Conspiracies & the Unknown: Area 51

Summary

---

Crime House 24/7: Conspiracies & the Unknown – Area 51

Host: Vanessa Richardson
Date: August 12, 2026
Episode Theme: Unraveling the secrets, history, and conspiracy lore of Area 51, America’s most infamous top secret military base

---

Episode Overview

This episode of "Crime House 24/7" dives deep into the mysterious world of Area 51, exploring seventy years of secrecy, government cover-ups, and conspiracy theories. Host Vanessa Richardson examines the origins and evolution of Area 51, from its Cold War espionage functions to the wild speculation of UFOs, alien autopsies, and shadowy government organizations. With a mix of historical context, infamous testimonies, and pop culture moments, the episode questions what’s truly happening behind those heavily guarded gates in the Nevada desert.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins of Area 51: Groom Lake and World War II

[04:18] – [06:55]

• Area 51 began as part of Groom Lead Mines Ltd., discovered for its silver in the 1860s.
• During WWII, the U.S. acquired the land for bombing practice, creating the Tonopah Test Range and splitting it into administrative sections—including Area 51.
• Its isolated, flat lakebed made it an ideal spot for airstrips and later, military secrecy.

Quote:
“The government acquired roughly 600 square miles of desert in 1941… Area 51, with its wide, perfectly flat lake bed, became the prime location for extensive military testing.”
— Vanessa Richardson [05:15]

---

2. The Cold War and the Birth of the U2 Program

[06:56] – [10:15]

• With the rise of the Cold War, surveillance of the Soviet Union became critical, leading to the CIA and Lockheed’s development of the U2 spy plane.
• Area 51’s remoteness and secrecy made it the perfect base for testing and training missions, hidden from both the public and Soviet spies.
• The name “Paradise Ranch” was a code to entice staff to relocate, masking the harsh realities of the location.

Quote:
“Just in case anyone asked questions, the Atomic Energy Commission agreed to say that Area 51 was part of their testing program. It was the perfect cover and the perfect location.”
— Vanessa Richardson [07:43]

---

3. Increasing UFO Sightings and Public Intrigue

[10:16] – [13:35]

• While secret flights led to strange lights and high-altitude sightings, Nevada saw an explosion in UFO reports.
• Many of the UFO sightings were later revealed to be test flights of the U2 and subsequent spy planes, their high altitudes and reflective surfaces causing mysterious glows in the night sky.

Quote:
“Throughout the Cold War years, nearly 12,000 UFO sightings were reported all over Nevada… Declassified military reports revealed that many of these supposed UFOs were actually spy planes.”
— Vanessa Richardson [12:40]

---

4. Roswell and the Seeds of Conspiracy

[15:18] – [19:45]

• Rolling back to the 1947 Roswell incident: rancher W.W. Brazel discovered odd wreckage; Major Jesse Marcel first speculated it was a “flying saucer.”
• The military quickly recanted, claiming it was a weather balloon.
• In 1978, Marcel’s account changed the narrative: “nothing made on this earth.”
• Conspiracy theories flourished, notably through Stanton Friedman’s book, positing that alien bodies and technology were recovered and studied by a secret committee—Majestic 12—at Area 51.

Quote:
“Marcel said he was convinced that the debris he handled in Roswell was, quote, ‘nothing made on this earth.’”
— Vanessa Richardson [17:26]

---

5. Bob Lazar, Global Fame, and the Mainstreaming of Area 51

[20:55] – [24:20]

• In 1989, physicist Bob Lazar publicly claimed to have worked on alien technology and seen extraterrestrial beings at Area 51.
• After his claims, Area 51 went from unknown “no-fly zone” to the epicenter of global alien speculation.
• The government's flat denial added fuel to the conspiracy.

Quote:
“When reporters showed them pictures of the mysterious gates and restricted area signs... officials insisted that there was no base there. At that point, Area 51 became an irresistible mystery.”
— Vanessa Richardson [24:02]

---

6. Conspiracy Theory Evolution: Majestic 12, The New World Order & Annie Jacobsen’s Radical Take

[24:20] – [30:12]

• Majestic 12 becomes central in 1990s conspiracy lore, tied to world domination, alien-tech trade, and even underground cities.
• Annie Jacobsen’s book offered the wildest theory: the “aliens” at Roswell were actually deformed children created by Nazi Dr. Mengele for a Soviet psychological operation, their crashed craft and bodies studied for decades at Area 51.
• Theories become more outlandish, but echo persistent cultural fears of secrecy and scientific hubris.

Quote:
“That’s the thing about Area 51. Since no one who’s been there is allowed to talk about it, it’s impossible to know what’s true and what’s just a crazy story.”
— Vanessa Richardson [29:42]

---

7. Declassification, The Janet Planes, and Tourism

[31:50] – [34:50]

• Only in 2013 did the government admit Area 51 existed, after a successful FOIA request by Jeffrey Richelson.
• Commuting staff are flown in on "Janet" planes from Las Vegas; security remains extreme, with sensors, patrols, and “camo dudes.”
• The nearby town Rachel, NV, leans into UFO tourism, while the base itself is strictly off-limits and heavily guarded.

