Submitted by NdavG100 t3_10q9l31 in explainlikeimfive
Comments
[deleted] t1_j6onyk2 wrote
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The_Dotted_Leg t1_j6oognu wrote
If you had a room in your home that you were never allowed to see inside but you know millions of dollars a year are being spent in that room and rumors say they might have aliens in that room wouldn’t you be pretty obsessed with seeing inside?
bear4bunny t1_j6ooinh wrote
Yeah basically just this. I couldn't care less what's in there but because it's super secret, I need to know.
GenXCub t1_j6ooqv3 wrote
This is why the Internet Historian video on Area 51 is so great.
It's half informative, half meme-tastic. https://youtu.be/IZ7F6ELO-hQ
The best headcanon is that the Wii Sports theme is playing when you're running through the secret building there.
NdavG100 OP t1_j6op31l wrote
Yes but its soooo unpatriotic to try to publicise every secret government test. I live in a country sorounded by hostile foreign militaries and you dont see them flying around government buildings snooping around so let alone citizens of the country! Absolutely insane!!!
NdavG100 OP t1_j6opnqq wrote
Would i want to know whats going on in secret government facilities? Yes. Would i go with drones and shit and spread conspiracy thories? Never
Lithuim t1_j6ops8y wrote
Americans have a long standing distrust of authority and government, including their own.
lowkey442200 t1_j6opuwc wrote
Bro …. Aliens ….
Firefly_officer t1_j6opym1 wrote
A Congressional appropriations bill in the late 1980s had it listed as receiving a suspicious amount of poorly defined ( dark) money. Thats is about it. Everyone who reads Janes knew it was Nellis AFB Groom lake test area S4 for the USAF, which in itself is plenty super exciting, again, if you the type to read Janes. Wright Pat has the Alien bodies and Redstone arsenal has the space ships either way.
quequotion t1_j6oq1qy wrote
It used to be a secret, and apparently various military R&D happened there--particularly of aircraft, which were also secret.
The surrounding area became a hotbed of UFO sightings, some of which were sightings of actual aircraft.
This fueled conspiracy theories, such as that the wreckage and survivors or bodies from the Roswell incident had been taken there for study or storage.
These conspiracy theories experienced a resurgence in the 90s due to the X-Files, but I am not sure what revived the momentum that led to the pathetic 2010s "raid".
BossDonkeyZ t1_j6oq3ka wrote
Why not? There is lots of money in the second part
[deleted] t1_j6oqins wrote
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partynextdoor t1_j6oqkh7 wrote
Lol so what really was your question
Arbitrary_Capricious t1_j6or2sg wrote
Because the government is so determined to keep it secret. Not just legitimately secret tests, but things like refusing to confirm the base exists (when it's easily visible from a number of publicly accessible vantage points). When the government acts like that, people are driven by a combination of curiosity, paranoia, and well, basically trolling, to find out what's there. Honestly, if they'd just said what everyone knew--we test secret planes out there, please stay away or we will take action--they'd probably have less of a problem. But when the response to "What are you doing at that base?" Is "What base?" when it is obvious that there is. In fact, a base then you're pretty much inviting conspiracy theories.
maveric_gamer t1_j6orn8j wrote
Our country was literally founded by telling the extant government to go fuck themselves, being distrustful of the government is as patriotic to an American as you can get.
picknicksje85 t1_j6ortj8 wrote
It's been a secret area for decades. And I'm sure you know about the rumors of an alien crash, or alien vehicles being housed there or tested. Not saying that is true. But you know the answer to your question :P Why do you ask a question with such an obvious answer?
tangential_quip t1_j6orzwq wrote
Also add that, while you know the room is there and you can see the door to the room, the people keeping you out deny for half a century or more that the room even exists.
