A Cold War-era effort by the U.S. military to protect national security has been linked to the origin of widespread UFO conspiracy theories surrounding Area 51, according to a newly surfaced government report.
The findings suggest the Pentagon orchestrated deliberate hoaxes to divert attention from classified weapons testing.
The report, issued by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), details how fake materials were used to mislead the public and even members of the military.
AARO is a congressional task force created to investigate persistent claims involving government programs allegedly tied to extraterrestrial technology.
During the 1980s, a U.S. Air Force colonel reportedly distributed manipulated images of flying saucers to civilians at a bar near the classified facility.
The doctored photographs, presented as authentic sightings, were displayed publicly, stoking rumors that alien spacecraft were being stored or examined at the site.
These staged encounters were allegedly part of a broader campaign designed to shield highly classified military development, the Daily Mail reports.
Officials pointed to stealth aircraft, such as the U-2 spy plane and A-12 reconnaissance jet, as projects that were kept secret under the cover of alien speculation.
A 2013 CIA document previously confirmed that the Nevada facility was used