Quote:
“Many Area 51 employees live in the Las Vegas area and are flown to the base every day on White unmarked 737 planes operated by a secret government airline nicknamed the Janet.”
— Vanessa Richardson [33:01]

---

8. Modern Intrusions: Tragedy and Meme Culture

[34:51] – [41:37]

• In 2019, an Iowa man breached a security checkpoint and was fatally shot after brandishing a mysterious object—details remain secret.
• The 2019 “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” Facebook event went viral, drawing mainstream attention. On the day, about 150 showed up; no base raid occurred, but several people were arrested for minor infractions.
• The episode illustrates the blend of deadly seriousness and pop culture farce that surrounds Area 51.

Quote:
“In the lead up to September 20, locals in Lincoln county publicly begged people not to come to the event… The military wasn’t amused either.”
— Vanessa Richardson [38:53]

---

9. The Enduring Mystery and American Folklore

[41:38] – [43:44]

• Vanessa concludes that Area 51 is now more a canvas for American folklore than simply a military installation.
• Everyone projects their own suspicions, dreams, and fears onto the site: aliens, government conspiracies, or just top-secret tech.

Quote:
“Whatever answers may be hiding behind those iron gates and desert hills will never be as satisfying as the past 40 years of mystery and speculation... When we look at it, we see what we want to see.”
— Vanessa Richardson [43:15]

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Declassified military reports revealed that many of these supposed UFOs were actually spy planes that were being tested at Area 51.”
  — Vanessa Richardson [12:40]

• “In 1978, Major Marcel… said he was convinced that the debris he handled in Roswell was, quote, ‘nothing made on this earth.’”
  — Vanessa Richardson [17:26]

• “Bob Lazar is an extremely controversial figure, even within the UFO community, and we’ll talk more about him in a future episode. But his story… changed alien conspiracy theories forever.”
  — Vanessa Richardson [21:52]

• “General Goldfein said, our nation has secrets, and those secrets deserve to be protected.”
  — Vanessa Richardson [40:01]

---

Essential Timestamps

• [04:18] Mining origins and WWII military take-over
• [06:56] Cold War and the U2 Program: Area 51’s military role
• [10:16] UFO reports spike, linking to secret test flights
• [15:18] The Roswell incident and transition into conspiracy mythology
• [20:55] Bob Lazar’s revelations on Area 51’s supposed alien secrets
• [24:20] Majestic 12 & Annie Jacobsen’s alternate theories
• [31:50] Declassification and government acknowledgment of Area 51
• [34:51] Modern security, fatal incident, and mass tourism
• [39:00] The “Storm Area 51” movement and its anticlimactic outcome
• [41:38] Final reflections on Area 51 as American legend

---

Conclusion

With its secretive origins, Cold War significance, and avalanche of conspiracy theories, Area 51 embodies the allure of the unknown. The episode charts its journey from mining outpost to urban legend, dissecting every major theory—alien autopsies, Soviet head fakes, elite shadow governments, and more. Ultimately, Area 51 remains a canvas for the imagination; for every official declassification, a new theory takes flight.

Final Thought:
“So where do you stand? What do you think is going on at Area 51? Let me know in the comments. Everybody’s got their own theory and I want to hear yours.”
— Vanessa Richardson [43:44]

---

Transcript

[Vanessa Richardson]

Hi listeners, it's Vanessa. Are you the type to fall down an Internet rabbit hole and not come up for hours? You'll love Crimes of Reddit, a new Crime House original with Sabrina, Diana Roga and Alexis Linklater. Every week, one host brings real, true crime stories from Reddit, while the other reacts completely blind. No prep, no spoilers. Then they swap. It's the feeling of sending your group chat a thread at 2am that starts with you have to see this. Except Sabrina and Alexis are in the chat with you. Follow Crimes of Reddit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe@c Crimesofreddit pod on YouTube.

[Brian Buckmire]

This is Crime House.

[Vanessa Richardson]

The US Government once swore it didn't exist.

[Crime House Narrator]

A patch of Nevada desert so secret guards are authorized to shoot on site. Decades of declassified documents have pulled back

[Vanessa Richardson]

the curtain, but the deepest questions remain unanswered.

[Crime House Narrator]

What is Area 51 really hiding? Welcome to Crime House 24 7. I'm Vanessa Richardson. Twice a day, every day, we bring you the best, most timely and gripping cases from across the entire Crime House

[Vanessa Richardson]

network, all in one place.

[Crime House Narrator]

Right here. And every Wednesday is Conspiracies and the Unknown, where we dig into the conspiracies, coverups, and unexplained mysteries that defy easy answers. Today we'll unravel Area 51, the first

[Vanessa Richardson]

of two mysteries we've got for you

[Crime House Narrator]

today, and the file is still being opened. In recent years, the US Government has been forced to acknowledge the base's existence and release previously classified records, and congressional hearings on UAPS have put the conversation back at the center of national debate. The truth may be closer to the surface than it's ever been. This community exists because of listeners like

[Vanessa Richardson]

you want even more.

