The Skunk Works

To fully understand the beginnings of Area 51, it is important to investigate Lockheed aircraft in the 1950s. At this time, all of the hangars surrounding the Burbank, Calif. Airport belonged to Lockheed, the nation's largest aircraft contractor. Lockheed also had a well-known faction within its walls responsible for conducting top-secret testing. The Skunk Works, led by Kelly Johnson, was known for building state-of-the-art aircraft quietly and affordably. In the summer of 1954, Johnson was approached by the U.S. government about a new weapon to aid the U.S. in the Cold War. The CIA needed a plane that could fly over the Soviet Union. This plane had to be able to fly high enough so as not to be seen by radar, but also determine whether the Soviets had nuclear weapons. Skunk Works made this possible with the invention of their U-2 spy plane, a plane capable of flying at an amazing 70,000 feet, above the reach of USSR radar.

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Because of the obvious secrecy surrounding this aircraft, they needed a large barren area to test the plane. Groom Dry Lake, sandwiched between the Groom and Papoose Mountains, made the perfect spot to operate the troublesome aircraft. On July 14, 1955, the first U-2 was secretly shipped from Lockheed to Groom Lake disguised as a weather plane. To conduct their testing, Lockheed constructed a makeshift base at Groom. At this time, the base consisted of little more than a few workshops and shelters, along with a few trailer homes in which to house the small on-site team.

To conceal the activities taking place, the government issued a press release stating that as far as the government was concerned, Area 51 did not exist and neither did its employees. To further secure the area from prying eyes, or the possibility that the Soviets would find out about the U-2, on August 19, 1955, President Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10633, which, for the first time, restricted the airspace over Groom Lake. This order made it illegal for any vehicle to cross through or get too close to the airspace over Groom Lake. However, it was soon determined that further precautions would be necessary to fully conceal the activities and the U-2. On June 20, 1958, Public Land Order 1662 was signed into effect. This order made the 60 square miles around Groom Lake officially nonexistent, further solidifying the government's position on Area 51. However, all the precautions did not prevent the Soviets from learning of the plane meant to secretly spy on their military. The U-2 was based at a Turkish military installation and spies at the base fed information directly to the enemy. On May 1, 1960, U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over the Soviet Union. Although President Eisenhower denied that this was a spy mission and that the American people had been left in the dark, it soon became clear that both accusations were true.