This "compellingly hard-hitting" bestseller from a Pulitzer Prize
finalist gives readers the complete untold story of the top-secret
military base for the first time (New York Times).
It is the most famous military installation in the world. And it doesn't
exist. Located a mere seventy-five miles outside of Las Vegas in
Nevada's desert, the base has never been acknowledged by the U.S.
government -- but Area 51 has captivated imaginations for decades.
Myths and hypotheses about Area 51 have long abounded, thanks to the
intense secrecy enveloping it. Some claim it is home to aliens,
underground tunnel systems, and nuclear facilities. Others believe that
the lunar landing itself was filmed there. The prevalence of these
rumors stems from the fact that no credible insider has ever divulged
the truth about his time inside the base. Until now.
Annie Jacobsen had exclusive access to nineteen men who served the base
proudly and secretly for decades and are now aged 75-92, and
unprecedented access to fifty-five additional military and intelligence
personnel, scientists, pilots, and engineers linked to the secret base,
thirty-two of whom lived and worked there for extended periods. In Area
51, Jacobsen shows us what has really gone on in the Nevada desert,
from testing nuclear weapons to building super-secret, supersonic jets
to pursuing the War on Terror.
This is the first book based on interviews with eye witnesses to Area 51
history, which makes it the seminal work on the subject. Filled with
formerly classified information that has never been accurately decoded
for the public, Area 51 weaves the mysterious activities of the
top-secret base into a gripping narrative, showing that facts are often
more fantastic than fiction, especially when the distinction is almost
impossible to make.
