Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base

Annie Jacobsen

May 2011 · Sold by Little, Brown

About this ebook

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.

Ratings and reviews

A well written history. Filled with previously classified details from the Atomic Energy Commission, CIA and US Air Force. Her writing is clear and concise. The subject matter, riveting. This book reads more like a James Bond thriller than the factual history book it is. The book is uncensored. She clearly describes what subjects are still classified, usually for obvious reasons. Operation Paperclip and the Roswell case, together, are the only exception. She explains that she thinks the continued classification of these subjects is inappropriate. To some extent, I agree. But because of my involvement in the Roswell case, I understand the need to declassify the subject slowly, over time. She writes a new cover story for the Roswell files. Grounded in the facts, using metaphor to both expose more truth and gracefully shroud sensitive facts using the myths of the past, to be revealed at a later time. This book is a must read for fans of military intelligence and conspiracy theorists alike. - David Smoot

... Of the the formation of multiple government programs and the base itself. Loses steam in second half likely due to limited declassified detail, but fascinating color on the 50s and 60s for 20-somethings (myself) who did not live through that era

She goes off the deep end when she talks about the Roswell crash being a flying disc sent by Stalin that was piloted by genetically altered children by Josef Mengele. Outrageous claim. If an "elite EG&G engineer" told me that and I believed it, there is no way I would even publish it. Zero percent chance that she even interviewed an EG&G engineer for the book.

About the author

Annie Jacobsen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Area 51 and Operation Paperclip and the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain. She was a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.