Area 51

This episode was written by Brian Liddicoat, a real estate attorney in Northern California.

The words �Groom Lake� and �Area 51� have achieved an almost myth-like quality thanks to interest in UFOs and shows like the X-Files. But the real history of this base is even more interesting than the fiction. The names �Area 51� and �Groom Lake� refer to a large flight test base in the Nevada Desert, about 100 miles north of Las Vegas. The facility was originally built by Lockheed in the 1950s to support early secret tests of the U-2 spyplane. It has hosted the first flights of some of America�s most ground-breaking aircraft, including the F-117 stealth fighter. Now operated by the US Air Force as a detachment of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, the Groom Lake facility continues to secretly test America�s most secret aviation technology.

For more information, read:
Dark Eagles by Curtis Peebles
Lockheed Secret Projects: Inside the Skunk Works by Dennis Jenkins
Dreamland by Phil Patton
www.dreamlandresort.com

Military History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine