Global InformationArea 51 information
| Homey Airport | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Near Rachel, Lincoln County, Nevada in United States | |||||||||||||||||
 A satellite image taken in 2022 captured by Sentinel-2 of ESA showing the base with Groom Lake just to the north-northeast | |||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||
  Homey Airport Location in the United States | |||||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 37°14′0″N 115°48′30″W / 37.23333°N 115.80833°W | ||||||||||||||||
| Type | Development and testing facility | ||||||||||||||||
| Site information | |||||||||||||||||
| Owner | Department of Defense | ||||||||||||||||
| Operator | United States Air Force | ||||||||||||||||
| Controlled by | Air Force Materiel Command | ||||||||||||||||
| Condition | Operational | ||||||||||||||||
| Site history | |||||||||||||||||
| Built | 1955 (as Paradise Ranch) | ||||||||||||||||
| In use | 1955–present | ||||||||||||||||
| Events | Storm Area 51 (2019) | ||||||||||||||||
| Garrison information | |||||||||||||||||
| Garrison | Air Force Test Center (Detachment 3) | ||||||||||||||||
| Airfield information | |||||||||||||||||
| Identifiers | ICAO: KXTA, FAA LID: XTA | ||||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 4,494 feet (1,370 m) AMSL | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Sources: Jeppesen[2] | |||||||||||||||||
Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport (ICAO: KXTA, FAA LID: XTA)[2] or Groom Lake (after the salt flat next to its airfield). Details of its operations are not made public, but the USAF says that it is an open training range,[3] and it is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems.[4][3] The USAF and CIA acquired the site in 1955, primarily for flight testing the Lockheed U-2 aircraft.[5]
The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component of unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore.[6][7] It has never been declared a secret base, but all research and occurrences in Area 51 are Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI).[8] The CIA publicly acknowledged the base's existence on 25 June 2013, following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed in 2005 and declassified documents detailing its history and purpose.[9]
Area 51 is located in the southern portion of Nevada, 83 miles (134 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. The surrounding area is a popular tourist destination, including the small town of Rachel on the "Extraterrestrial Highway".
- ^ Cherif, Mohamed (30 May 2015). UFOs: Aliens or Extraterrestrials. TheBookEdition. p. 345. ISBN 9789938052633.
- ^ a b c "KXTA" (PDF). Jeppesen. 8 January 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
- ^ a b Brice-Saddler, Michael (12 July 2019). "Half a million people signed up to storm Area 51. What happens if they actually show?". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
- ^ Rich & Janos 1994, p. 57.
- ^ "Area 51 'declassified' in U-2 spy plane history". BBC News. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- ^ Jacobsen 2012, pp. 11–15, 320–321.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
lacitis20100327was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Jacobsen 2012, pp. 65–66, 77–80.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
cia1992was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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