[Crime House Narrator]

Join Crime House plus for every episode of Crime House 24.7ad free.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Not only that, but you'll get complete

[Crime House Narrator]

access to an exclusive limited series every month, and early AD free access to all Crime House shows and bonus episodes go to crimehouseplus.com or on Apple Podcasts. Tap try free at the top of the crime house 24. 7 page.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Now I'm taking you deep into the

[Crime House Narrator]

Nevada desert and deeper into seven decades of government secrecy, cover stories and conspiracy. From Cold War spy planes to Roswell, Bob Lazar and the shadowy Majestic 12.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Getting back into a solid routine before the hectic fall schedule hits is always a priority for me around this time of year. To make that transition smoother, I've been relying on quints to elevate my daily uniform with high quality, high performance pieces. They excel at creating creating versatile closet staples that feel premium but won't break the bank. Right now I am completely obsessed with their performance leggings and heather gray. They are buttery soft. They hold their shape perfectly and transition seamlessly from morning yoga sessions to running errands around town. You'll also want to try Quince's premium stretch denim, which starts at just $50 and rivals luxury designer brands in fit and structure. Because Quince bypasses middlemen and partners directly

[Crime House Narrator]

with ethical factories, everything is 50 to

[Vanessa Richardson]

80% less than traditional ret markups. They even offer hotel quality bedding and bath goods to elevate your home. Upgrade your everyday Download the quints app for app exclusive offers or go to quint.com crimehouse247 get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com crimehouse247 if you've spent years trying every diet out there only to end up feeling totally stuck, listen up. This summer can actually be different. You deserve to feel amazing in your own skin and Weight Loss by Hers is here to help you finally shake things up. They now offer access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications, including both the Wegovy Pen and the brand new Wegovy Pill. Yes, a pill which means you can lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise, absolutely no needles required. The entire process is 100% online, so you'll connect with a licensed medical provider right from your couch. There's no insurance necessary and if prescribed, your treatment is delivered straight to your door. You also get 24.7care team messaging and in app lifestyle and nutrition tips to back you up every single step of the way. Ready to reach your goals? Visit forhers.com pave to get personalized, affordable care that gets you that's F O R H E-R-S.com pave forhers.com pave Weight loss by hers is not available in all 50 states. WeGovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk as to get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy clinical study information and restrictions. Visit forhers.com long before the rumors of secret jets and alien technology, people came to this inhospitable stretch of central Nevada in search of a different treasure. Silver. In the 1860s, prospectors from a company called Groom Lead Mines Ltd. Found silver in the mountains surrounding what is now Area 51 that's how they became known as the Groom Range and how the nearby salt flat got the name Groom Lake. Mining operations continued around Groom Lake until the early 1940s. At that point, the United States entered World War II. As the military started recruiting more pilots for the Air Force, they realized they needed a lot of empty flatland where they could practice dropping bombs. That's why the government acquired roughly 600 square miles of desert surrounding Groom Lake in 1941. This area became known as the Tonopah Test Range. Since it was so massive, the government split it up into smaller administrative areas, each one identified by a number. If you looked at a map of the Tonopah Test Range, you'd see interlocking rectangles labeled Area 1, Area 2, Area 3, and so on. Groom Lake, located at the northeastern border of the range, fell into the region marked as Area 51 because of its wide, perfectly flat lake bed. The military built 25000 foot long airstrips in Area 51 where bombers could take off for their test flights. By the time the war was over, these two airstrips would make Area 51 an attractive piece of real estate for another government agency, the CIA. After World War II, the government's priorities shifted. Now that the Nazis had been defeated, leaders in Washington D.C. were focused on their former allies in the Soviet Union. The Soviets were expanding into Eastern Europe, building up their military and rushing to develop nuclear weapons to rival the ones the US had used in Japan. The Americans had to scramble to keep up, which gave rise to a decades long arms race known as the Cold War. That had major consequences for the Tonopah testing range. In 1950, it was renamed the Nevada Proving Grounds and the military started using it to test nuclear weapons. In the years to come, hundreds of nuclear bombs were detonated at the Nevada Proving Grounds. The mushroom clouds were often visible from as far away as Las Vegas, where residents would hold parties to watch the explosions. Since everyone was focused on the nuclear tests happening in other areas of the Nevada Proving grounds, nobody was paying attention to Area 51. That made the isolated airfield a great place for the government to develop top secret technology in private. In 1954, the CIA started working with aerospace defense contractor Lockheed to develop a top secret spy plane called the U2. The U2 was designed to fly at extremely high altitudes up to 70,000ft, where it could photograph Soviet military installations without showing up on their radar. Lockheed had spent months secretly designing the U2 at their factory in Burbank, California. But they couldn't fly their highly classified plane in the Los Angeles suburbs. They needed a table test site far from witnesses and potential Soviet spies. In April of 1955, CIA Director Richard Bissell Jr. And Lockheed engineer Kelly Johnson chose Area 51 as the official testing and training ground for the U2. Most of the surrounding desert was already off limits to civilians because of the Nevada proving grounds. But just in case anyone asked questions, the agency in charge of nuclear testing, the Atomic Energy Commission, agreed to say that Area 51 was part of their testing program. It was the perfect cover and the perfect location. The airfield was hundreds of miles from the nearest city, it wasn't connected to any roads, and it was surrounded by radioactive desert in every direction. But Johnson wanted to make it sound appealing to the hundreds of engineers, pilots and navigators, military officers who would have to live and work there. So he nicknamed the dirt airfield in the middle of nowhere Paradise Ranch. It didn't take long to transform Area 51 from a couple of dusty airstrips to a fully functioning military base. And By July of 1955, Area 51 was open for business. Military engineers had built dozens of airplane hangars and barracks to house the up to 1200 people who were worked at the site. And they weren't all just pilots, engineers and spies. There were also support staff like cooks, firefighters and CIA security who patrolled the perimeter of the base. It wasn't long before employees at Area 51 started testing U2 prototypes taking off from the newly paved 14,000 foot long Runway that had been built over the lake bed. For the next eight months, they flew the U2 again and again, honing its technology and pushing its capabilities to the limit. Although the testing went smoothly, the environment wasn't always cooperative. Because the thing that made Area 51 so perfect, the miles of radioactive desert, was also the one major drawback. Multiple times during the U2's development, Area 51 staff had to pack up and leave the base to avoid radioactive fallout from nearby nuclear tests. Still, they were able to complete their work in record time. And the U2 went into service over the Soviet Union in July 1956. But the end of the U2's development wasn't the end of Area 51. Soviet radar technology kept improving, which meant the US still needed more advanced spy planes. In the years to come. Engineers and pilots at Area 51 secretly developed more high tech reconnaissance aircraft, including the Lockheed A12 and the SR71 Blackbird. The military also used Area 51 to study and test Soviet fighter jets that had been captured by US allies. Area 51 was getting busier and busier and the people on the outside started to take notice, even if they weren't sure what they were seeing. During this period, there was a massive increase in UFO sightings in Nevada. In November of 1957, two commercial pilots from different airlines reported encountering a strange lighted object in the skies over Las Vegas's McCarran Airport. In June of 1959, multiple people in Reno, including a police officer, told reporters about a bright green object in the night sky descending towards the earth at an unnatural speed. In September of 1960, a Las Vegas housewife reported a flood fluorescent emerald green object flying over her house at around 3am she described the UFO as larger than the moon, twice as fast as an airplane and surrounded by rays of light with a long tail. Throughout the Cold war years, nearly 12,000 UFO sightings were reported all over Nevada. Decades later, declassified military reports revealed that many of these supposed UFOs were were actually spy planes that were being tested at Area 51. Because planes like the U2 flew at such high altitudes, they would sometimes catch and reflect the rays of the sun even after it had gone down. This made them look like high speed glowing orbs or flying saucers. For national security reasons, the government couldn't admit what they were actually doing, so they just kept quiet. Officials figured that there was no harm in letting local civilians believe they were being visited by aliens. Besides, if everybody was talking about flying saucers, they'd be too busy to ask what the military was doing in the middle of the Nevada desert. But that plan backfired in a major way. Because by the late 1980s, America's UFO mania hit a fever pitch and turned Area 51 into the most famous top secret military base in the world.

