Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base
by Annie Jacobsen
Rating: 5.0 / 5 · Read · Finished 2025-01-10
There is actually quite a bit known about Area 51, and it’s not about aliens. It’s where the CIA developed secret high-tech spy planes. These planes were so highly classified, almost nobody in the air force knew about them. So when they were sighted by civilians or the air force, they were called UFOs. The air force even opened investigations into these sightings. But the very few people who knew what they were had to keep them secret, because they were being used for spy missions that could trigger nuclear war if revealed.
This is my second Annie Jacobson book I’ve read. The first was Nuclear War. I loved both of them. Super detailed, super well researched (including lots of primary research interviews), yet gripping and exciting at the same time.
The majority of the book is a detailed history of Area 51, including all the spy planes invented there, as well as nuclear testing, etc. But the very beginning and very end talk about the Roswell incident, where an aircraft crash landed in Roswell, and was covered up. Based on what information is available, it sounds like it was probably a Soviet spy plane, and it was covered up to avoid the embarrassment of US airspace being breached. But there are also stories of small bodies found in the wreckage. This aspect has the least information available, but could have been children forced into the plane. This is probably where stories of aliens came from.