The CIA admits Area 51 exists
For decades the government would not say the name. Then a Freedom of Information request by George Washington University's National Security Archive got the CIA's internal history of the U-2 and OXCART spy planes released almost in full. It names Area 51, maps it, and tells how the CIA picked the dry Groom Lake bed in 1955. It also says the high-flying U-2 explained many 1950s UFO reports, and that the Air Force kept quiet about that to protect the program. war.gov has now re-released the same history in its UFO files.
Evidence, in date order (1)
- 15 Aug 2013CIA (via National Security Archive FOIA; re-released on war.gov)documentofficial U-2 and OXCART history names and maps Area 51 and admits U-2 flights explained many UFO reports war.gov: CIA history of the U-2 and OXCART at Area 51, 1954–74
How plausible · High
The CIA's own history confirms Area 51 and that its spy planes drove UFO reports; S-4 rests on Lazar.
- ●●Access CIA history.
- ●●No gain sought Released under FOIA.
- ●●Character record CIA.
- ●●Checkable details check out Released document.
- ●●Fits the documented skeleton Documented.
- ●●Fits secrecy practice Decades of denial.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
On the record
- The CIA history 'The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954–1974', released 2013 and re-released on war.gov.
- The admission that secret U-2 flights were behind many UFO sightings, and that Blue Book did not say so.
Claims
Where
war.gov files on this case (1)
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Sources
- National Security Archive: Area 51 declassified
- Wikipedia: Area 51
- war.gov: CIA history of the U-2 and OXCART at Area 51, 1954–74