In the 1950s, during the Cold War, the U.S. government sought reliable aerial surveillance of its main rival, the Soviet Union. Designs for new aircraft were commissioned, and ultimately, Lockheed's hybrid glider-jet with long wings and peculiar landing gear was chosen.
It could fly and take photographs at 70,000 feet, beyond the reach of Soviet radar and fighter jets, and Lockheed's "Skunk Works" division soon began building prototypes. The problem was that test flights couldn't be conducted inside a restricted-access hangar. This is where Area 51 comes in, which Duchovny calls "one of the greatest conspiracy theories in history."
Stars: David Duchovny, Martin K.A. Morgan, Sami Jarroush
Once Duchovny introduces the Area 51 segment—he's on a set designed to look like a cold case file room—Secrets Declassified presents the information with a mix of archival footage, reenactments, and a series of experts. These include historians, science communicators, military experts, and many are familiar faces from other similar programs, such as astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi, aviation expert Amy Shira Teitel, and author and historian Garret M. Graff.
After Area 51 became the government's secret testing ground for the spy plane they dubbed the "Utility Aircraft 2," or U-2, it also became the epicenter of conspiracy theories. People saw something sleek and striking in the sky, too fast and too high to be a commercial airliner. And as the U-2 tests fueled UFO hysteria, they also proved the viability of the aircraft's unconventional design. The U-2 program was not only a success, but, according to Duchovny, later variants are still in operation with the U.S. Strategic Air Command.
Has any of this information actually been declassified? Is the show revealing anything we couldn't have found with a simple Reddit search? We think perhaps not, but the experts interviewed are certainly enthusiastic. And if the truth is out there, Duchovny is a good choice to share it with us.
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