On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we sneak you all into the classified military base known as Area 51. Thought to be a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base and part of the Nevada Test and Training Range (responsible for testing above and underground nuclear weapons), Area 51 has been the center of mystery and conspiracy theories since the 1950s. This mysterious area has been called Groom Lake due to the dry lake bed it straddles as well as Dreamland, Paradise Ranch, Home Base, Watertown, and even Red Square.

This US military and intelligence community refused to admit that this base even existed until a 2013 Freedom of Information Act was filed by Jeffrey T. Richelson, and the CIA released documents acknowledging that it’s real. Of course, by this late date, everyone knew it was real. Satellite photos from the Soviets were published in Popular Science in the 1980s, and with the coming of Google maps, everyone can now type in Area 51 and get a bird’s eye view of the small base.

So what is really happening on this base? A lot of top-secret aircraft are tested there. It is co-owned by Lockheed, so as documents keep being revealed, it turns out that Area 51 developed the U2 Spy Plane, the SR71 Blackbird, The A12 Oxcart, Tacit Blue, Blackstar, and of course all manner of stealth aircraft and even unmanned drones. The airspace overhead is restricted even for other military flights, and a lot of lookie loos try to park near the base and see strange craft being tested in the sky.

Speaking of strange aircraft, Area 51 is also the home to conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar who claimed to have worked there, back-engineering an alien space craft which was captured by the US government. He was one of the most famous UFOlogists in the 1990s, and he was the one who introduced us to supposed alien super-fuel known as Elirium 115. Of course, the base is also tied in to theories of Majestic 12 and the Illuminati.

Are there aliens on the base (dead or alive)? What happened with a lawsuit of employees there who were getting sick and dying? How do employees commute to this strange base? What defense company owns the part of the Vegas airport and transports them? What is Wackenhut, and how does it tie in to Men in Black? Listen, Laugh, Learn.