Groom Range in 1864 , and the English " Groome Lead Mines Limited " company financed the Conception Mines in the 1870s , giving the district its name ( nearby mines included Maria , Willow and White Lake ) . The interests in Groom were acquired by J . B . Osborne and partners and patented in 1876 , and his son acquired the interests in the 1890s . Claims were incorporated as two 1916 companies with mining continuing until 1918 and resuming after World War II until the early 1950s . World War II . The airfield on the Groom Lake site began service in 1942 as Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field , and consisted of two dirt 5000 ' runways aligned NE / SW , NW / SE . The airfield may have been used for bombing and artillery practice ; bomb craters are still visible in the vicinity . U - 2 program . The Groom Lake test facility was established by the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) for " Project Aquatone " , the development of the Lockheed U - 2 strategic reconnaissance aircraft in April 1955 . As part of the project , the director , Richard M . Bissell , Jr . , understood that , given the extreme secrecy enveloping the project , the flight test and pilot training programs could not be conducted at Edwards Air Force Base or Lockheed ' s Palmdale facility . A search for a suitable testing site for the U - 2 was conducted under the same extreme security as the rest of the project . He notified Lockheed , who sent an inspection team out to Groom Lake . According to Lockheed ' s U - 2 designer Kelly Johnson : The lakebed made an ideal strip from which they could test aircraft , and the Emigrant Valley ' s mountain ranges and the NTS perimeter , about 100 miles north of Las Vegas , protected the test site from visitors . The CIA asked the AEC to acquire the land , designated " Area 51 " on the map , and add it to the Nevada Test Site . Johnson named the area " Paradise Ranch " to encourage workers to move to a place that the CIA ' s official history of the U - 2 project would later describe as " the new facility in the middle of nowhere " ; the name became shortened to " the Ranch " . On 4 May 1955 , a survey team arrived at Groom Lake and laid out a , north - south runway on the southwest corner of the lakebed and designated a site for a base support facility . " The Ranch " , also known as Site II , initially consisted of little more than a few shelters , workshops and trailer homes in which to house its small team . In a little over three months , the base consisted of a single , paved runway , three hangars , a control tower , and rudimentary accommodations for test personnel . The base ' s few amenities included a movie theatre and volleyball court . Additionally , there was a mess hall , several water wells , and fuel storage tanks . By July 1955 , CIA , Air Force , and Lockheed personnel began arriving . The Ranch received its first U - 2 delivery on 24 July 1955 from Burbank on a C - 124 Globemaster II cargo plane , accompanied by Lockheed technicians on a Douglas DC - 3 . Regular Military Air Transport Service flights were set up between Area 51 and Lockheed ' s Burbank , California offices . To preserve secrecy , personnel flew to Nevada on Monday mornings and returned to California on Friday evenings . OXCART program . Project OXCART established in August 1959 for " antiradar studies , aerodynamic structural tests , and engineering designs [ and ] all later work on the " Lockheed A - 12 included testing at Groom Lake , which before improvements for OXCART had inadequate facilities : buildings for only 150 people , a asphalt runway , and limited fuel , hangar , and shop space . Selected for its seclusion and climate , Groom Lake had received a new official name " Area 51 " when A - 12 test facility construction began in September 1960 , including a new runway to replace the existing runway ( completed by 15 November 1960 with " expansion joints parallel to the direction of aircraft roll " to limit vibration . ) Four years of " Project 51 " construction began on 1 October 1960 by Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Company ( REECo ) with double - shift construction schedules . The contractor upgraded base facilities and built a new runway ( 14 / 32 ) diagonally across the southwest corner of the lakebed . An Archimedes curve approximately two miles across was marked on the dry lake so that an A - 12 pilot approaching the end of the overrun could abort to the playa instead of plunging the aircraft into the sagebrush . Area 51 pilots called it " The Hook " . For crosswind landings two unpaved airstrips ( runways 9 / 27 and 03 / 21 ) were marked on the dry lakebed . By August 1961 , construction of the essential facilities was completed ( 3 surplus Navy hangars were erected on the base ' s north side — hangars 4 , 5 , and 6 . ) A fourth , Hangar 7 , was new construction . The original U - 2 hangars were converted to maintenance and machine shops . Facilities in the main cantonment area included workshops and buildings for storage and administration , a commissary , control tower , fire station , and housing . The Navy also contributed more than 130 surplus Babbitt duplex housing units for long - term occupancy facilities . Older buildings were repaired , and additional facilities were constructed as necessary . A reservoir pond , surrounded by trees , served as a recreational area one mile north of the base . Other recreational facilities included a gymnasium , movie theatre , and a baseball diamond . A permanent aircraft fuel tank farm was constructed by early 1962 for the special JP - 7 fuel required by the A - 12 . Seven tanks were constructed , with a total capacity of 1 , 320 , 000 gallons . For the arrival of OXCART ; security was enhanced and the small civilian mine in the Groom basin was closed . In January 1962 , the Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) expanded the restricted airspace in the vicinity of Groom Lake . The lakebed became the center of a 600 - square - mile addition to restricted area R - 4808N . The CIA facility received eight USAF F - 101 Voodoo s for training , two T - 33 Shooting Star trainers for proficiency flying , a C - 130 Hercules for cargo transport , a U - 3A for administrative purposes , a helicopter for search and rescue , and a Cessna 180 for liaison use ; and Lockheed provided an F - 104 Starfighter for use as a chase plane . The first A - 12 test aircraft was covertly trucked from Burbank on 26 February 1962 , arrived at Groom Lake on 28 February , was assembled , and made its first flight 26 April 1962 when the base had over 1 , 000 personnel . Initially , all not connected with a test were herded into the mess hall before each takeoff . This was soon dropped as it disrupted activities and was impractical with the large number of flights . The closed airspace above Groom Lake was within the Nellis Air Force Range airspace , and pilots saw the A - 12 20 - 30 times ( at least one signed a secrecy agreement . ) . Groom was also the site of the 1st Lockheed D - 21 drone test flight on 22 Dec 1964 ( not launched until 5 Mar 1966 ) . By the end of 1963 , nine A - 12s were at Area 51 , assigned to the CIA operated " 1129th Special Activities Squadron " . Although it was decided on 10 January 1967 to phase out the CIA A - 12 program , A - 12s at Groom Lake occasionally deployed to Kadena AB , Okinawa , for Project Black Shield in 1967 ( the 9 A - 12s were stored at Palmdale in June 1968 and the 1129th SAS was inactivated . ) D - 21 Tagboard . Following the loss of Gary Powers ' U - 2 over the Soviet Union , there were several discussions about using the A - 12 OXCART as an unpiloted drone aircraft . Although Kelly Johnson had come to support the idea of drone reconnaissance , he opposed the development of an A - 12 drone , contending that the aircraft was too large and complex for such a conversion . However , the Air Force agreed to fund the study of a high - speed , high - altitude drone aircraft in October 1962 . The air force interest seems to have moved the CIA to take action , the project designated " Q - 12 " . By October 1963 , the drone ' s design had been finalized . At the same time , the Q - 12 underwent a name change . To separate it from the other A - 12 - based projects , it was renamed the " D - 21 " . ( The " 12 " was reversed to " 21 " ) . " Tagboard " was the project ' s code name . The first D - 21 was completed in the spring of 1964 by Lockheed . After four more months of checkouts and static tests , the aircraft was shipped to Groom Lake and reassembled . It was to be carried by a two - seat derivative of the A - 12 , designated the " M - 21 " . When the D - 21 / M - 21 reached the launch point , the first step would be to blow off the D - 21 ' s inlet and exhaust covers . With the D - 21 / M - 21 at the correct speed and altitude , the LCO would start the ramjet and the other systems of the D - 21 . With the D - 21 ' s systems activated and running , and the launch aircraft at the correct point , the M - 21 would begin a slight pushover , the LCO would push a final button , and the D - 21 would come off the pylon " . Difficulties were addressed throughout 1964 and 1965 at Groom Lake with various technical issues . Captive flights showed unforeseen aerodynamic difficulties . By late January 1966 , more than a year after the first captive flight , everything seemed ready . The first D - 21 launch was made on 5 March 1966 with a successful flight , with the D - 21 flying 120 miles with limited fuel . A second D - 12 flight was successful in April 1966 with the drone flying 1 , 200 miles , reaching Mach 3 . 