An FBI probe has been launched with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations after an ‘unmanned aircraft’ crashed.
And to help speculation really run rife, the crash took place near the mysterious Area 51.
Yep, this story is totally primed for conspiracy theorists, as there are now claims of a big cover-up.
Basically, back on 23 September, there was a crash on public land, just outside those famous boundaries of the classified base up from Las Vegas, according to the Air Force.
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It was confirmed by the Creech Air Force Base that there has been an incident involving an aircraft assigned to the 432nd wing - the bit that operates these kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles.
However, the events that unfolded have led to a whirlwind of rumours about what it really was that crashed down.
KLAS-TV reported the crash, with it being said by officials that there weren’t any fatalities or injuries, while the recovery operations were done and dusted by 27 September.
But since then, there’s apparently been a lockdown on Area 51, and allegedly some tampering at the site.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary flight restriction (TFR) for a five-nautical-mile area east of Area 51, citing ‘national security’ for the restriction near the highway.
And a spokesperson for the base said the Air Force also secured the site and cleared it, but during a ‘follow-on site survey’ on 3 October, there were some interesting findings.
They said in a statement: “Investigators discovered signs of tampering at the mishap location, including the presence of an inert training bomb body and an aircraft panel of unknown origin that were placed on the site post-incident.”
According to the 432nd Wing’s public affairs office, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the FBI launched a joint probe into the matter.
Acknowledging one of the ‘unmanned aircraft’ was involved, the base claimed unauthorised individuals had tampered with the crash site by scattering unrelated debris.
But this explanation has drawn further scepticism. Joerg Amu is a long-time Area 51 researcher and runs the monitoring site DreamlandResort.com.
He told KLAS-TV that he was listening to the radio traffic when he heard they ‘locked down the base’.
“‘We just had an asset go down. We had an asset go down',” Arnu recalled hearing.
“This is not Creech security. This is Area 51 security, and they had an asset go down. Then the next thing you hear, UAV, unmanned aircraft, unmanned aircraft with ordnance.”
He drove down to the area where he says he found armed sheriff’s deputies and military security blocking the routes. And when he later returned, he said the site had been buried under a thick layer of dirt.
Amu added that Creech Air Force Base’s statement is ‘absolutely bogus’ regarding the tampering and ‘unmanned aircraft’.
“I think that was designed to make people not go there, discourage people from going there,” he said.
LADbible has contacted the US Air Force for comment.
Topics: Area 51, UFO, Conspiracy Theory, US News
Jess Battison