Area 51

Area 51 is located in the middle of the desert in Nevada, southwestern United States.

It is a remote area with no town or village nearby.

The U.S. government says it is a facility for top secret military activity.

Some people, however, believe that Area 51 holds a shocking secret.

According to legends, a U.F.O. crash-landed in the Nevada desert  sometime in the 1950s.

U.S.government officials discovered the flying saucer and its pilots.

Then, they brought the spacecraft and the aliens to Area 51 and sealed off the military facility.

These stories captured the imagination of the American people for decades.

There were many theories about what happened to the aliens.

There were even movies and TV shows about the mystery of Area 51.

Despite these conspiracy theories, the U.S. government didn't publicly acknowledge the facility for many years.

Then in 2013, the government finally released documents about Area 51 and told the truth.

According to the documents, Area 51 was a classified facility opened in the 1950s in order to develop spy planes.

These planes were then used in the Cold War against the Soviet Union.

Experts say people probably mistook the high-tech planes for U.F.O.s

Most people were satisfied with the government's explanation.

However, some people still believed that the government was hiding something.

In September, a large group of these skeptics gathered in front of Area 51.

They demanded to be let in the facility to check for aliens.

Of course, the skeptics were only having fun with the conspiracy theory.

However, the U.S. government still refused to allow them inside Area 51.

 

• remote  rɪˈmoʊt  외진, 외딴 (=isolated)  (시간상으로) 먼 (=distant)

• crash-land   (항공기가) 불시착하다, (조종사가 항공기를) 불시착시키다

• saucer ˈsɔːsə(r)   (커피 잔 따위의) 받침, 접시 모양의 물건 (→flying saucer)

• seal something off  ~을 봉쇄하다

• theory  ˈθɪri   (어떤 현상을 설명하기 위한) 이론  특정 학문과 관련된) 학설[이론]

• conspiracy  kənˈspɪrəsi    음모, 모의   conspire   kənˈspaɪə  음모[모의]를 꾸미다, 공모하다

• classified  ˈklæsɪfaɪd  기밀의 (↔unclassified)   주제별로 분류된   classify  ˈklæsɪfaɪ   분류[구분]하다    ~을 ~으로 분류하다

• skeptic  sképtik   회의론자, 의심 많은 사람