Area 51 Spy Plane Pictures Revealed

Want to know what really happened at Area 51? A new book suggests that the UFO that crashed in Nevada in the late 1950′s was actually the work of  Soviet pranksters who wanted to put Americans into a fear frenzy during the Cold War. But National Geographic had a different take, and they have the photos to prove it.

National Geographic has just released a series of photos from the famed, and officially non-existent, military base. National Geographic says that the base was used to develop cutting-edge airplanes.

From National Geographic:

“Area 51 was created so that U.S. Cold Warriors with the highest security clearances could pursue cutting-edge aeronautical projects away from prying eyes.”

Of course, when you’re pushing the limits of aeronautics, your bound to see some crashes. In 1963, there was a catastrophic crash of an A-12 near Area 51. Since the project was top secret, the government moved quickly to remove all traces of the crash.

The CIA has recently declassified a few of the pictures from that crash. [Check out the full gallery at National Geographic]