[Crime House Narrator]

Foreign

[Jimmy Uso]

yo, it's J USO from WWE and I'm Jimmy uso. Chumba Casino and WWE are hyped for the biggest event of the summer.

[Brian Buckmire]

Summer Slam.

[Jimmy Uso]

I know I can't wait. There's nothing better to do while we're waiting than playing Chumba Casino. Sign up today and you could win a VIP experience with Chumba Casino and WWE for SummerSlam. So what are you waiting for? Play trip Chumba Casino and enter for your chance to win.

[Brian Buckmire]

Let's Chomper inhibited by law CTs and

[Vanessa Richardson]

Cs 21 sponsored by Shamba Casino.

[Brian Buckmire]

Early morning on a Manhattan sidewalk. A shooting caught on surveillance video.

[Thumbtack Advertiser]

It was an assassination style killing and everybody saw it.

[Brian Buckmire]

Now as Luigi Mangioni prepares to stand trial for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Which he denies. A new podcast series from ABC audio in 2020 goes inside this captivating case. I'm ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmire. Listen to Burden of Proof. Luigi Mangione Wherever you get your podcasts

[Squarespace Advertiser]

with Squarespace, you can do more than just build a website. You can build a business. Squarespace helps restaurants and hotels showcase signature offerings and experiences. And with Squarespace, consultants and photographers can create invoices to collect well earned payments. You can even send email newsletters to keep in touch with your loyal customers. Done. So grow your [e-mail] get started with offer code make it real for 10% off your website or domain.

[Vanessa Richardson]

