Q 01/05

In which US state does Area 51 lie?

A) New Mexico

B) Nevada

C) Arizona

D) Utah

Answer · why

B) Nevada

Nevada. The CIA chose the remote site in 1955 because a closed government test range next door already kept visitors away.

Q 02/05

Which is the nearest major city to Area 51?

A) Reno

B) Las Vegas

C) Carson City

D) Salt Lake City

Answer · why

B) Las Vegas

Las Vegas is the base's lifeline: workers commute from a private terminal at its airport every weekday on unmarked passenger jets.

Q 03/05

Under what name is Area 51's airfield listed in pilots' navigation databases?

A) Homey Airport

B) Groom Field

C) Desert Rock Airport

D) Pahute Mesa Airstrip

Answer · why

A) Homey Airport

Homey Airport turned up in pilots' flight-planning software in 2007, but the Air Force disowned it: a spokeswoman said the name was 'not something tha...

Q 04/05

Area 51 is administered as a remote detachment of which California installation?

A) Vandenberg

B) Beale

C) Edwards

D) Travis

Answer · why

C) Edwards

Edwards. The CIA built the desert base because it judged Edwards too exposed for testing a secret aircraft, then ended up handing Edwards control of i...

Q 05/05

Which U-2 pilot, shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, had learned to fly the plane at Groom Lake?

A) Chuck Yeager

B) Rudolf Anderson

C) Scott Crossfield

D) Francis Gary Powers

Answer · why

D) Francis Gary Powers

Francis Gary Powers trained at the secret base in 1956; his capture four years later wrecked a Paris summit between the United States, the Soviet Unio...