Area 51 and Bob Lazar by Mihaela Nicoara

What is the connection between a military base and conspiracy theories about aliens? There is one in the United States (U.S) called Area 51, and it became subject for many conspiracy theories because there are strange and suspicious things happening. According to an article about Area 51 this territory “Is located at Groom Lake, in Southern Nevada, eighty-three miles from Las Vegas. Built in 1955, it was initially built to serve as a test facility for the Lockheed U-2 Spy Plane. Area 51 was not officially acknowledged by the CIA as a military base until June 2013” (“Area 51”,1). So, the simple fact that this area was kept secret for so long it gives a good reason to ask questions and look for answers. There are many conspiracy theories about UFO (unidentified flying object) and extraterrestrials, but a few of them are having a remarkable close connection with Area 51. We will discuss two of them. The first one is stating that government captured an alien spacecraft and its occupants, and they had experiments and studies on them. The second one is about humans, which are collaborating with aliens there for a reverse engineering for UFO’s and other aircrafts.

If you ever heard about Area 51, it is because of Bob Lazar, the man who showed courage when he first spoke about something that was carefully kept secret for many years. He broke the silence in 1989 about Area 51, when he gave an interview to a journalist, George Knapp, and told him his incredible story about his job: “Then, in 1989, conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar went on Las Vegas local news and said that he'd seen aliens and had helped to reverse-engineer alien spacecrafts while working at the base” (Blitz, 1). The interview generated public interest in the base right away, and it made people to be more interested and curious about what is going on there. Thus, who is Bob Lazar? Did he really work at Area 51? Can we believe his words, or do we need to look deeper for proofs?

Bob Lazar is an intelligent man who worked for a period in the S4 section (part of Area 51) as a formal scientist who was operating on reverse engineering; “The scientist, Robert Scott Lazar, said he had worked in the S-4 section of Area 51 a corner of the Nevada Test Site” (“Bob Lazar UFO Hoaxster”). In the same interview, he said, “Look, I’m not out there giving UFO lectures or producing tapes. I’m not in the UFO business,” and “I’m trying to run a scientific business, and if I’m The UFO Guy it makes it really difficult for me” (Knapp,1). But, on the other hand, both of his master’s degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and from the California Institute of Technology are missing, or at least there are no records of them at all. There are two hypotheses in this case: either he is lying to all of us, and he invented all this stories just to become popular and to feel like a “superhero”, or he is telling the truth, and somebody made sure his information was cleared from any source because he became a danger for governments secrets.

Lazar became the most incredible source of information about Area 51 and aliens, but at the same time, he presents himself to us as a cowardly individual. He decided at his first appearances in interviews to use a different name than his own, “He spoke under the pseudonym ‘Dennis’ which turned out to be the name of his superior at the base. A few weeks later he went on camera using his real name- Bob Lazar” (Lazar,1). This quote is the evidence that claims him to be a cowardly person indeed. At the same time this makes him a mysterious person, too. Why would he do that if he knew that he is saying the truth and he has nothing to be afraid of? Also, he affirms “He was then given documents with explanations of the extraterrestrial origin of the craft and drawings of alien pilots. He claimed to make a total of ten trips to the site during which he learned about the existence of stable ‘element 115’, the source of gravity for the propulsion system, and saw a glimpse of a small, gray alien with a large head standing between two men dressed in white coats” (“Area 51”, 1). However, this quote is the only proof of his claims, and these are only his own words, no witnesses, no facts, so it is everyone’s own choice to believe them or not.

After all being said, can we call Lazar a trustworthy man or not? Some people believe him, but some don’t, and they have their reasons for that. A man who lied about his studies, a man who got comfortable enough at his job to bring his friends over in the sections that were strictly prohibited to show them the UFO’s, can’t be called a trustworthy person.

Conspiracy theories about Area 51 have their beginnings over seventy years ago are still being discussed today. It is well known that Area 51 is an Air Force facility with testing purposes for innovations in aircrafts but, at the same time, not everyone seems to believe in that, especially after Bob Lazar’s declarations about being involved in reverse engineering and seeing aliens at the base. That is why the conspiracy theories appear; when things are hidden, unclear, people make their own assumptions. The two most popular theories about Area 51 are that (1) the government captured an alien space craft and its occupants and they do experiments and studies on them, and (2) the other one is people that are collaborating with aliens there for a reverse engineering for UFO’s and other aircrafts.

