Lockheed U-2: The plane that started the Area 51 legend
In the 1950s, the US began test-flying a new spy plane, the Lockheed U-2. A Sky HISTORY series explores how this led to UFO sightings above Area 51.
Image: Angel DiBilio / Shutterstock.com
What happens in Area 51? It’s a question people across the world have been feverishly asking for decades. The highly secretive nature of this government-owned facility less than a hundred miles north of Las Vegas has led to a flurry of conspiracy theories.
Is Area 51 harbouring the remains of an alien spacecraft — and even alien bodies — alleged to have been found after the Roswell crash? Are workers at Area 51 striving to ‘reverse-engineer’ extraterrestrial technology for humanity’s benefit? And how can anyone explain the suspiciously large number of UFO sightings in the area?
Actually, that number is not necessarily as suspicious as you might think. That’s because Area 51’s reputation in popular culture as a hive of alien activity can be traced back to the development of the Lockheed U-2. Sky HISTORY sees why this Cold War-era spy plane is even more legendary than the myriad of Area 51 myths it sparked.
The origins of Area 51
Much of what you hear about Area 51 might remind you of the hit ‘90s sci-fi series The X-Files. One of its stars now hosts Sky HISTORY’s Secrets Declassified With David Duchovny, looking at how recently declassified documents shed new light on postwar mysteries.
You could struggle to think of many such mysteries more enduring than that of Area 51. This United States Air Force (USAF) base in Nevada is closely guarded by security personnel determined to bar ordinary members of the public from entering.
Amazingly, Area 51 used to be even more secretive than this. It was not until 2013 that the US government officially acknowledged Area 51’s existence. By then, however, rumours about Area 51 had already circulated for decades.
Few people are permitted entry to this highly classified location. As for those who are, what do they actually do while there? What could possibly warrant so much secrecy? For clues, you can look at what little the US government has disclosed about Area 51 and its history.
A Cold War in danger of heating up
Much of what we now know about Area 51’s history comes from recently declassified documentation released by the US government in 2013. For example, we know that, in the 1950s, the government designated Area 51 as a testing ground for a new type of spy plane.
This was back in the early years of the postwar period, when new tension was simmering between the United States and the Soviet Union. The White House was anxious to verify whether the Soviets’ military resources posed as big a threat to the West as feared.
Unfortunately, then-Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev refused to officially allow the US to inspect his country’s military installations. So, if the US was to inspect them at all, it would have to do so via espionage.
How the U-2 was developed and tested
The White House wanted a spy plane capable of flying high enough to avoid detection by the Soviets’ radar systems. Such an altitude would also ideally prevent the enemy from being able to intercept or shoot down the aircraft.
The American aerospace manufacturer Lockheed agreed to build a reconnaissance aircraft designed to reach an altitude of 70,000 feet. The U-2 (as this plane came to be officially known) was initially manufactured at Lockheed’s Skunk Works factory in Burbank, California.
However, there remained the question of how to test-fly the U-2 without attracting too much attention from the public. After all, the US didn’t want to let slip that it was testing a new spy plane. What if the Soviets suspected this aircraft was intended to be used on reconnaissance missions in their own airspace?
The seemingly ideal solution was to ship U-2 planes to Area 51, allowing them to be test-flown above the Nevada desert. That way, the planes were much less likely to be seen by people who weren’t supposed to know they even existed.
More and more UFOs are spotted
After test flights of the U-2 began, UFO sightings in the area increased significantly. Members of the public were unsurprisingly dumbfounded when they saw planes flying far higher than believed possible for any commercial aircraft.
The Air Force made a show of investigating these sightings, but publicly attributed them to natural phenomena.
The Lockheed U-2 has stood the test of time so well that this type of plane is still taken to the skies in the modern day. By subscribing to the Sky HISTORY Newsletter, you can learn more about historical events where the U-2 played a major part.
