| FACILITY | |
| Area 51 | |
| |
| Type of Facility: | Military installation |
| Affiliation: | United States Air Force (formerly), United Federation of Planets |
| Location: | Groom Lake, Nevada |
| Status: | Active (24th century) |
Area 51, also known as US Air Force Flight Test Center, was a top secret military installation operated by the government of the United States of America. It was located on a remote tract of land on the dry salt flat called Groom Lake, in southwestern Nevada. The entire installation was operated under top secret conditions. It was believed to be used for the testing and operation of enemy and alien technology, and also to develop new technologies. Area 51 was the subject of a large number of conspiracy theories because of the secrecy surrounding the installation.
History[]
20th century[]
One of the projects undertaken at Area 51 was an attempt led by Jeffrey Carlson to decipher the technology found on Quark's spaceship which had crashed near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 after accidentally traveling back in time.
In 1984, Shannon O'Donnell joined the project when she began working at Area 51. Two years later, Project F (as Carlson's operation was known) had a burst of activity after Naval Intelligence gave them several devices recovered from Pavel Chekov (who had traveled back in time from the year 2286) after he was captured aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise while it was docked at Alameda Naval Base. However, before the Area 51 staff could conduct a detailed examination of the devices, Roberta Lincoln was able to penetrate Area 51 and retrieve the devices. In the process Lincoln encountered and tranquilized O'Donnell.
By the 1990s, one of the projects being worked on at Area 51 was the development of the top secret DY-100 sleeper ship. In addition to O'Donnell, others working on the project included Dr. Marcus Nichols and pilot Shaun Geoffrey Christopher. Roberta Lincoln also provided technical assistance, giving O'Donnell access to technological specifications to help complete the ship. Once the unnamed ship was completed, Lincoln and O'Donnell launched the ship. As instructed, O'Donnell later claimed that she was under Ferengi mind control at the time when questioned about the incident. While no charges were brought up against her, O'Donnell did lose her position at Area 51.
War of 1996[]
As of 1996, Area 51's administrator was USAF Major Mitchell and its research division was headed by Dr. Brackish Okun. During the alien invasion of 1996, President Thomas Whitmore and his surviving staff were informed of Area 51's existence by Albert Nimziki and landed there, where it temporarily became the functioning headquarters of the U.S. government. By this time, the Harvester vessel was fully repaired and operational, and ultimately used by David Levinson and Steven Hiller to infiltrate the alien mothership and thus disabling the force fields of the City Destroyers. Area 51 soon came under attack by a City Destroyer, forcing Whitmore to lead a counterattack on the Destroyer and leading to its destruction with the sacrifice of a volunteer jet fighter pilot, Russell Casse.
Earth Space Defense[]
Five years after the War of 1996, Area 51 was placed under the Earth Space Defense and renamed as the Center for Alien Technology. Area 51 greatly expanded its facilities which included housing for thousands of employees mining from the wreck of the City Destroyer that attacked the base, and new manufacturing and testing facilities to reproduce alien technologies. Among the new facilities is the Marilyn Whitmore Hospital, a world-class research and medical facility. Unexpectedly, a town was formed by displaced entrepreneurs outside of Area 51 and even has its own mayor and alderman. The townspeople have not chosen a name for their town and are referred to as "the town of 51".
Area 51 also contained a prison for the Harvester survivors of the war. Due to the aliens' fragile form, they cannot be let out of their exoskeletons or they will perish. The Harvesters remained unresponsive for two decades until the War of 2016. Massive cannons based on the City Destroyer's main weapon were constructed for the base's defenses in 2016.
War of 2016[]
Area 51 became the site of a second battle against the Harvesters. The ESD salvaged an alien container containing the Sphere and brought it to Area 51. The presence of the Sphere attracted the attention of the Harvester Queen in which the ESD used this to their advantage to lure the Queen into a trap.
24th century[]
In 2361, SG-1 traveled to Area 51 to check the status of Earth's second Stargate, supposedly under 24-hour guard, after finding evidence that it may have recently been used to steal the Touchstone from Madrona. Upon their arrival, they discovered the gate to be fake and made out of plastic. After being forced to leave Area 51, SG-1 eventually discovered that the Stargate was taken to southern Utah. Stargate Command then placed the gate under round-the-clock guard under the command of the SGC.
In 2362, Dr. Samantha Carter and Major Charles Kawalsky used the Quantum Mirror from the planet P3R-233 to escape their reality and make their way to Area 51, where the Quantum Mirror of our universe was being held, having been discovered by SG-1. After this, the mirror was brought back to Stargate Command for a short time and then destroyed sometime after.
The X-302 hyperspace fighter in Area 51
In 2365, SG-1 and Jonas Quinn visited Area 51 after being notified that the X-302 hyperspace fighter had finished construction. Later that day Anubis attacked Earth's Stargate using the Ancient Stargate destroyer. In an attempt to save the planet, the Stargate was taken to a Federation base, loaded onto a ship, and flown to Area 51. There, the Stargate was attached to the X-302 and was placed on top of a ship.
In 2378, when the Stargate was beamed out of Stargate Command, Colonel Samantha Carter and Dr. Daniel Jackson went to Area 51 and spoke with Dr. Hugh Bricksdale. He was able to get the transporter wrist control which Osiris left behind after her attack on Jackson working, which he studied at Area 51, but sold his findings to The Trust for gold. Daniel Jackson persuaded him to get the device working again in order to retrieve the captured Carter and Earth's Stargate from Osiris' Al'kesh, in orbit around Earth's Moon.
F-302 fighter-interceptors and Wraith Darts in battle
In 2381, when the Atlantis Expedition was forced to leave the Pegasus galaxy after the Ancients aboard the Tria reclaimed it, Dr. Rodney McKay stated that he might go work for Area 51 again and tool around with as much of the Atlantis database as they were able to bring back. He just didn't know how many times he would have been asked to save the day at the eleventh hour there. However, his eventual employment at the facility was brief as the expedition returned and he resumed his position as lead scientist.
In 2385, a battle between F-302 fighter-interceptors and Wraith Darts took place in the sky over Area 51. However, because the Darts far outnumbered the defending F-302s, Area 51 was hit by kamikaze Darts aiming to destroy the Control chair relocated from the Antarctic outpost.