The first theory about Area 51, which attests that government captured an alien space craft with aliens inside and do experiments on them, is the most discussed with a real possibility of being true. Here is an opinion that claims the fact that the start points when people began to have suspicions and hypotheses about the base was back in 1954 with the first tests performed there.

“The extraordinary belief that the government is hiding aliens from Americans began in 1954 with the establishment of area 51 as a secret training and testing site for the U-2 project to advance USSR missions. (…) Shortly after these tests began, people began to claim they saw UFOs. Specifically, pilots of commercial airlines spotted these flying objects in the Nevada air region and reported them.” (Blitz)

At the same time, it is realistic to understand that all actions and projects directed by the CIA and Government must be kept secret to protect the country’s security from its enemies. However, many people believe one perspective over the other, and there is an example in next statement “In one sense it is a conspiracy, because it's a secret area, says David Ludden, professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnett College. ‘The government actually is doing something it doesn't want us to know about’ (Kluger). Also, there are no proofs to that and to hide the truth from people for so many years is quite impossible, especially now when everyone is a click away from finding all kinds of sources of information and answers.

The second theory consists of people, some of the employees at the base, being involved and collaborating with aliens for a reverse engineering on alien spacecrafts. The only proof to that is Bob Lazar’s words that the “EG&G hired him to help reverse engineer the technology in the alien craft for use in U.S. military vehicles and power production. He had discovered a rusty, heavy substance he called ‘Element 115’ that powered the alien spacecraft” (Strickland and Kiger). Knowing Bob Lazar’s character trait, we may or may not believe his words since he is not a trustworthy person because of him hiding from everyone his real name at the beginning. On the other hand, there are the people who were working there as engineers and were building those aircrafts. These speculations were making them mad because they knew the truth from inside; “Some are even mad because they worked on these things and built these amazing planes,” Merlin says. “This is Earth technology. You got folks claiming it is extraterrestrial when it is really good old American know-how” (Blitz). This quote explains the reasons they got offended, because this was engineers work, the aircrafts they were working on, but, it got interpreted as UFO’s.

Area 51 is still a big unsolved mystery even though both theories reported above have been proven false by the government. Also, the fact that there was no other direct evidence to prove the theories, only the strange lights in the dark; “ For example, if it was dark and they saw strange flashing lights in the sky, their cues to depth and distance would have been reduced which may have led to seeing ambiguous shapes of ambiguous sizes in the sky” , or flying UFO’s it was just an experimental aircrafts testing (Walters). However, some facts and details are still classified and kept secret which always will arouse suspicions among people.

In conclusion both theories described above, the one that is saying that the government captured an alien spacecraft and its occupants and did experiments and studies on them and the second one that believes in humans being involved and collaborating with aliens on reverse engineering for UFO’s and other aircrafts, have no evidence that proves the theories to be true or real. Even so, fact or fiction, aliens and UFO’s have always been a subject of major interest among people. Especially when something it is strange or hidden, it is human nature to ask questions and be curious; they must find out what it is. Will we ever find out the true secrets of Area 51? Maybe yes, maybe not; but, one thing remains clear: that place continues to be known as a Military Operating Area with high security and no trespassing will be tolerated.

Work Cited

“Area 51: America's Secret Base.” The Psychology of Extraordinary Beliefs, 16 Apr. 2019, u.osu.edu/vanzandt/2019/04/16/area-51-americas-secret-base/.

“Area 51”. Military.com, http://www.military.com/base-guide/area-51.

Blitz, Matt “The Real Story behind the Myth of Area 51, America's Most Famous Top-Secret Military Base.” Popular Mechanics, 24 June 2022, https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a24152/area-51-history/.

“Bob Lazar, UFO Hoaxster.” HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 22 Mar. 2021, science.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/bob-lazar.htm.

Kluger, Jeffrey. “Why People Believe in Aliens at Area 51.” Time, Time, 29 July 2019, https://time.com/5637612/area-51-psychology/.

Knapp, George “Nevada Public Radio”, knpr.org/npr-tags/george-knapp.

Lazar, Bob “A true story”, http://boblazar.com/.

Strickland, Jonathan, and Patrick J. Kiger. “How Area 51 Works.”

HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks,20 Sept. 2019,

https://science.howstuffworks.com/space/aliens-ufos/area- 517.htm.

Walters, Lauren “Is the Government Lying About Area 51?” The Psychology of Extraordinary Beliefs, 16 Apr. 2019, u.osu.edu/vanzandt/.