In 1955, the US government started using a remote airfield at the edge of a Nevada nuclear testing range to develop high altitude spy planes. Around the same time, Nevada residents began reporting thousands of UFO sightings, describing green orbs zooming through the night sky at incredible speeds. Rather than reveal that they were working on a top secret mission, the government let the UFO rumors continue as a cover story. But according to many conspiracy theorists, the opposite is true. They claim the government says they were testing secret spy planes to hide what's really going on at Area 51. It's alien autopsies, genetic experimentation, and the establishment of a shadowy new world order. To make sense of these theories, we have to roll back the calendar to 1947, eight years before Area 51 was established, and travel to a town 900 miles away. On July 7th of that year, rancher W.W. brazel showed up at the local sheriff's office in Roswell, New Mexico, with a two truckload of strange wreckage he'd found on his property. The debris included thin wooden beams, tape, rubber, and a large amount of metallic looking lightweight fabric. Brazel didn't know what any of this stuff was, and neither did the sheriff. But he suspected it didn't come from Earth. The US was already on high alert when it came to UFOs. Throughout the summer of 1947, pilots and civilians filed hundreds of reports. Reports of strange discs speeding through the air at high altitudes. Just weeks earlier, a reporter had dubbed them flying saucers, and the term had stuck. Now it appeared as though one of these extraterrestrial vehicles had crashed in the New Mexico desert. The sheriff contacted the local army base, which sent out an intelligence officer, Major Jesse Marcel, to investigate the wreckage. Marcel looked over the debris at the sheriff's station, then traveled to the crash site at Brazel's ranch to collect more. More of the remains. The following day, July 8, newspapers printed pictures of Major Marcel examining the wreckage, along with a quote from him speculating that these were the remains of a flying saucer. Marcel's words carried a lot of weight. An American military official has suggested that an alien spacecraft had crashed on Earth. The news made international headlines and caused a frenzy across the US where people were already up in arms about UFO sightings. Two days later, the military issued a new statement that contradicted Marcel's quote. On July 10, officers at the local military base in Roswell announced that the so called flying saucer was simply the remains of a weather balloon which the army had launched to gather data about storm systems. After this, the Roswell story dropped out of the News. In the 1950s 40s, most people trusted the government, so they took the explanation at face value. But conspiracy theorists believe the weather balloon excuse was the beginning of a massive government cover up. And one of those conspiracy theorists was Major Jesse Marcel. In 1978, Major Marcel, who'd retired by then, sat down for an interview with popular ufologist Stanton Friedman. Marcel said he was convinced that the debris he handled in Roswell was, quote, nothing made on this earth. According to him, everyone at the base knew the wreckage wasn't from a weather balloon, but top military officials ordered them to tell the public that's what it was. In the wake of the Watergate scandal, Americans were far less likely to trust what the government was telling them. And Marcel's story captured their imagination. After talking to Marcel, Stanton Friedman went on to co write a book titled Crash at Corona, the US Military Retrieval and Cover up of a ufo. In it, he claimed to tell the real story of what happened in Roswell in 1947, based on interviews with more than 100 supposed witnesses. In his book, Friedman argued that In June of 1947, an extraterrestrial spacecraft was flying large low over the New Mexico desert to observe nearby nuclear weapons tests. During a freak thunderstorm, the spacecraft was struck by lightning, killing all the aliens on board. The ufo, then crashed on Brazel's ranch outside of Roswell. According to Friedman, multiple civilians stumbled on the debris field where they found otherworldly wreckage and alien bodies. The bodies were child sized with large heads, no noses and huge oval shaped eyes. These witnesses claimed that while they were inspecting the crash site, soldiers arrived. They arrested the witnesses and threatened to put them in prison if they ever spoke about what they'd seen. The military then took away the alien bodies and debris and replaced them with weather balloon parts, which they used for the press release and cover up. Friedman's book mainly focused on the crash and the COVID up. But over the next few years, ufologists developed a new theory about what happened to the alien bodies and the advanced technology from the flying saucer. According to them, president Harry truman created a top secret organization called Majestic 12 to study the remains of the Roswell crash. This committee of scientists, Military officers, and government officials Knew they needed an isolated location to conduct their business.

[Carvana Advertiser]

And.

[Vanessa Richardson]