3 and 90 , 000 feet . An accident on 30 July 1966 with a fully fueled D - 21 , on a planned checkout flight suffered from a non - start of the drone after its separation , causing it to collide with the M - 21 launch aircraft . The two crewmen ejected and landed in the ocean 150 miles offshore . One crew member was picked up by a helicopter , but the other , having survived the aircraft breakup and ejection , drowned when sea water entered his pressure suit . Kelly Johnson personally cancelled the entire program , having had serious doubts from the start of the feasibility . A number of D - 21s had already been produced , and rather than scrapping the whole effort , Johnson again proposed to the Air Force that they be launched from a B - 52H bomber . By late summer of 1967 , the modification work to both the D - 21 ( now designated D - 21B ) and the B - 52Hs were complete . The test program could now resume . The test missions were flown out of Groom Lake , with the actual launches over the Pacific . The first D - 21B to be flown was Article 501 , the prototype . The first attempt was made on 28 September 1967 , and ended in complete failure . As the B - 52 was flying toward the launch point , the D - 21B fell off the pylon . The B - 52H gave a sharp lurch as the drone fell free . The booster fired and was " quite a sight from the ground " . The failure was traced to a stripped nut on the forward right attachment point on the pylon . Several more tests were made , none of which met with success . However , the fact is that the resumptions of D - 21 tests took place against a changing reconnaissance background . The A - 12 had finally been allowed to deploy , and the SR - 71 was soon to replace it . At the same time , new developments in reconnaissance satellite technology were nearing operation . Up to this point , the limited number of satellites available restricted coverage to the Soviet Union . A new generation of reconnaissance satellites could soon cover targets anywhere in the world . The satellites ' resolution would be comparable to that of aircraft , but without the slightest political risk . Time was running out for the Tagboard . Several more test flights , including two over China , were made from Beale AFB , California , in 1969 and 1970 , to varying degrees of success . On 15 July 1971 , Kelly Johnson received a wire canceling the D - 21B program . The remaining drones were transferred by a C - 5A and placed in dead storage . The tooling used to build the D - 21Bs was ordered destroyed . Like the A - 12 Oxcart , the D - 21B Tagboard drones remained a Black airplane , even in retirement . Their existence was not suspected until August 1976 , when the first group was placed in storage at the Davis - Monthan AFB Military Storage and Disposition Center . A second group arrived in 1977 . They were labeled " GTD - 21Bs " ( GT stood for ground training ) . Davis - Monthan is an open base , with public tours of the storage area at the time , so the odd - looking drones were soon spotted and photos began appearing in magazines . Speculation about the D - 21Bs circulated within aviation circles for years , and it was not until 1982 that details of the Tagboard program were released . However , it was not until 1993 that the B - 52 / D - 21B program was made public . That same year , the surviving D - 21Bs were released to museums . Foreign technology evaluation . During the Cold War , one of the missions carried out by the United States was the test and evaluation of captured Soviet fighter aircraft . Beginning in the late 1960s , and for several decades , Area 51 played host to an assortment of Soviet - built aircraft . Under the " HAVE DOUGHNUT " , " HAVE DRILL " and " HAVE FERRY " programs , the first MiGs flown in the United States were used to evaluate the aircraft in performance , technical , and operational capabilities , pitting the types against U . S . fighters . This was not a new mission , as testing of foreign technology by the USAF began during World War II . After the war , testing of acquired foreign technology was performed by the Air Technical Intelligence Center ( ATIC , which became very influential during the Korean War ) , under the direct command of the Air Materiel Control Department . In 1961 ATIC became the Foreign Technology Division ( FTD ) , and was reassigned to Air Force Systems Command . ATIC personnel were sent anywhere where foreign aircraft could