The Secret Genesis of Area 51

The United States and the Soviet Union are in a Cold War and have fought a proxy war in Korea. The Soviet Union is expanding Communism behind its closed borders and is competing with the United States in the Nuclear, weapons, and space races. The United States needs to know what the Soviet Union is up to behind the Iron Curtain, but to do so requires a revolutionary surveillance plane capable of overflying the Soviet Union undetected and high enough to escape the missiles of its Cold War enemy. When the US Air Force refuses to develop such a plane, the US president goes to the Central Intelligence Agency who undertakes the development of the U-2 plane. The CIA needs a remote location to secretly develop the U-2 and to train its pilots. The agency selects a remote site in Nevada along the nation’s western line of defense established in World War II. The secret location becomes known as Area 51.

TD Barnes

About TD Barnes (Las Vegas, Nevada Author)

TD Barnes

Thornton D. "TD" Barnes, author and entrepreneur, grew up on a ranch in Dalhart, Texas. He graduated from Mountain View High School in Oklahoma and embarked on a ten-year military career in the army.

He was a field engineer at the NASA High Range and served in Special Projects at Area 51 before going into the oil business. He serves as the president of Roadrunners Internationale and has been featured in multiple television documentaries about his experiences. He lives in Henderson, Nevada.