Since, ex-US president, Barack Obama acknowledges its existence, saying that one of the first questions he was asked as president was what is going on at Area 51 (Time.com, 2013). Although limited information has been shared, the US government has acknowledged the use of Area 51. Per government documents that were declassified in 2007, Area 51 was used for a top-secret Cold War-era program known as Oxcart during the 1950s and 1960s. This aimed to develop an undetectable spy plane, used for gathering information without a trace. The A-12 was the result of the hard work, which could travel at over 3000 kilometres per hour (History.com, 2013). From the ground, aircraft like this is, by definition, a UFO (unidentified flying object), as the public was not informed about this special aircraft due to its classified role for the government. Additionally, author of Area 51: An Uncensored History, Annie Jacobsen, stated that Area 51 was the most important facility during the Cold War that pushed science further ahead of the Soviet Union and that it was developing air-surveillance technology to prevent further war (Independent.co.uk, 2011). The previous evidence confirms what Area 51 is used for, and that there was reason to hide the use to stop other governments being informed about the surveillance that the US government was …show more content…
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) only acknowledged Area 51 as a testing ground site in 2013. The unclassified documents still blacked out some information regarding Area 51, which is what continues to drive conspiracy theorists. Although, it is acceptable for the government to hide such information due to the nature of the work, to develop and test a spy plane, to protect their country from potential war. This requires secrecy as the information that the spy plane was receiving was unknown to the countries it what occurring to. If it was known, it would be of no use and not be able to safely gather information. Secret services are done to ensure safety of the country. For example, the MI6, in the UK, works overseas to help make the UK a safer and more prosperous place (SIS.gov.uk, 2017). Area 51 is based off the same principles, although receives unnecessary conspiracy theorist