be found . The focus of Air Force Systems Command limited the use of the fighter as a tool with which to train the front line tactical fighter pilots . Air Force Systems Command recruited its pilots from the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base , California , who were usually graduates from various test pilot schools . Tactical Air Command selected its pilots primarily from the ranks of the Weapons School graduates . In August 1966 , Iraqi Air Force fighter pilot Captain Munir Redfa defected , flying his MiG - 21 to Israel after being ordered to attack Iraqi Kurd villages with napalm . His aircraft was transferred to the Groom Lake within a month to study . In 1968 the US Air Force and Navy jointly formed a project known as " Have Doughnut " in which Air Force Systems Command , Tactical Air Command , and the U . S . Navy ' s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron Four ( VX - 4 ) flew this acquired Soviet made aircraft in simulated air combat training . Because U . S . possession of the Soviet MiG - 21 was , itself , secret , it was tested at Groom Lake . A joint air force - navy team was assembled for a series of dogfight tests . Comparisons between the F - 4 and the MiG - 21 indicated that , on the surface , they were evenly matched . But air combat was not just about technology . In the final analysis , it was the skill of the man in the cockpit . The Have Doughnut tests showed this most strongly . When the Navy or Air Force pilots flew the MiG - 21 , the results were a draw ; the F - 4 would win some fights , the MiG - 21 would win others . There were no clear advantages . The problem was not with the planes , but with the pilots flying them . The pilots would not fly either plane to its limits . One of the Navy pilots was Marland W . " Doc " Townsend , then commander of VF - 121 , the F - 4 training squadron at NAS Miramar . He was an engineer and a Korean War veteran and had flown almost every navy aircraft . When he flew against the MiG - 21 , he would outmaneuver it every time . The Air Force pilots would not go vertical in the MiG - 21 . The Have Doughnut project officer was Tom Cassidy , a pilot with VX - 4 , the Navy ' s Air Development Squadron at Point Mugu . He had been watching as Townsend " waxed " the air force MiG - 21 pilots . Cassidy climbed into the MiG - 21 and went up against Townsend ' s F - 4 . This time the result was far different . Cassidy was willing to fight in the vertical , flying the plane to the point where it was buffeting , just above the stall . Cassidy was able to get on the F - 4 ' s tail . After the flight , they realized the MiG - 21 turned better than the F - 4 at lower speeds . The key was for the F - 4 to keep its speed up . What had happened in the sky above Groom Lake was remarkable . An F - 4 had defeated the MiG - 21 ; the weakness of the Soviet plane had been found . Further test flights confirmed what was learned . It was also clear that the MiG - 21 was a formidable enemy . United States pilots would have to fly much better than they had been to beat it . This would require a special school to teach advanced air combat techniques . On 12 August 1968 , two Syrian air force lieutenants , Walid Adham and Radfan Rifai , took off in a pair of MiG - 17 Fs on a training mission . They lost their way and , believing they were over Lebanon , landed at the Beset Landing Field in northern Israel . ( One version has it that they were led astray by an Arabic - speaking Israeli ) . Prior to the end of 1968 these MiG - 17s were transferred from Israeli stocks and added to the Area 51 test fleet . The aircraft were given USAF designations and fake serial numbers so that they could be identified in DOD standard flight logs . As in the earlier program , a small group of Air Force and Navy pilots conducted mock dogfights with the MiG - 17s . Selected instructors from the Navy ' s Top Gun school at NAS Miramar , California , were chosen to fly against the MiGs for familiarization purposes . Very soon , the MiG - 17 ' s shortcomings became clear . It had an extremely simple , even crude , control system which lacked the power - boosted controls of American aircraft . The F - 4 ' s twin engines were so powerful it could accelerate out of range of the MiG - 17 ' s guns in thirty seconds . It was important for the F - 4 to keep its distance from the MiG - 17 . As long as the F - 4 was one and a half miles from the MiG - 17 , it was outside the reach of the Soviet fighter ' s guns , but the MiG was within reach of the F - 4 ' s missiles . The data from the Have Doughnut and Have Drill tests were provided to the newly formed Top Gun school at NAS Miramar . By 1970 , the Have Drill program was expanded ; a few selected fleet F - 4 crews were given the chance to fight the MiGs . The most important result of Project Have Drill is that no Navy pilot who flew in the project defeated the MiG - 17 Fresco in the first engagement . The Have Drill dogfights were by invitation only . The other pilots based at Nellis Air Force Base were not to know about the U . S . - operated MiGs . To prevent any sightings , the airspace above the Groom Lake range was closed . On aeronautical maps , the exercise area was marked in red ink . The forbidden zone became known as " Red Square " . During the remainder of the Vietnam War , the Navy kill ratio climbed to 8 . 