Proper noun
Area 51
(informal, US, military, aviation, research, espionage, ufology) A secret military facility, an airport, an airbase in Nevada Test and Training Range, Nevada, United States; A military base in Nevada, where advanced military aircraft are developed; foreign military aircraft are evaluated; and rumored to be where the US government hides extra-planetary alien visitors.
Synonyms: (slang) Dreamland, Groom Lake, Homey Airport
Coordinate terms: Roswell, Bermuda Triangle, Hangar 18
Urban legend has it that Area 51 is connected by underground tunnels and trains to other secret facilities around the country. Annie Jacobsen
The idea that Area 51 was this test facility working to move science and technology faster and further than any other nation is true and is one of the great hallmarks of Area 51. There are other areas of the base that are controversial - but they both exist simultaneously - out there in the desert. Annie Jacobsen
Everything that goes on at Area 51 is classified 'top secret' when it's going on. Annie Jacobsen
For decades, the men at Area 51 thought they'd take their secrets to the grave. At the height of the Cold War, they cultivated anonymity while pursuing some of the country's most covert projects. Conspiracy theories were left to popular imagination. Annie Jacobsen
One of the few things the Air Force did admit to me existed out there presently without admitting that it was Area 51 is this drone called the 'Beast of Kandahar' which does not fire missiles, unlike the Predator and the Reaper, but just conducts surveillance. Annie Jacobsen
As far as I know, all the presidents know about Area 51. It would almost be impossible for them not to. Annie Jacobsen