GStarG t1_j6os8c8 wrote
If you took a look at the numerous government projects in the US that were officially revealed from the freedom of information act where they secretly experimented on civilians in all sorts of inhuman and permanently damaging ways (some ending with many deaths) you'd probably change your stance on that...
justlookingforajob1 t1_j6osij3 wrote
Don't forget Independence Day
The-Wylds t1_j6osqw1 wrote
You’re right you don’t. Or maybe you do. Spies are spies because they don’t get noticed.
ItsOnlyaFewBucks t1_j6osuju wrote
It could be ANYTHING. And that covers a lot of stuff :) Plus you can't have it. So a double whammy.
DavidMerrick89 t1_j6otqtz wrote
The first place I heard of Area 51!
Imthewienerdog t1_j6ouzmx wrote
I thought it was kind of common knowledge that this site is more of a red herring. Yes they do some testing there and have a bunch of lab Bois working there but nothing super secret is actually there because it's where everyone thinks secret stuff is?
Perfect-Brain-7367 t1_j6ov0er wrote
"Why doesn't everyone feel exactly the same way about things as me?"
syds t1_j6ovcmm wrote
secrets dont care about country lines
MOOzikmktr t1_j6owo11 wrote
The first "thing" that came out of Area 51 as a tangible, functional object that captured real public interest was the SR-71 Blackbird. It had been kept under wraps for a while and was already well into it's conceptual design & flight testing phase when the public was informed of its existence (I think by accident, perhaps).
This thing still holds the flight speed record of Mach 3.4 (2609 mph) set in 1976, with an unverified claim of Mach 3.5 in 1986.
So if that's the FIRST thing that was uncovered from whatever they were working on in the early 60s at Area 51, imagine what weird ass shit is going on there in the five decades since...they hadn't even invented silicon transistors yet.
Biom4st3r t1_j6owq50 wrote
If we're going to use patriotism as a metric: It's also unpatriotic to let those in charge of you go unchecked and potentially tarnish the reputation of the US. We have the right and duty to poke, prod, and ask why they do things and what they are doing.
Kuraio-Kadaver t1_j6owwkr wrote
The obsession around Area 51 comes from the so called testimony of a one Bob Lazar, who claimed in interview that he worked on reverse-engineered alien technology at the site.
Lazar's claims were made into a film, ''Bob Lazar : Area 51 and Flying Saucers.''
In 2014 Boyd Bushman claimed he'd reverse engineered flying saucer tech for Lockheed Martin at Area 51, and so here we are.
[deleted] t1_j6ox1bb wrote
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[deleted] t1_j6oxh3g wrote
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jrhawk42 t1_j6oxyzx wrote
Unless it's something they can't/won't move.
The fun of area 51 is that you can literally let your imagination run wild because so little is known about it, and nothing can be denied.
anitabonghit705 t1_j6oy9nk wrote
Colonel sanders secret recipe is down there.
Supraman83 t1_j6p2vjb wrote
Pretty sure the site was used to test skunkworks projects during the cold war
PedroEglasias t1_j6p4ffj wrote
Being 100% positive all the theories are false is the same as being 100% positive they're all true. Without evidence you can't be certain of anything.
[deleted] t1_j6p4y1c wrote
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[deleted] t1_j6p5401 wrote
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[deleted] t1_j6p59ov wrote
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torsun_bryan t1_j6p5x02 wrote
Anybody who’s interested in the history of Area 51 should read Skunk Works by former (and sadly deceased) Lockheed exec and Skunk Works head Ben Rich.
Area 51 is never referred to as ‘Area 51’ in the book — just as ‘Paradise Ranch,’ ‘The Ranch,’ ‘Groom Lake’ or just ‘the secret base’
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pabodie t1_j6p8vy8 wrote
The fact is there's a real scandal, but it's not UFO-related. It's burn pit related.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/other-burn-pits/
No aliens, but people did die of cancer so we could get spy photos of China and Russia.
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Budders66 t1_j6onwmo wrote
For the longest time there's been secret military tests there and people are nosy to see what's going on there.