33 to 1 . In contrast , the Air Force rate improved only slightly to 2 . 83 to 1 . The reason for this difference was Top Gun . The Navy had revitalized its air combat training , while the Air Force had stayed stagnant . Most of the Navy MiG kills were by Top Gun graduates . In May 1973 , Project " Have Idea " was formed which took over from the older Have Doughnut , Have Ferry and Have Drill projects and the project was transferred to the Tonopah Test Range Airport . At Tonopah testing of foreign technology aircraft continued and expanded throughout the 1970s and 1980s . Area 51 also hosted another foreign materiel evaluation program called HAVE GLIB . This involved testing Soviet tracking and missile control radar systems . A complex of actual and replica Soviet - type threat systems began to grow around " Slater Lake " , a mile northwest of the main base , along with an acquired Soviet " Barlock " search radar placed at Tonopah Air Force Station . They were arranged to simulate a Soviet - style air defense complex . The Air Force began funding improvements to Area 51 in 1977 under project SCORE EVENT . In 1979 , the CIA transferred jurisdiction of the Area 51 site to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB , California . Mr . Sam Mitchell , the last CIA commander of Area 51 , relinquished command to USAF Lt . Col . Larry D . McClain . Have Blue / F - 117 program . The Lockheed Have Blue prototype stealth fighter ( a smaller proof - of - concept model of the F - 117 Nighthawk ) first flew at Groom in December 1977 . In 1978 , the Air Force awarded a full - scale development contract for the F - 117 to Lockheed Corporation ' s Advanced Development Projects . On 17 January 1981 the Lockheed test team at Area 51 accepted delivery of the first full Scale Development ( FSD ) prototype " 79 – 780 " , designated YF - 117A . At 6 : 05 am on 18 June 1981 Lockheed Skunk Works test pilot Hal Farley lifted the nose of YF - 117A " 79 – 780 " ' off the runway of Area 51 . Meanwhile , Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) decided to set up a group - level organization to guide the F - 117A to an initial operating capability . That organization became the 4450th Tactical Group ( Initially designated " A Unit " ) , which officially activated on 15 October 1979 at Nellis AFB , Nevada , although the group was physically located at Area 51 . The 4450th TG also operated the A - 7D Corsair II as a surrogate trainer for the F - 117A , and these operations continued until 15 October 1982 under the guise of an avionics test mission . Flying squadrons of the 4450th TG were the 4450th Tactical Squadron ( Initially designated " I Unit " ) activated on 11 June 1981 , and 4451st Tactical Squadron ( Initially designated " P Unit " ) on 15 January 1983 . The 4450th TS , stationed at Area 51 , was the first F - 117A squadron , while the 4451st TS was stationed at Nellis AFB and was equipped with A - 7D Corsair II s painted in a dark motif , tail coded " LV " . Lockheed test pilots put the YF - 117 through its early paces . A - 7Ds was used for pilot training before any F - 117A ' s had been delivered by Lockheed to Area 51 , later the A - 7D ' s were used for F - 117A chase testing and other weapon tests at the Nellis Range . 15 October 1982 is important to the program because on that date Major Alton C . Whitley , Jr . became the first USAF 4450th TG pilot to fly the F - 117A . Although ideal for testing , Area 51 was not a suitable location for an operational group , so a new covert base had to be established for F - 117 operations . Tonopah Test Range Airport was selected for operations of the first USAF F - 117 unit , the 4450th Tactical Group ( TG ) . From October 1979 , the Tonopah Airport base was reconstructed and expanded . The 6 , 000 ft runway was lengthened to 10 , 000 ft . Taxiways , a concrete apron , a large maintenance hangar , and a propane storage tank were added . By early 1982 , four more YF - 117A airplanes were operating out of the southern end of the base , known as the " Southend " or " Baja Groom Lake " . After finding a large scorpion in their offices , the testing team ( Designated " R Unit " ) adopted it as their mascot and dubbed themselves the " Baja Scorpions " . Testing of a series of ultra - secret prototypes continued at Area 51 until mid - 1981 , when testing transitioned to the initial production of F - 117 stealth fighters . The F - 117s were moved to and from Area 51 by C - 5 under the cloak of darkness , in order to maintain program security . This meant that the aircraft had to be defueled , disassembled , cradled , and then loaded aboard the C - 5 at night , flown to Lockheed , and unloaded at night before the real work could begin . Of course , this meant that the reverse actions had to occur at the end of the depot work before the aircraft could be reassembled , flight - tested , and redelivered , again under the cover of darkness . In addition to flight - testing , Groom performed radar profiling , F - 117 weapons testing , and was the location for training of the first group of frontline USAF F - 117 pilots . Production FSD airframes from Lockheed were shipped to Area 51 for acceptance testing . As the Baja Scorpions tested the aircraft with functional check flights and L . O . verification , the operational airplanes were then transferred to the 4450th TG . On 17 May 1982 , the move of the 4450th TG from Groom Lake to Tonopah was initiated , with the final components of the move completed in early 1983 . Production FSD airframes from Lockheed were shipped to Area 51 for acceptance testing . As the Baja Scorpions tested the aircraft with functional check flights and L . O . verification , the operational airplanes were then transferred to the 4450th TG at Tonopah . The R - Unit was inactivated on 30 May 1989 . Upon inactivation , the unit was reformed as Detachment 1 , 57th Fighter Weapons Wing ( FWW ) . In 1990 the last F - 117A ( " 843 " ) was delivered from Lockheed . After completion of acceptance flights at Area 51 of this last new F - 117A aircraft , the flight test squadron continued flight test duties of refurbished aircraft after modifications by Lockheed . In February / March 1992 the test unit moved from Area 51 to the USAF Palmdale Plant 42 and was integrated with the Air Force Systems Command 6510th Test Squadron . Some testing , especially RCS verification and other classified activity was still conducted at Area 51 throughout the operational lifetime of the F - 117 . The recently inactivated ( 2008 ) 410th Flight Test Squadron traces its roots , if not its formal lineage to the 4450th TG R - unit . Later operations . Since the F - 117 became operational in 1983 , operations at Groom Lake have continued . The base and its associated runway system were expanded , including expansion of housing and support facilities . In 1995 , the federal government expanded the exclusionary area around the base to include nearby mountains that had hitherto afforded the only decent overlook of the base , prohibiting access to of land formerly administered by the Bureau of Land Management . U . S . government ' s positions on Area 51 . The amount of information the United States government has been willing to provide regarding Area 51 has generally been minimal . The USGS topographic map for the area only shows the long - disused Groom Mine . A civil aviation chart published by the Nevada Department of Transportation shows a large restricted area , defined as part of the Nellis restricted airspace . The National Atlas page showing federal lands in Nevada shows the area as lying within the Nellis Air Force Base . Higher resolution ( and more recent ) images from other satellite imagery providers ( including Russian providers and the IKONOS ) are commercially available . These show the runway markings , base facilities , aircraft , and vehicles . Although federal property within the base is exempt from state and local taxes , facilities owned by private contractors are not . When documents that mention the Nevada Test Site ( NTS ) and operations at Groom are declassified , mentions of Area 51 and Groom Lake are routinely redacted . One exception is a 1967 memo from CIA director Richard Helms regarding the deployment of three OXCART aircraft from Groom to Kadena Air Base to perform reconnaissance over North Vietnam . Although most mentions of OXCART ' s home base are redacted in this document , as is a map showing the aircraft ' s route from there to Okinawa , the redactor appears to have missed one mention : page 15 ( page 17 in the PDF ) , section No . 