And according to conspiracy theorists, that's the real reason Area 51 was built. Ufologists say that scientists at Area 51 have spent decades trying to reverse engineer technology from the Roswell crash for military purposes. According to them, this explains much of the UFO activity that Nevadans had noticed over the years. When locals see strange aircraft performing seemingly impossible maneuvers, it's not alien visitors. It's government scientists test driving alien technology. This theory first emerged in 1989 when a physicist named Bob Lazar Participated in a series of TV interviews where he claimed to have worked at Area 51. Lazar said he was part of a team of scientists Tasked with reverse engineering an antigravity propulsion system from the flying saucer. Over the course of several months, Lazar and his team worked in a heavily secured underground laboratory beneath the base. And according to him, there was a lot more down there than just wreckage. On one occasion, Lazar was being escorted down a hallway when he glanced into a nearby laboratory. Inside, he saw two men in lab coats Standing with a small gray alien being, which matched the description of the bodies found at Roswell. If Lazar's claims were true, it meant Area 51 wasn't just a place where alien technology was being studied. It was a place where actual aliens were being studied. Now, Bob Lazar is an extremely controversial figure, Even within the UFO community, and we'll talk more about him in a future episode. But his story, which was broadcast internationally, Changed alien conspiracy theories forever. Before his interview, Most people had never heard of Area 51. Some Las Vegas residents, Especially those in the aviation industry, Knew there was a no fly zone in the middle of the desert. They assumed it was a military base, but nobody gave it much thought. It was the cold war. There were a lot of military bases around. But once Lazar came forward, Everyone in America now knew that there was a secret facility in Nevada where the government was hiding something. And the military's response to Lazar's claims Only made the story more interesting. Government officials didn't just deny Lazar's story. They denied that Area 51 even existed. When reporters showed them pictures of the mysterious gates and restricted area signs in the Middle of the desert. Officials insisted that there was no base there. At that point. Area 51 became an irresistible mystery. Whether or not you bought into Lazar's story. And over the past 40 years, conspiracy theorists have come up with some other ideas about what's really going on there. In the 1990s, the New World Order conspiracy theory was gaining steam, thanks to televangelists like Pat Robertson and early Internet message boards. According to this theory, all the countries on Earth are secretly run by a small group of powerful elites. Supposedly, these elites plan to enslave everyone under a totalitarian or one world government. The New World Order theory has many interpretations. Some people believe the elites at the top of the conspiracy are allied with aliens or reptilian creatures from beneath the Earth's crust. Others think the Antichrist is involved. And it's worth mentioning that a lot of the New World Order theories are explicitly anti Semitic. But no matter what version of the New World Order theory someone says subscribes to, Area 51 usually factors in at some point. And usually these theories suggest that Majestic 12, the secret organization created by Harry Truman to run alien experiments at Area 51, is in charge of the New World order. Sometimes Majestic 12 is planning to wipe out all life on Earth with a nuclear war while taking shelter with their fellow elites in a vast underground city beneath Area 51. In other tellings, Majestic 12 is allied with the gray aliens, allowing them to abduct humans for experiments in exchange for alien technology. This theory is concerning for many different reasons, but it isn't rare. Most assumptions about Area 51 involve aliens in some way, but one of the most unique explanations suggests the opposite. That what's hiding in Area 51 is all too human. In 2011, investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobson published the book Area 51, An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base. While researching, she interviewed 74 people who had worked at the base, many of them quoted anonymously. The final chapter includes a story from a former engineer who worked at Area 51 in the 1950s. Allegedly, this engineer also worked on the Manhattan Project, helping to create the atomic bomb during World War II. And he told a very different story about what actually happened in Roswell in 1947. According to this engineer, a flying saucer did crash in the New Mexico desert, But it hadn't been built by aliens. It had been built here on Earth by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. Reportedly, Stalin had been inspired by the public reaction to Orson Welles 1938 radio broadcast war of the Worlds. Back then, Many listeners panicked when they mistook Wells radio drama for an actual news story of an alien invasion. So Stalin hatched a plan to send sabotage the US by unleashing widespread alien hysteria. Jacobson's source claimed that in the last days of World War II, Stalin had his scientists build a functional flying saucer. The goal was to have it fly to America and crash. But to really push the gullible Americans over the edge, Stalin needed a fake alien crew for his fake alien ship. So he turned to Nazi scientist Dr. Joseph Martin Mengele. Mengele was notorious for performing grotesque and inhumane experiments on Jewish and Romani children in concentration camps during the Holocaust. He escaped capture in the aftermath of World War II. And according to Jacobson source, Stalin's agents supposedly found him and enlisted his help to create fake aliens. According to the engineer, Mengele provided Stalin with a number of badly deformed children who he had surgically modified to look like aliens. Stalin's men then trained the children to pilot the makeshift flying saucer on a suicide mission to the United States. Just as Stalin planned. The saucer crashed outside Roswell, but two of the children survived. When the military brought the debris to Area 51, they quickly realized it was a top secret Soviet Union plane, not some flying saucer shaped aircraft. But they couldn't understand the advanced anti gravity technology that made it fly. So they brought a team of expert engineers to Area 51 to figure it out. One of those engineers was Annie Jacobson's source. The engineer told Jacobson that the staff at Area 51 weren't just experimenting on the saucer. The two surviving children from the crash were there as well. Both children were in a coma, hooked up to life support machines while suspended in a tank of Jello like substance. The engineer claimed that while they were studying the children, their eyes would sometimes open or their mouths would move as if they were trying to speak. And that wasn't all. He said that rather than release these children or try to help them, the staff at Area 51 conducted experiments on them. He claimed these experiments continued at least until the 1980s. But when Jacobson pressed him for more details, he refused to say anything else except to confirm that there was much more to the story. This idea is pretty out there even for a conspiracy theory, and it doesn't make a lot of sense either. In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union's economy was in the gutter and the country was suffering from mass famine. Where did they get the resources to create an anti gravity engine? And though Josef Mengele escaped after the war. There's no record of him having any contact with the Soviets, and it's not clear what the government was trying to learn by experimenting on two children for 30 years. But Jacobson trusted her source fully. Although he was a very old man when she interviewed him, she said he seemed haunted by the things he'd seen at Area 51 and swore that every word was true. That's the thing about Area 51. Since no one who's been there is allowed to talk about it, it's impossible to know what's true and what's just a crazy story. But that hasn't stopped people from trying to find out. And just a few years after Jacobson's book was published, an unlikely group of conspiracy theorists attempted to crack the mystery once and for all, no matter the cost.

[Brian Buckmire]

Queen Carvania stood haloed by the morning sun. An army hung on her every word.

[Carvana Advertiser]

My champions, I have sold my chariot on Carvana. Twas a lovely suv, an inexplicably queenly offer. They're even coming to the castle to collect it. Tonight we feast. An offer you can feast on. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply.

