It is shocking to most when they discover that the federal government owns more than 81 percent of the land area in Nevada. The majority of the federal land in Nevada is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, and a mere half percent of federal land is controlled by the US military.To put this in perspective, federal agencies control about 61 percent of the land in Alaska and less than half a percent in states like Connecticut and Iowa.
An additional 9 percent of Nevada’s land area is owned and managed by the state government. That leaves roughly 10 percent of the state in the hands of private citizens and various companies.
A small portion of the vast federal land holdings in Nevada include Area 51, a mysterious US Air Force base located 84 miles north of Las Vegas. The USAF acquired the site in 1955 for testing aircraft, but throughout the years it has been used as a nuclear test site and for various military exercises. The operations at this facility are highly classified and not shared with the public. The 6 x 10-mile base sits in the middle of a 23 x 25-mile rectangle of restricted air space referred to as the “Groom Box,” named after Groom Lake, the dry salt flat that sits north of the base’s airstrip. The intense secrecy surrounding the base has given rise to numerous speculations and conspiracy theories—including weather control, time travel, a one-world government linked by underground trains as well as extraterrestrial contacts and alien technology transfer.
Area 51 is secured with a sophisticated surveillance system and a network of underground motion sensors. The perimeter is marked with orange posts and patrolled by individuals in fatigues driving unmarked white pickups. In June 2019 a Facebook post called for the public to storm the facility in order to see “them aliens.” Shockingly more than 2 million people responded saying they would show up on the specified date and another 1.5 million indicated they were interested. The Air Force was forced to put out a statement discouraging anyone from attempting to enter the facility and reminding the public that they stood ready to protect US government property. Approximately 3,000 people showed up, and 150 people trekked several miles over rough terrain to the gate. The crowd was quickly dispersed and five individuals were arrested.
Restricting access and lack of transparency is a formidable psychological force that shapes our perceptions and ideas regarding the built environment.