Area 51

Area 51 is a highly classified U.S. Air Force facility beside Groom Lake, a dry lakebed in the remote Nevada desert about 80 miles north of Las Vegas. Long absent from official maps, its existence was only formally acknowledged by the government in 2013. Declassified records show it was established in 1955 as a secret flight-test site for the U-2 spy plane and later aircraft such as the SR-71 and stealth programs.

The base's extreme secrecy — restricted airspace, a heavily guarded perimeter, and workers flown in on unmarked jets — made it the center of decades of UFO and conspiracy lore. The surrounding Nevada Test and Training Range remains closed to the public, and the nearby highway is a pilgrimage for the curious.

• Nevada
  The Silver State, the driest in the nation related