Abstract and Works Cited

 

Abstract

Meant to be hidden from the public eye, Area 51 has been popularly known for its lack of transparency concerning its contents and purpose. This paper explores the idea that government secrecy has led to and promoted the conspiracies surrounding Area 51. The paper debunks the conspiracy theory regarding alien aircraft at Area 51, arguing that the base has not been conducting UFO research but simply testing AirForce aircraft. The paper comes to the conclusion that regardless of the government’s reasoning behind concealing the activities at Area 51, it has created distrust between the public and the government that only advances the conspiracy theories that have arisen.


Keywords: Area 51, conspiracy theory, secrecy, government, spy planes, testing base, U-2, witness, UFO, aliens


Works Cited

Armstrong, Martin. "Belief in Conspiracy Theories in The United States." Statista, Statista Inc., 28 May 2019, https://www-statista-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/chart/18196/belief-in-conspiracy-theories-in-the-united-states/

Corbell, Jeremy, director. Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers. Netflix, 18 June 2019, www.netflix.com/watch/81083891?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C0%2C8995a24b205d04006eb931002e157d753a56e69d%3A85ccfb179356d69cc1011a14ac8168c85c61c8d5%2C8995a24b205d04006eb931002e157d753a56e69d%3A85ccfb179356d69cc1011a14ac8168c85c61c8d5%2C%2C.

Donald R. Prothero, and Timothy D. Callahan. “Area 51: What Is Really Going on in There?” UFOs, Chemtrails, and Aliens, Indiana University Press, 2017, p. 39–.

Fortin, Jacey. “Storm Area 51? It’s a Joke, but the Air Force Is Concerned.” The New York Times, 15 July 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/us/area-51-raid.html. 

Greenspan, Rachel E. “The Area 51 Festival Alienstock Is Coming Back for More Because the Storm Rages On.” Time Magazine, 18 Feb. 2020, time.com/5785735/area-51-festival-alienstock-2020/. 

Jacobsen, Annie. Area 51 - An Uncensored History of America’s Top Secret Military Base. Orion Publishing Co, 2012. 

Jung, C. G. Flying Saucers; a Modern Myth of Things Seen in the Skies. Routledge & Paul, 1959.

Krishnan, Armin. “Teaching about ‘Area 51’? How to Cover Secret Government Technology and Capabilities in Intelligence Studies Courses.” Journal of Strategic Security, vol. 6, no. 3, 2013, pp. 187–196. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26485069. Accessed 16 Apr. 2021.

“Transcription for #1315 - Bob Lazar & Jeremy Corbell - The Joe Rogan Experience.” PodScribe, 20 June 2019, podscribe.app/feeds/http-joeroganexpjoeroganlibsynprocom-rss/episodes/31d35c7d3eeb49c2a35ce759af3a3e23.

  Weigmann, Katrin. “The Genesis of a Conspiracy Theory: Why Do People Believe in Scientific Conspiracy Theories and How Do They Spread?” EMBO Reports, vol. 19, no. 4, John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2018, doi:10.15252/embr.201845935.

YouGov. "To What Extent Do You Believe in The Conspiracy Theory That The Government Is Hiding Aliens in Area 51?." Statista, Statista Inc., 22 Jan 2019, https://www-statista-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/statistics/959529/conspiracy-belief-government-aliens-area-51/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Topic of Consideration

Image
Area 51 has always been an area of national interest, especially amongst young people, including myself. Area 51 is technically a United States Air Force facility, but over the years, there has been a popular conspiracy theory alluding that Area 51 is where the US government does UFO and alien research. For a simple air force facility, this area is heavily protected with multiple signs warning people not to go in. Many even believe that the government holds aliens there for research. Many theorists believe that remains from the Roswell crash were taken to Area 51 to study. Some have even claimed to have worked inside and participated in the UFO research.  After some consideration and being a part of the generation that wanted to “raid” Area 51, I have chosen this topic as it spiked a lot of interest within me. Throughout this blog and my research paper I want to explore why has this base become the center of UFO conspiracy theories and if it is not, why is the government so protect...
Read more

Literature Review #1

Image
Summary This book review summarizes some of the findings within Annie Jacobson’s “ Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base .” It is discussed that Area 51 is where the U.S. government develops surveillance technologies. The review goes into some detail about other experiments occurring at the base involving nuclear weapons and the reverse engineering of foreign aircrafts. Many of the tests done at Area 51 are highly classified, with even high-ranking officials unaware of them. It also touches upon one of the cases which interested the reviewer involving a “Soviet ‘flying saucer.’” (Roche 73) The aircraft was made by captured German engineers in Russia which then proceeded to fly to the United States. Additionally, the aircraft even carried humans who were manipulated to look like aliens by Nazi scientists. The aircraft was later examined and “determined that their underlying design was not stable enough for space travel.” (Roche 74) Based on the book, U...
Read more

Scouting the Area (51)

Image
  My topic has not changed since the first blog post; I am continuing to research Area 51 and the extraterrestrial conspiracy theories surrounding it. While searching on Google, the keywords “Area 51”, “conspiracy theories,” “aliens,” “UFOs” are the most useful in my research. While searching on Google, I came across multiple articles that discuss the theory of Area 51 being a base for government activity on UFOs and aliens. Many of the more recent articles discuss the “raid” that was meant to happen in September of 2019. Additionally, there were also many videos on the topic; however, they seem to be video forms of the articles. One of the more interesting findings on Google is many documentaries such as “Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers”, “Area 51: The Alien Interview”, and “Storm Area 51 Film”. These documentaries include Bob Lazar’s input, a man who claims to have worked at Area 51 and nearby S-4. The Wikipedia page of Area 51 is not what I initially expected. A relative...
Read more