Top 5 Facts about Area 51

It's no surprise that Area 51 attracts conspiracy theorists. Very little is known about it, and it is so secretive that the CIA will do anything to protect it. In 1974, astronauts aboard Skylab inadvertently took satellite photographs of the base, despite specific instructions not to do so. The Director of the CIA even wrote a heated memo, stating that Area 51 "was the only location which had such an instruction," making it one of the most secretive places on Earth. Despite this, the perimeter reportedly isn’t even protected by a fence. The base is just surrounded by some orange boundary poles, patrol guards on all-terrain vehicles, and underground sensors.

How about this for a work environment? The middle of a scorching, barren desert, full of dust and sand, and miles from anything. And you also have to live there. Sound like fun? Well, no one else thought so either, so in the 1950s the base’s management nicknamed it "Paradise Ranch" in order to attract employees and their families. By August 1961, the Ranch was its own little functioning city, complete with amenities like a gym, movie theatre, baseball diamond, and UFO landing pad. Probably.

Area 51 can do pretty much whatever they want when it comes to chemicals and the environment because national security. In 1994, a group of civilian contractors tried suing the Environmental Protection Agency over the toxic levels of dioxin, dibenzofuran, and trichloroethylene found in their bodies after inhaling poisonous chemicals burned at Area 51. They suffered from skin and liver damage, and some even died from the exposure. While the base was forced to comply with environmental laws, Bill Clinton, and later George W. Bush issued Presidential Determinations exempting them from having to share any information about their environmental compliance. As for the contractors’ suit, the US Air Force declared their evidence to be classified, and therefore not admissible. The secrecy of whatever was going on in the base, it turns out, is more important than the lives of the civilians working there, or the well-being of their widows..

Like the crazy guy ranting about UFOs on the subway, you have to take what these men say with a raised eyebrow, but it’s still fascinating. Bob Lazar, an employee of Area 51's Sector 4, claimed that he worked on an extraterrestrial aircraft in the government's possession. Investigators have apparently been unable to confirm his credentials or his employment at the base. In the documentary feature "Dreamland," a 71 year old ex-mechanical engineer claimed to have worked on a flying disc simulator and with an alien named J-Rod who communicated telepathically. J-Rod was further corroborated by Dan Burisch, who was asked to work on biological weapons developed from alien DNA. Most of their claims have since become the topic of debate… and debunking.

There have been many reports of UFOs near Area 51 by excited civilians, most notably in the late 50s and early 60s. With the benefit of hindsight and declassified information, this sighting are readily attributed to the prototypes of what became the Lockheed A-12 spy plane. The shape of the plane’s fuselage was broader, more disc-like than most, making it appear rather like a UFO. It would also fly much higher than commercial airplanes and when whizzing above those flights, the sunlight would glint off the titanium, making it appear otherworldly. The Air Force's Project Blue Book debunked most of the UFO claims, matching them to times when experimental aircraft like the A-12 were in motion. Or maybe that’s just what they want us to believe.

So what do you think? Can every UFO sighting be explained, or is something fishy going on at Area 51? For more official version Top 10s and thoroughly debunked top 5s, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com