Area 51 is a top-secret military test and development facility, ownedn and operated by the US Air Force. It is located within the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR),n 85 miles north of Las Vegas. It is operated as Detachment 3 of the Air nForce Flight Test Center, headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base in nCalifornia.
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Area 51 was founded in 1955 to test the newly developed U-2 Spy Plane.n Since then the base was constantly expanded, and used for various Blackn Project developments including the A-12 "Blackbird", the F-117 Stealth nFighter and the B-2 Stealth Bomber. More recent projects include nresearch on Stealth Technology, various unmanned reconnaissance and ncombat aircraft (UAVs and UCAVs) and possibly a rumored high speed high naltitude platform known as "Aurora".
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Some believe that the research at Area 51 also includes Alien technology.