I was watching History Mysteries on the History Channel last night about Area51. The show said something about the name Area51 is not it real name. There are other name like Groom lake and Dreamland, but they said the real name of the facility was classify name.

So what I’m wonder is if there is any one that would have any more info about it real name or what you think it is. Sorry if the answer is simple to find or if this has been talk about.

Neither true nor false.

Area 51s neighbor, and front door, Nevada Test Site, is composed of about 20 Areas of the Nellis AFB testing range.

Area 51 and Area 53 are also Areas of Nellis AFB, AND have names. What they are I do not know.

Originally posted by deathdragon
I was watching History Mysteries on the History Channel last night about Area51. The show said something about the name Area51 is not it real name. There are other name like Groom lake and Dreamland, but they said the real name of the facility was classify name.

So what I’m wonder is if there is any one that would have any more info about it real name or what you think it is. Sorry if the answer is simple to find or if this has been talk about.

I think that The base may be called the Watertown Airstrip. According to the book: Area 51: The Dreamland Cronicals. the secret base was offically Named the Watertown Airstrip in honor of CIA Director Allen Dullas, who came from Watertown, New York. This sound like the most reasonable story to me, because it was CIA Director Allen Dullas who obtained and released the funding that was used to build and initally fund the base and it's operations.

As for the other names where did they come from, let's look at some of the bases history:

Area 51: the nevada test site is (or was) broken up into Areas by the Department of Energy, To hide the base it was given the designation Area 51 to make it blend in with the rest of the test site.

Groom Lake: This is the name of the dry lake bed where the base was built, it never applied to the base itself.

Dreamland: I think this is just a nickname, I don't know where it came from

Red Square: Comes from the fact that on flight charts the base appears as a red square, to show that the airspace is restricted

This is what I know about the history of the base and it's names.

Tim

Don't forget "Skunkworks"...

You're correct, it isn't the "real" name of the base... Area 51 is just it's designation within the Nellis layout. Similarly, Site 4 isn't really named that either...it's just the site number within area 51.

"Watertown" appears to be the official name (or as close as I could find), and for the reasons mentioned above... Dulles, in case some didn't know...was pretty much the founding father of the CIA...

Area itself is known as Area 51 due to the fact its in Area 51 on the grid. Groom lake was used as a codename. Dreamland was made up by the general public due to the reports that "things happen beyond your dreams" in a local newspaper.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Don't forget "Skunkworks"...

I thought Skunkworks was a division of Lockheed Martin, the Advanced Development Programs. Based somewhere in Cali.

Originally posted by crayon

Originally posted by Gazrok
Don't forget "Skunkworks"...

I thought Skunkworks was a division of Lockheed Martin, the Advanced Development Programs. Based somewhere in Cali.

Thats what i thought,the "skunkworks" is top secret and does do work for Area 51, but isn't in Area 51s location

Actually, most people in "the biz" refer to this location as the "RTS", or "remote test site".

This is a good nickname for OPSEC purposes, as you can easily describe anywhere else as a remote test site.

I thought Skunkworks was a division of Lockheed Martin, the Advanced Development Programs. Based somewhere in Cali.

It's just the name given to the division that works on stealth, etc. versus the more mundane projects such as the C130, private jets, fuel tankers, etc.

I mentioned it only as many referred to the facility itself as the Skunkworks also. (in case some don't recall, my father works for Lockheed Martin, in GA )

S-4 or Site 4 is only part of the complex, not a name for the whole complex itself. It is true, that the "Area 51" moniker comes from the only reference ever seen to it on a map (a military map), and it simply said Area 51, so the name stuck.

I heard in the paper and in a magazine that it was some UTAH Launch place or something. Do you have any IDea about this?

Pardon me, it was the US ARMY Launching Complex if I recall properly...I can't fully remember though.

Us Nevadan's just call it Area 51. George Knapp reporter of KLAS television in Las Vegas always refers to it as "Area 51". Art Bell did radio show called "DreamLand", but later turned it over to Whitley Strieber.

~I already mentioned this on the other thread about that area 51 on history. The large chunck of land that the base sits on is known as area 51. The base is called dreamland to some of the public. I myself don't know the ACTUAL name of the base. Who knows it could be an extention of Nellis AFB.

Originally posted by crayon

Originally posted by Gazrok
Don't forget "Skunkworks"...

I thought Skunkworks was a division of Lockheed Martin, the Advanced Development Programs. Based somewhere in Cali.

~I believe skunkworks is in either Burbank or Palmdale California. Not sure about Palmdale I could be thinkin' about the Lockheed Martin division there.

I'm going to rehash stuff already covered, so bear with

Area 51 is known by several nicknames/etc, including:

Groom Lake
Dreamland
Shangrila
Watertown Airstrip
Red Square

That's about got the top ones covered. There are other smaller parts of the base with other names, like the S-4 site.

Another thing is that the 'Skunkworks' is in fact an advanced R&D dept for lockheed martin, and It's in Colorado, I'm about 90% sure. Not many civilians know for sure where the real skunkworks are.

The base, while basically being an extension of nellis AFB, is under the direct control of I believe the navy, If my memory serves me correctly. I'm stumped as to why the navy controls such an important landlocked base, though....

I think that about covers my knowledge about a51.

Another thing is that the 'Skunkworks' is in fact an advanced R&D dept for lockheed martin, and It's in Colorado, I'm about 90% sure. Not many civilians know for sure where the real skunkworks are.

Dad and his co-workers are considered to be Skunkwork crew...though you are correct in that most of the administrative is in CO. It's the division name, not a facility....or at least just in lingo. He likes to boast of some of the advances they've made on the Raptor, but is careful not to violate his clearance agreements, by being vague enough....

The Navy runs it, because they were originally the most involved in black projects, and it was they who the base was originally commissioned for.

Found its real name: Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3. Short name is: AFFTC d. 3.

Originally posted by nobody
Found its real name: Air Force Flight Test Center, Detachment 3. Short name is: AFFTC d. 3.

But you should already know that...since you work there...