The Manhattan Project was once highly classified, but now a historian can write an accurate history about it by using properly vetted source materials such as archival documents and interviews with people who worked on the program. many authors have, in fact, written fine histories of the Manhattan Project, and no one calls into question whether these are historically accurate (particularly if the author has good credentials).

It is now just as easy to write an accurate history of Area 51. A vast amount of material has been declassified by the CIA, Air Force, etc., and a surprisingly large amount of material was never classified to begin with. There are also a lot of former workers (with bona fide credentials) who are willing and able to share their stories.

Annie Jacobsen had a chance to take advantage of this opportunity, and failed miserably. She couldn't even get many of the basic facts right (her book contains numerous factual errors), and she hung the whole thing on one outlandish tale told by a single source who never worked at Area 51. Worse yet, she made his story the centerpiece of her book without any corroboration or evidence to support it. (It should be noted that other researchers have found numerous parallels between the tale in question to a science fiction story called "Tomb Tapper" by James Blish.)

I have a question. If the government wanted to keep things a secret wouldnt they? AREA-51 could have been kept a secret if bob lazar never spoke. wouldnt they pay him to make fake stories to keep heat off of what is really happening.like Majestic 12 projcts no one will ever know the recent ones. so couldnt they do that with every base, secrets,meetings and encounters. its called a secret for a reason. i have a bit ok skeptical on secrets but i have an open mind. feel free to prove me wrong or to clear up some things for me