Area 51: A Secretive Nevada Air Base at Groom Lake—History of Experimental Aircraft and Conspiracy Theories

To the point

Area 51 is a secret U.S. airbase at Groom Lake, Nevada, operating as a detachment of Edwards AFB within the Nevada Test and Training Range and known as Dreamland, where unacknowledged programs develop and test experimental aircraft and weapons with operations moved to conventional bases when announced, located in a restricted zone called The Box and not publicly acknowledged until 2003, with a history from WWII bombing practice through the U-2, OXCART and the Blackbird family (A-12, SR-71 renamed by Curtis LeMay) to Have Blue and the F-117, plus conspiracy theories about aliens tied to Bob Lazar that remain contested.