[Thumbtack Advertiser]

I'm pretty confident talking into a mic. Hey, I'm doing it right now. But home projects? I second guess everything. Is that noise normal? Is that water damage? Who do I even call? That's where thumbtack comes in. Just upload a photo or voice note and it uses AI powered search to match you with a right top rated local pro. So instead of guessing, you get clarity and can hire with confidence. For your next home project, try thumbtack. Hire the right pro today.

[ADT Advertiser]

Imagine you're watching the game at a buddy's house when you get a call that someone tried to break into yours. In a second, everything can change. That's why there's adt. No one wants to feel unsafe in their own home. ADT security systems help keep your home safe with 24. 7 monitoring. The ADT plus app keeps you in control the whole time. ADT's network is built for those game time moments they have the most company operated monitoring centers in the industry. Don't leave your home wide open during an emergency. When every second Counts count on ADT. Visit ADT.com or call 1-800-ADT ASAP.

[Vanessa Richardson]

For 34 years, Area 51 was one of America's best kept secrets. That all changed in 1989 when Bob Lazar went on TV and clearly claimed to be a physicist who had seen aliens and UFO technology while working at the base. In the nearly 40 years since his interview, Area 51 has become one of America's worst kept secrets. Everyone knows where it is and everyone knows secret stuff is going on there. Even the US Government has eased up on the secrecy slightly, but only thanks to the tireless work of a George Washington University researcher named Jeffrey Richelson. As a senior fellow at the university's National Security Archive, Richelson spent much of his career investigating classified government operations. That might sound exciting, but the work wasn't very glamorous. Mostly it involved lots of paperwork. Richelson filed hundreds of Freedom of Information act requests during his time at the archive seeking transparency on military spending, nuclear weapons, and the the U.S. intelligence community. In 2005, he filed a FOIA request for CIA records on the development of the U2 spy plane. It took the government eight years to respond, but when they did, it was the biggest scoop of his career. In August of 2013, the CIA released a declassified history of the U2 development process. This report included many juicy details about Cold War war spying and diplomacy. But the most eye catching facts were the many references to the U2's development process at Area 51. In the mid-1950s, this was the first time that the US government had acknowledged the existence of the base at Groom Lake. The report made no mention of aliens or a New World Order. But just getting the military to admit that the base was real was a big win. And once the cat was out of the bag, everybody in the government seemed a little more comfortable talking about the base. Later that year, Barack Obama became the first president to say the words Area 51 in public when he joked about the facility at a Kennedy center awards ceremony. But one thing hasn't changed. Area 51 is as busy as ever. Hundreds, maybe thousands of people come and go from the base every day. For employees, this mysterious location, with all its rumored alien lore, is just the office. Since everyone at the base has an extremely high level security clearance. We don't know what those people do when they get to work, but we know their commute is pretty unique. Many Area 51 employees live in the Las Vegas area and are flown to the base every day on White unmarked 737 planes operated by a secret government airline nicknamed the Janet. The name is an acronym which reportedly stands for just another non existent terminal. This probably refers to the unmarked fenced off terminal at Las Vegas's airport, which Janet flies in and out of. Employees who live closer ride to work on a white bus. The windows are heavily tinted and anyone who tries to follow the bus or linger near it can expect a visit from the local sheriff. The we know this because lots of people have tried. The state of Nevada has tried to capitalize on Area 51's status as a conspiracy landmark. State Route 375, the highway that runs past the base, was officially renamed the Extraterrestrial highway in 1996. And the town closest to the base, Rachel, Nevada, population 48, has transformed itself to cater to UFO seekers. In 1990, the town's only restaurant, the Rachel Bar and Grill, changed its name to the Little A Lee Inn. Over the years, the owners have customized the property with flying saucer sculptures and statues of gray aliens like the ones from the Roswell crash story. Today, the bar includes an extensive gift shop of alien souvenirs, as well as a 12 room motel for visitors who want to spend multiple nights looking for lights in the sky. Area 51 tourists have pumped a lot of money into the local economy. But while it's all fun and games in Rachel, the perimeter of Area 51 is serious business. Visitors from all over the world come to look at the gates and pose for pictures in front of the no Trespassing signs. But because there's no perimeter fence, it's easy to wander into a restricted area, either accidentally or on purpose. Purpose and Area 51 security guards aren't as welcoming to tourists as the locals in Rachel. As soon as you set foot on one of the dirt roads that Leads to Area 51, you're being watched. Experts believe that sensors are buried underneath the roads to alert base staff when a car is approaching. And heavily armed security contractors in white pickup trucks, popularly known as camo dudes, often park on the surrounding hillsides to keep an eye on the gates. The gates and no Trespassing signs are approximately 25 miles away from the base itself. This gives the camo dudes plenty of time to intercept anybody who steps over the line. Visitors who cross the security perimeter are detained at gunpoint by the camo dudes, who then call the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department. Intruders are cited for trespassing, which usually carries a $1,000 fine. Then, depending on the circumstances, they're either escorted off the property or booked into the county jail in Pioche, over 100 miles away. These trespassing incidents happen all the time. You can find hundreds of videos of them on YouTube. Most intruders are stopped without any trouble. But recently, two high profile events have tested Area 51's tight security measures. Measures just after 5pm on January 28, 2019. A 27 year old Iowa resident named Nikilo Duane Graves pulled up to a security checkpoint at the edge of the Nevada Test Site. This was the one that was once known as the Nevada Proving Grounds, the former nuclear test site just south of Area 51 and it is strictly off limits to the public. According to police, Graves drove through the checkpoint without stopping and started speeding down the road towards Area 51. Security contractors and sheriff's deputies pursued him at high speeds for about eight miles until finally Graves pulled over and got out of his car carrying a cylindrical object. Police and security officers repeatedly ordered Graves not to move, but he started walking towards them with the strange cylinder in his his hand. In response, officers shot Graves who died on the scene. To this day we don't know much about the incident. Graves family has not spoken publicly about his state of mind or what motivated him to try to enter the base. Because the shooting took place at a restricted government facility, the deputies body cameras were turned off. So there's no video of the incident either. And other than a single mention in the official initial press release, no one from the government or the sheriff's department has explained what this mysterious cylindrical object was. As far as we know, Graves shooting is the only time someone died trying to breach the perimeter of Area 51. But later in the same year there was another much larger and much sillier attempt to access the base. In June of 2019, 21 year old Maddie Roberts, a Bakersfield, California vape shop employee and anime enthusiast, listened to an interview with Bob Lazar on the Joe Rogan podcast. Like most people, Roberts was wondering whether there were really aliens at Area 51, so he created a public Facebook event to try and find out. The event was titled Storm Area 51 they Can't Stop all of Us and scheduled for 3am on September 20th at the gates of the base. Roberts wasn't taking any of this seriously. In the description for the event he referenced the fast running anime character Naruto Ozumaki. He wrote, if we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let's see them aliens. Roberts was just joking around online, but his event unexpectedly went viral on TikTok, Reddit and Instagram and within weeks more than 2 million people had signed up to attend the event. Major news outlets covered the upcoming gathering which was described as a raid on Area 51, which only drew more attention to it. Suddenly Robert's light hearted post had turned into a national obsession and a potential disaster. In the lead up to September 20, locals in Lincoln county publicly begged people not to come to the event. Officials worried that there wasn't enough infrastructure to support such a major gathering. There were only 184 hotel rooms in the entire county, and experts were concerned that the local cell phone network would crash under the strain of so many visitors. The sheriff estimated the county would have to spend up to $300,000 on additional medical and law enforcement staff to manage an event of this size. The military wasn't amused either. In a public statement shortly before the event, Air Force General David Goldfein discouraged people from attending. General Goldfein said, our nation has secrets, and those secrets deserve to be protected. But clearly not everyone agreed. Matty Roberts eventually tried to discourage people from attending his event by hosting an alien themed music festival in Las Vegas on the same day.

