The testing of new and secretive military aircraft is likely responsible for much of the connection between Area 51 and UFOs, especially when considering that the term "UFO" doesn't directly refer to alien spacecraft, despite how it is often perceived in pop culture.
"It's true that strange lights and aircraft can sometimes be spotted in the area, so it's an obvious leap to UFOs, but of course, new aircraft might look identical," Radford explained. "The basic, flawed premise behind the Area 51 mythology can be boiled down to this: The government won't reveal what's going on there, so it must be something ultra-super-amazingly secret."
What we call Area 51, he added, is only one of many military bases, national laboratories and government scientific research centers across the country that deal with classified — even Top Secret — information, and where workers and visitors need security clearances.
"There's no reason to think that anything UFO-related is going on," Radford said.
