An Expert Tells The Secret History of Area 51

You may have heard (and probably have seen) the viral memes about storming Nevada’s famed Area 51, which aim to discover the secrets that lurk inside the facility. 

The US Air Force has already warned the general public that it will defend the area at all costs, and has discouraged people from storming the place.

For decades, the American imagination has run wild conjuring up all sorts of conspiracy theories about what is really going on at the site.

Is it a place where the US government is hiding UFOs and aliens? Or is it just a boring military base? And if it’s just a boring military base, why is the US government so obsessed with keeping everything about it a secret?

To get some answers to the questions about Area 51, without risking himself from getting shot at by the US military, Alex Ward of Vox called up Annie Jacobsen, author of the book Area 51: An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base.

To write the book, Jacobsen interviewed over 70 people who had first-hand knowledge of the secret facility, including 32 who lived and worked at Area 51. The result is basically the most comprehensive account of the history of Area 51 you can get without a super-high-level security clearance.

If anyone had answers for me, it was her. And boy did she. But she also left me with new mysteries I hadn’t even known to ask about.

Check out the interview over at the site.

(Image Credit: MartinStr/ Pixabay)