Host Annie Jacobsen, its start with definitions. Whats area 51 . Guest thats a secret basese out in nevada where all kinds of mysterious things happen that you and i can talk about and maybe we know what is going on out there maybe we dont. Host whew its called area 51. Guest big debate. I believe its called area 51 because of the original project that went on us there in 1951. Information given to me by some of the sources that i interviewed at length for that book, but of course, everything about area 51 is kind of a mussel inside of a palestine sol thats debated. The actual origins, the original date, the origin story of area 51. Host in 1951 what was going on . The Atomic Energy commission was doing loots of Nuclear Testing out there in the middle of the desert, and they wanted to keep what they were doing secret, and the cia was kind of coming into existence with its programs, and the two merged in this idea of if you have a secret base in a secret place you can do secret programs