Area 51 is a military base,

This article is about the U.S. Air Force installation in Nevada. For other uses, see Area 51 (disambiguation).

Area 51
This satellite image of Area 51 shows dry Groom Lake just northeast of the site.
IATA: none – ICAO: KXTA
Summary
Airport type		Military
Owner		United States Government
Operator		United States Air Force
Location		Southern Nevada, United States
Elevation AMSL		4462 ft / 1360 m
Coordinates		37°14′06″N 115°48′40″W
Runways
Direction	Length		Surface
	ft	m
14L/32R	12,000	3,658	Asphalt
12/30	5,420	1,652	Asphalt
09L/27R	11,440	3,489	Salt
09R/27L	11,440	3,489	Salt
03L/21R	10,030	3,057	Salt
03R/21L	10,030	3,057	Salt
14R/32L	23,270	7,093	Closed

Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles (133 km) north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield. The base's primary purpose is to support development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems.^[1][2]
The base lies within the United States Air Force's vast Nevada Test and Training Range. Although the facilities at the range are managed by the 99th Air Base Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, the Groom facility appears to be run as an adjunct of the Air Force Flight Test Center (AFFTC) at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert, around 186 miles (300 km) southwest of Groom, and as such the base is known as Air Force Flight Test Center (Detachment 3).^[3][4]
Though the name Area 51 is used in official CIA documentation,^[5] other names used for the facility include Dreamland, Paradise Ranch,^[6][7] Home Base, Watertown Strip, Groom Lake,^[8] and most recently Homey Airport.^[9] The area is part of the Nellis Military Operations Area, and the restricted airspace around the field is referred to as (R-4808N),^[10] known by the military pilots in the area as "The Box" or "the Container".^[11]
The intense secrecy surrounding the base, the very existence of which the U.S. government barely acknowledges, has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore.[7