Several references are made by just declassified CIA records

to the surveillance airplane testing site.

The ET highway runs along the eastern boundary of Area 51. Its existence is being
acknowledged by the CIA in recently declassified documents.
By Allie Bidwell Aug. 16, 2013, at 10:58 a.m. More
Though government officials denied its existence for several decades, the CIA has confirmed
in recently released documents that Area 51 is real.
While it does not make any references to paranormal action reports normally associated with
the scheme near the Mojave Desert and conspiracy theories, the CIA admits its existence
several times in newly declassified files on the history of the U-2 and OXCART spy plane
programs. The files were obtained by the National Security Archive of George Washington
University through a public records request.
The more than 400-page history describes how Area 51 was used as the base for the spy
planes, which ran surveillance around the globe following World War II, particularly in the
Soviet Union through the Cold War.
[READ: Few Anticipate Change in Spying Practices]
All mentions of Area 51 was redacted, although Jeffrey Richelson, National Security Archive
senior fellow, read through the history in 2002, USA Today reported.
Richelson made another request which the bureau reacted to a couple of weeks ago with a
version that was significantly redacted. Richelson told USA Today this may be a sign the CIA
is becoming less close about Area 51 and what goes on within its borders.
The history is also important because it releases other formerly classified information,
including the names of aviators, code names, places and financing organizations related to
the U-2 plan.
[ADDITIONALLY: Review Board Drives NSA Actions Into Additional Secrecy]
The report states that then-President Dwight Eisenhower wanted aviators flying the U-2
airplanes to be non-U.S. citizens to protect privacy of the operations.
"It was his belief that, should a U-2 come down in hostile territory, it will be much easier for
the United States to deny any responsibility for the action when the pilot wasn't an
American," the report says.
Though Area 51 is not the government's best kept secret (it has been referenced in other
government documents and shows up in books on aerial surveillance) these files are the first
that acknowledge its existence and given specifics about its operations, CNN reported.
[CONNECTED: Obama Announces Reforms to NSA Spy Program]
But the files do give some explanation to reports of UFOs in the area following the authorities

started examining the U2 planes.

The military began examining the planes at high elevations in able to conduct
reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union, together with the belief that radars would not
have the capacity to detect aircraft flying above 65,000 feet. Most airplanes at the time flew
at altitudes between 10,000 and 20,000 feet, and even military aircraft flew below 40,000
feet.
"High-altitude testing of the u 2 soon resulted in an unexpected side effect - a huge increase
in the reports of unidentified flying objects," the report says. "Only at that time, no one
believed manned flight was possible above 60,000 feet, so no one expected to see an item
so high in the sky."
[MORE: Sen. Rand Paul Still Struggling to Understand When FBI Can Spy on You]
These reports, both from air traffic controllers and people on the ground, led to the Operation
Blue Book, in which officials attempted to spell out the sightings by linking them of the Air
Force. Air Force officials also checked UFO sightings that were reported against U-2 flight
logs.
"u 2 and later OXCART flights accounted for more than one-half of all UFO reports during the
late 1950s and the majority of the 1960s," the report says.
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