The LA Times recently did a piece on an ex-CIA pilot who claimed to have worked at Area-51 (known previously as Paradise Ranch, Dreamland, and a number of other names) testing experimental aircraft. According to him they did test foreign technology, but never anything so extreme as the stories of extraterrestrial spacecraft reported by other former employees. Is this one the truth, or is it yet another example of smoke and mirrors being implemented as a cover-up?
Area 51 is the most famous secret location in the United States. Most people in nearby towns can tell you exactly where it is, thanks to numerous rumors and signs indicating that the location is strictly off limits. Many have attempted to secretly approach the base hoping to get a glimpse of an alien spacecraft, and they are always met with an armed roadblock and often met with prosecution. Though Google maps has many images of the secret base along with its cryptic facilities and flight lines, it’s difficult to determine if anything of extraterrestrial nature is ongoing at the facility or if it is simply another top secret research and manufacturing facility. The official government story is difficult enough to believe: there is no such thing as Area 51. The images you see on Google Earth do not exist and you never saw them. This stonewall embargo on the truth is typical of the facility. All records that mention the facility have the name blacked out even though shows such as the X-Files regularly mentioned the location in the 90’s.
Kenneth Collins, who was interviewed by LA times reporter Annie Jacobson declared that all of his workings within the facility were on the A-12 OXCART craft, which was several years in advance of any other craft known at the time. The OXCART, according to Collins is what many people were actually seeing when they reported Unidentified Flying Objects and Project Blue Book was created partially to create more believers in the UFO phenomenon to cover-up their real ambitions: to beat the Russians in the arms race for better nuclear delivery methods.
The explanation is as much of a catch-22 as the UFO explanation for Area 51. If there really is nothing more to the UFO phenomenon than a government conspiracy to cover up nuclear test vehicles and other advanced aircraft sightings, then no one who truly believes in aliens will believe them. Alternately, no one who categorically will deny all evidence of extraterrestrial contact will believe the explanation that Area 51 was reverse engineering flying saucers of unearthly origin. These two explanations, because they will not be believed ensures that the Area 51 facility, and those running it will both have their alien conspiracy story and use it as a cover-up too. And who’s to say both are not true. When secrecy becomes inherent to an organization, it can benefit from both of these convenient truths. The question is: if the explanation put forward Collins were true, why mention it at all? If it truly is the perfect cover story, then why would Collins be allowed to cast doubt on it?