A startling report suggests that the UFO myths linked to Nevada’s Area 51 were actually nurtured by the Pentagon to mask a top-secret weapons initiative.

The 2024 review by the US Department of Defense (DOD) reveals that during the Cold War, the government intentionally spread false information, even circulating fabricated images of UFOs to locals.

In the 1980s, it’s alleged that a US Air Force colonel distributed altered photos of flying saucers to people in a local bar, asserting they were captured nearby.

The photos were quickly pinned on the wall, igniting public speculation that alien technology was being housed and studied at the top-secret base. 

The report claimed the grassroots disinformation campaign was an attempt to hide military testing, including stealth fighter jets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Area 51, officially established in 1955, remained largely under the radar until 1989, when whistleblower Robert Lazar appeared on television. 

He claimed he had worked at a hidden facility near Groom Lake, known as ‘S-4,’ reverse-engineering alien spacecraft, further cementing Area 51’s place in UFO lore.

The report also revealed that high-ranking Air Force officials hazed new commanders by briefing them on a fabricated top-secret project called ‘Yankee Blue,’ which involved the supposed study of extraterrestrial craft. 

After the phony briefing, recruits were warned they would face jail or execution if they ever disclosed the information. 

Details confirming that Area 51 served as a testing ground for America’s cutting-edge weapons were first revealed in a CIA document declassified in 2013. 

The report explained that during the Cold War, the remote Nevada base was used to test aircraft like the U-2 spy plane and the A-12 reconnaissance jet under a veil of secrecy. 

Despite those facts, Area 51 has since evolved into a hotbed of alien conspiracy theories, with persistent rumors of crashed UFOs and extraterrestrial autopsies hidden behind its barbed-wire fences. 

The new claims of a secret weapons cover up comes from a report by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), a congressional task force within the DOD created to investigate persistent rumors of secret government projects involving alien technology. 

Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of the AARO, was appointed by the government in 2022 to investigate and make sense of the countless UFO theories swirling through public and military channels. 

He and his team sifted UFO reports spanning back to 1945, finding several cases where high-ranking military officials misled the public and their own colleagues. 

Kirkpatrick told the Wall Street Journal that he met with retired Air Force members who were briefed about Yankee Blue.

The new recruits were given a photo of what looked like a flying saucer that was described as an anti-gravity maneuvering vehicle.

And even decades later, news that Yankee Blue was fake stunned the now-retired servicemen. 

It was not until 2023 did the defense secretary’s office send a memo out across the service ordering the practice to stop immediately.

Kirkpatrick told then President director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, who was also stunned.

Haines was said to have pressed the issue, questioning how the hazing could have carried on without being stopped.

The official responded: ‘Ma’am, we know it went on for decades. We are talking about hundreds and hundreds of people. These men signed NDAs. They thought it was real.’ 

Defense Department spokeswoman Sue Gough confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that AARO had uncovered fabricated materials falsely presented as part of classified programs involving extraterrestrials. 

She said lawmakers and intelligence officials had been briefed on the findings.