11 Out-Of-This-World Secrets You Never Knew About Area 51

According to the CIA, the correct names for the facility are Homey Airport and Groom Lake, though the organization did refer to it as Area 51 in at least one document during the Vietnam War.

The facility has also been known as Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, Home Base, and Watertown. The airspace around it known as Restricted Area 4808 North.

After a request was filed through the Freedom of Information Act in 2005, the agency finally acknowledged the base after eight years of red tape was cleared, with certain declassified documents detailing its history and purpose.

Though it hasn't been designated as a secret base, the current primary mission is unknown and all their research and information is declared Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.

However, based on what we know from recently declassified files, they are likely developing experimental aircraft and weapons systems.

In 1974, astronauts on Skylab 4 were capturing photos of Earth as part of a larger project and included a snapshot of the Groom Lake area. A memo soon circulated, stating: "There were specific instructions not to do this. [Redacted] was the only location which had such an instruction."

Obviously, the redacted information could point to any area, but based on the context which debated the ability to retroactively deem information as classified, space historian Dwayne A. Day concluded, "In other words, the CIA considered no other spot on Earth to be as sensitive as Groom Lake."

After decades of silence, former Area 51 security guard James Noce revealed that he and his fellow staff members were always paid in cash and told to sign their receipt with a phony name for what the CIA refers to as a “black project.”

Noce also remembered the amazing meals that were regularly provided for those living on base, including flying in lobster from Maine while testing a jet's engine on a cross-country flight.

In its early days, the remote location meant no television or radio signals could reach the base, so they installed a bowling alley and tennis court to provide the staff with recreational fun.

Well, sort of: In 1952, after an increase in "UFO sightings," the agency came to the conclusion that, "there is a remote possibility that they may be interplanetary aircraft," and promised to investigate each sighting.

But that means 10 percent of the so-called "incredible reports from credible observers" are unable to be explained and therefore totally plausible for conspiracy theorists.

A project that began in 1959, the futuristic-looking plane is made of 90 percent titanium, requires special fuel that can maintain at extremely high temperatures without igniting, and flies at an impressive 2,200 mph.

Despite their spacey appearance and record-breaking speeds, the aircraft were largely used to clean up debris on runways prior to test flights.

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