2 ends " Three OXCART aircraft and the necessary task force personnel will be deployed from Area 51 to Kadena . " In July 2013 , CIA released an official history of the U - 2 and OXCART projects that officially acknowledged the existence of Area 51 . The release was in response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted in 2005 by Jeffrey T . Richelson of George Washington University ' s National Security Archives , and contain numerous references to Area 51 and Groom Lake , along with a map of the area . . Security and operations . The area surrounding the lake is permanently off - limits both to civilian and normal military air traffic . Security clearances are checked regularly ; cameras and weaponry are not allowed . Even military pilots training in the NAFR risk disciplinary action if they stray into the exclusionary " box " surrounding Groom ' s airspace . Surveillance is supplemented using buried motion sensors . Area 51 is a common destination for Janet , the de facto name of a small fleet of passenger aircraft operated on behalf of the United States Air Force to transport military personnel , primarily from McCarran International Airport . Civil Aviation identification . In December 2007 , airline pilots noticed that the base had appeared in their aircraft navigation systems ' latest Jeppesen database revision with the ICAO airport identifier code of KXTA and listed as " Homey Airport " . The probably inadvertent release of the airport data led to advice by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association ( AOPA ) that student pilots should be explicitly warned about KXTA , not to consider it as a waypoint or destination for any flight even though it now appears in public navigation databases . Environmental lawsuit . In 1994 , five unnamed civilian contractors and the widows of contractors Walter Kasza and Robert Frost sued the USAF and the United States Environmental Protection Agency . Their suit , in which they were represented by George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley , alleged they had been present when large quantities of unknown chemicals had been burned in open pits and trenches at Groom . Biopsies taken from the complainants were analyzed by Rutgers University biochemists , who found high levels of dioxin , dibenzofuran , and trichloroethylene in their body fat . The complainants alleged they had sustained skin , liver , and respiratory injuries due to their work at Groom , and that this had contributed to the deaths of Frost and Kasza . The suit sought compensation for the injuries they had sustained , claiming the USAF had illegally handled toxic materials , and that the EPA had failed in its duty to enforce the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ( which governs handling of dangerous materials . ) They also sought detailed information about the chemicals to which they were allegedly exposed , hoping this would facilitate the medical treatment of survivors . Congressman Lee H . Hamilton , former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee , told " 60 Minutes " reporter Leslie Stahl , " The Air Force is classifying all information about Area 51 in order to protect themselves from a lawsuit . " Citing the State Secrets Privilege , the government petitioned trial judge U . S . District Judge Philip Pro ( of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in Las Vegas ) to disallow disclosure of classified documents or examination of secret witnesses , alleging this would expose classified information and threaten national security . When Judge Pro rejected the government ' s argument , President Bill Clinton issued a Presidential Determination , exempting what it called , " The Air Force ' s Operating Location Near Groom Lake , Nevada " from environmental disclosure laws . Consequently , Pro dismissed the suit due to lack of evidence . Turley appealed to the U . S . Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit , on the grounds that the government was abusing its power to classify material . Secretary of the Air Force Sheila E . Widnall filed a brief that stated that disclosures of the materials present in the air and water near Groom " can reveal military operational capabilities or the nature and scope of classified operations . " The Ninth Circuit rejected Turley ' s appeal , and the U . S . Supreme Court refused to hear it , putting an end to the complainants ' case . The President continues to annually issue a determination continuing the Groom exception . This , and similarly tacit wording used in other government communications , is the only formal recognition the U . S . Government has ever given that Groom Lake is more than simply another part of the Nellis complex . An unclassified memo on the safe handling of F - 117 Nighthawk material was posted on an Air Force web site in 2005 . This discussed the same materials for which the complainants had requested information ( information the government had claimed was classified ) . The memo was removed shortly after journalists became aware of it . 