The secrecy surrounding Area 51 and numerous UFO sightings suggest it may house alien technology or evidence of extraterrestrial life. “There have been dozens of UFO sightings reported around Area 51,” and Bob Lazar, who claimed to have worked on alien technology there, insisted, “I am convinced there were alien spacecraft at Area 51” (History.com Editors). The area’s strict security, including restricted airspace, has also fueled speculation (Barnes). If Area 51 were simply just a testing ground for military aircraft, the strong enforcement of secrecy would seem excessive. Lazar’s claims, along with the notable security measures, deepen suspicions that Area 51 may hold more than military secrets. While some argue it’s just a military testing site, numerous UFO sightings and employee claims like Lazar’s fuel ongoing public curiosity about what the government could be hiding in Area 51. 

The events at Roswell suggest an alien spacecraft crash rather than a weather balloon, as claimed by the government. Military personnel initially described the debris as a “flying disk,” and Mac Brazel, who found the wreckage, said it “did not look human-made” (Janos). Major Jesse Marcel later claimed, “It was not anything from this Earth” (History.com Editors). The weather balloon explanation seems like a cover-up, especially given the secrecy around the materials and the government’s swift control over the crash site. The government’s intense confidentiality hints at something beyond a simple balloon crash, raising suspicions of a cover-up. Some argue it was a misidentified balloon from Project Mogul, an operation meant to detect Soviet nuclear tests. However, “Project Mogul’s balloons themselves were not classified, only the purpose of the project was” (Launius). This information raises questions about why such privacy was needed. The Roswell incident intrigued the public and fueled decades of conspiracy theories, suggesting that the government may know more about extraterrestrial life than it seems.  

​The government’s history of secretiveness around UFO sightings indicates efforts to hide the existence of alien life. Declassified documents show that “the government took UFO sightings seriously during the Cold War” (Barnes). Programs like Project Blue Book, investigated UFOs, but “many documents remain classified or heavily redacted,” suggesting secrecy (Janos). The stealthiness surrounding these programs suggests the government may be hiding something significant about extraterrestrial life. The extreme secrecy of these investigations implies that the government might have knowledge about UFOs that they are not sharing with the public. This pattern of withholding information has fueled public suspicion and inspired countless conspiracy theories, with many believing that the classified documents could contain information of extraterrestrial life or advanced alien technology.