[Crime House Narrator]

That wasn't enough to stop a group

[Vanessa Richardson]

of Die Hards from trying to go through with the original plan. In the early morning hours of September 20, approximately 150 people turned up at the gates to Area 51. The government was ready for them. A temporary fence topped with barbed wire had been set up along the base's perimeter. A group of Lincoln County Sheriff's deputies stood in front of the gates to block any wood be Naruto runners. And though the camo dudes were nowhere to be seen, they were almost certainly watching from inside one of the guard booths. But then, after all the drama, nothing happened. Attendees, some of them dressed in alien costumes or carrying funny signs, milled around and took selfies in front of the guard booth. A few people pitched a tent and camped for the night at the edge of the base. In the end, there were several arrests, but not for trying to storm a top secret military base. Instead, police arrested six people for public urination, indecent exposure, and public intoxication. By the end of the weekend, the visitors were gone and Area 51 was still there, just as mysterious as ever. So what's really going on at Area 51? Honestly, you don't want to know. Whatever answers may be hiding behind those iron gates and desert hills will never be as satisfying as the past 40 years of mystery and speculation. Area 51 is a piece of modern American folklore. When we look at it, we see what we want to see. If you believe that aliens are real, then you you know they're at Area 51. If you believe a shadowy group of elites is plotting world domination, then they're doing it at Area 51. If you don't buy into conspiracy theories, then Area 51 is just a small military base where the government tests new planes. So where do you stand? What do you think is going on at Area 51? Let me know in the comments. Everybody's got their own theory and I want to hear yours.

[Jimmy Uso]

Foreign

[Crime House Narrator]

thanks for listening to this episode of Crime House 24. 7. Be sure to check out our second episode on the Sodder Family Mystery Dropping later today and to enhance your listening experience, join Crime House plus and get every episode of Crime House 24.7 completely

[Vanessa Richardson]

ad free, along with early ad free

[Crime House Narrator]

access to all Crime House shows plus monthly bonus episodes. To join go to crimehouseplus.com or if you listen on Apple Podcasts, tap try free at the top of The Crime House 24. 7 page.

[Vanessa Richardson]

Hi listeners, it's Vanessa. Are you the type to fall down an Internet rabbit hole and not come up for hours? You'll love Crimes of Reddit, a new Crime House original with Sabrina, Diana Roga and Alexis Linkletter. Every week, one host brings real, true crime stories from Reddit while the other reacts completely blind. No prep, no spoilers. Then they swap. It's the feeling of sending your group chat a thread at 2am that starts with you have to see this. Except Sabrina and Alexis are in the chat with you. Follow Crimes of Reddit on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or subscribe@c Crimesofreddit pod on YouTube.