1974 Skylab photography . In January 2006 , space historian Dwayne A . Day published an article in online aerospace magazine " The Space Review " titled " Astronauts and Area 51 : the Skylab Incident " . The article was based on a memo written in 1974 to CIA director William Colby by an unknown CIA official . The memo reported that astronauts on board Skylab 4 had , as part of a larger program , inadvertently photographed a location of which the memo said : Although the name of the location was obscured , the context led Day to believe that the subject was Groom Lake . As Day noted : The memo details debate between federal agencies regarding whether the images should be classified , with Department of Defense agencies arguing that it should , and NASA and the State Department arguing against classification . The memo itself questions the legality of unclassified images to be retroactively classified . Remarks on the memo , handwritten apparently by DCI ( Director of Central Intelligence ) Colby himself , read : The declassified documents do not disclose the outcome of discussions regarding the Skylab imagery . The behind - the - scenes debate proved moot as the photograph appeared in the Federal Government ' s Archive of Satellite Imagery along with the remaining Skylab 4 photographs , with no record of anyone noticing until Day identified it in 2007 . UFO and other conspiracy theories . Its secretive nature and undoubted connection to classified aircraft research , together with reports of unusual phenomena , have led Area 51 to become a focus of modern UFO and . Some of the activities mentioned in such theories at Area 51 include : Many of the hypotheses concern underground facilities at Groom or at Papoose Lake ( also known as " S - 4 location " ) , south , and include claims of a transcontinental underground railroad system , a disappearing airstrip ( nicknamed the " Cheshire Airstrip " , after Lewis Carroll ' s Cheshire cat ) which briefly appears when water is sprayed onto its camouflaged asphalt , and engineering based on alien technology . Publicly available satellite imagery , however , reveals clearly visible landing strips at Groom Dry Lake , but not at Papoose Lake . In the mid - 1950s , civilian aircraft flew under 20 , 000 feet while military aircraft flew under 40 , 000 feet . Once the U - 2 began flying at above 60 , 000 feet , an unexpected side effect was an increasing number of UFO sighting reports . Sightings occurred most often during early evenings hours , when airline pilots flying west saw the U - 2 ' s silver wings reflect the setting sun , giving the aircraft a " fiery " appearance . Many sighting reports came to the Air Force ' s Project Blue Book , which investigated UFO sightings , through air - traffic controllers and letters to the government . The project checked U - 2 and later OXCART flight records to eliminate the majority of UFO reports it received during the late 1950s and 1960s , although it could not reveal to the letter writers the truth behind what they saw . Similarly , veterans of experimental projects such as OXCART and NERVA at Area 51 agree that their work ( including 2 , 850 OXCART test flights alone ) inadvertently prompted many of the UFO sightings and other rumors : They believe that the rumors helped maintain secrecy over Area 51 ' s actual operations . While the veterans deny the existence of a vast underground railroad system , many of Area 51 ' s operations did ( and presumably still do ) occur underground . In popular culture . Novels , films , television programs , and other fictional portrayals of Area 51 describe it — or a fictional counterpart — as a haven for extraterrestrials , time travel , and , often linking it with the Roswell UFO incident . In the 1996 action film " Independence Day " , the United States military uses alien technology captured at Roswell to attack the invading alien fleet from Area 51 . The " Hangar 51 " government warehouse of the " Indiana Jones " films stores , among other exotic items , the Ark of the Covenant and an alien corpse from Roswell . The television series " Seven Days " takes place inside Area 51 , with the base containing a covert NSA time travel operation using alien technology recovered from Roswell . The 2005 video game " Area 51 " is set in the base , and mentions the Roswell and moon landing hoax conspiracy theories . The Las Vegas 51s are a AAA minor league professional baseball team .