Area 51, Classified USAF facility in the Nevada Test and Training Range, southern Nevada, United States
Area 51 is a USAF detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, officially Homey Airport or Groom Lake, on a salt flat 83 miles north-northwest of Las Vegas. Its airfield has seven runways, one about 7,100 metres long, plus a heliport; the original base measured 6 by 10 miles. A yellow metal gate with four red STOP signs blocks the dirt approach road.
The CIA set up the Groom Lake test facility in April 1955 for Project AQUATONE, the Lockheed U-2 programme, after Kelly Johnson's team landed on the dry lake bed. Lead and silver had been mined in the Groom Range from 1864, and an airfield opened there in 1942 as Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field. The CIA publicly acknowledged the base on 25 June 2013.
The name "Area 51" probably comes from an Atomic Energy Commission numbering grid, though the site lies next to Area 15 rather than within it. Workers were told they were going to "Paradise Ranch", shortened to "the Ranch", and pilots know the restricted airspace as R-4808N, "The Box".
The facility is completely closed to the public with no authorized tours or visits, and trespassing is strictly prohibited with warning signs indicating deadly force may be used against intruders, while the nearest accessible town is Rachel, Nevada, located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away.
Area 51 gained unexpected attention in 2019 when a viral Facebook event called 'Storm Area 51' attracted millions of responses worldwide, prompting the Air Force to issue warnings and leading to a small gathering of curious visitors near the restricted perimeter.
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