CIA declassifies Area 51 details

To the chagrin of UFO believers, the agency reveals details about 1950s flight tests

Published August 16, 2013 4:24PM (EDT)

   (NASA)
(NASA)

In a move that's sure to disappoint UFO believers, the CIA this week made public declassified documents about covert operations carried out in the 1950s at the secretive and oft conspiracy-theorized Area 51. As most already new, the high-flying vessels seen above the Nevada desert were, of course, CIA reconnaissance aircraft. Via CNET:

Many of the details and history around Area 51 and U-2 planes were recently declassified by the CIA and revealed to the public on Thursday. This information comes via a 355-page report titled "The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance: The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954 - 1974," which the National Security Archive got the CIA to declassify under the Freedom of Information Act.
Now, many conspiracy theories could be debunked.


By Natasha Lennard

Natasha Lennard is an assistant news editor at Salon, covering non-electoral politics, general news and rabble-rousing. Follow her on Twitter @natashalennard, email nlennard@salon.com.

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Area 51 Cia Declassification Nevada Reconnaissance Ufos