Published Jun 23, 2026, 2:31 PM EDT
7 Things Americans Should Know About Area 51, the Secretive Air Force Site
The government did hide advanced aircraft, and some of those aircraft explained UFO reports that have become part of the public consciousness.
Area 51 is back in the public consciousness following a swarm of earthquakes near the classified Nevada military site, stirring more speculation about secret testing, UFOs, and whatever else civilians imagine happens behind the facility's gates. Reports citing U.S. Geological Survey data identified more than a dozen quakes were recorded near the base in late April, with the strongest measured at magnitude 4.4. There is no public evidence tying the earthquakes to weapons testing, alien technology or any other covert program. But Area 51 does not need much help getting people to look toward the desert. The renewed attention comes as the Pentagon has started releasing new files tied to unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs, giving the public fresh material to sift through. The timing has put Area 51, long linked to UFO folklore, back into the national imagination. What some may describe as peculiar is that the confirmed history of Area 51 already explains why people keep staring at it. The base’s real story is about Cold War spy planes, experimental aircraft, nuclear-age secrecy, and decades of aviation work the public was never meant to see. Below are seven things Americans should know about the highly secretive government facility.
