Area 51

This article is about the U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada. For other uses, see Area 51 (disambiguation).
"Groom Lake" redirects here. For other uses, see Groom Lake (disambiguation).

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
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 is located in the United States
Homey Airport
Homey Airport
Location in the United States
Coordinates37°14′0″N 115°48′30″W / 37.23333°N 115.80833°W / 37.23333; -115.80833
TypeDevelopment and testing facility
Site information
OwnerDepartment of Defense
OperatorUnited States Air Force
Controlled byAir Force Materiel Command
ConditionOperational
Site history
Built1955 (1955) (as Paradise Ranch)
In use1955–present
EventsStorm Area 51 (2019)
Garrison information
GarrisonAir Force Test Center (Detachment 3)
Airfield information
IdentifiersICAO: KXTA, FAA LID: XTA
Elevation4,494 feet (1,370 m) AMSL
Runways
Direction Length and surface
14L/32R[1] 3,657 metres (11,998 ft) asphalt
12/30[a] 1,652 metres (5,420 ft) paved
09L/27R 3,470 metres (11,385 ft) dry lake
09R/27L 3,470 metres (11,385 ft) dry lake
03L/21R 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) dry lake
03R/21L 3,048 metres (10,000 ft) dry lake
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".

  1. ^ Cherif, Mohamed (30 May 2015). UFOs: Aliens or Extraterrestrials. TheBookEdition. p. 345. ISBN 9789938052633.
  2. ^ a b c "KXTA" (PDF). Jeppesen. 8 January 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 July 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Rich & Janos 1994, p. 57.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ Jacobsen 2012, pp. 11–15, 320–321.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference lacitis20100327 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Jacobsen 2012, pp. 65–66, 77–80.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference cia1992 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).