Featured Image Credit: (Getty Stock Photo / Reddit)
Topics: Area 51, Reddit, US News, Conspiracy Theory, Weird
Brenna Cooper
Topics: Area 51, Reddit, US News, Conspiracy Theory, Weird
Nothing gets the minds of the internet buzzing like a conspiracy theory, and what bigger conspiracy theory is there than the contents of Area 51.
A highly classified United States base located in the Nevada desert, Area 51 has long captured the imaginations of many asking exactly what goes on inside the facility.
From alien experiments to government cover-ups the base is strictly off limits to the general public and - despite a viral meme calling for people to storm the base in 2019 - no unauthorised person has successfully made it inside.
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As it's highly unlikely that anyone outside the US government will be heading in on foot anytime conspiracy theorists have repeatedly taken to Reddit to share their theories on what could be going on there.
A recent post on r/interestingasf**k saw one redditor reveal they'd found evidence of a 'nuke town' near the base on Google Maps.
Sharing a screenshot from their phone, the user posted an image of what they said was a '1/4 mile crater' as well as what they believed were the remains of destroyed buildings.
Despite the obvious sarcastic responses of 'giant radioactive ants' or 'sarlacc pit', several users were swiftly able to recognise the area as a nuclear test site in Nevada.
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The crater isn't the only one visible either, with multiple explosions taking place in the area.
One person - who used Google Earth Pro - shared an image of the 'largest crater' they could find, sharing a screen grab from Google Earth, with the site labelled 'US Nuke: Hermosa'.
Someone else had also stumbled across the location while attempting to spy on Area 51 via Google Maps, revealing it was the location was called the Yucca Flat (also known as the Nevada Test Site).
The site is just under 70 miles away from the dazzling lights of Las Vegas, with over 739 nuclear tests had taken place in the area.
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The location is also home to the ominously named 'Doom Town' which was fake settlement created by the US Military in the 1950s used to test how a nuclear attack would devastate a typical American community back in the times when nuclear war looked like a real possibility. Pretty grim stuff.
Should the lure of a nuclear fallout is something that you find interesting, you'll be pleased to know visitors are allowed outside the area. So you can satisfy your morbid curiosity while waiting for Area 51 to become declassified.
But before you pack your bags and book a flight, be aware there a multiple restrictions placed on who can visit.
First of all you have to be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident and all mobile phones, cameras and electronic devices are banned, which makes sense considering it's a US military site.