Report: Russian Plane Flew Over Area 51 in Nevada

A Tu-154 plane with registration number RA-85572 at Chkalovsky military airport near Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 15, 2015. Dmitry Petrochenko/AP Photo

A Russian aircraft flew over Area 51 in southern Nevada as part of the Open Skies Treaty, according to a report.

The Drive reported that a Tu-154M was captured flying over several military bases in the western United States, including the infamous Area 51. The flight occurred on March 28, starting at Travis Air Force Base in California.

Next, the plane flew over Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, Fort Irwin National Training Center in San Bernardino County, and Nevada’s Creech Air Force Base, The Drive reported, citing FlightRadar24 data.

The Russian plane then went to Yucca Flat, a nuclear test site.

“It then headed over the pockmarked Nevada Test Site. Area 51 sits just to the east of this location. The aircraft’s panoramic cameras can collect fairly wide swathes of imagery along the Open Skies aircraft’s flight path,” The Drive reported.

Near the Nevada Test Site is Area 51, located to the east. The plane’s aircraft is able to gather a large area of images along the flight path.

Later, it flew to the Tonopah Test Range before going to Salt Lake, Utah.

The plane then went back to Great Falls, Montana, which has an international airport, reported KRTV. The crew left the United States over the weekend.

It’s the first Open Skies mission over the United States in 2019.

The United States already flew several Open Skies sorties over Russia last month, Air Force Magazine reported.

The Open Skies Treaty went into effect in January 2002 and has 34 states.

Area 51 is a U.S. Air Force facility in a remote area within the Nevada Test and Training Range. The base’s current purpose is currently unknown.

Over the year, conspiracy theories have abounded about the secret base, including UFOs and experimental weapons.

The CIA declassified a 400-page document in 2017 about the secret facility.

“Area 51, it turns out, was just test site that housed spy planes, most notably the U-2. Introduced in 1957, the U-2 could travel as far as 7,000 miles, at an altitude of 70,000 feet, and stay airborne for up to 12 hours. U-2s are still in service with the U.S. Air Force today, and the old film cameras have been replaced U-2s used to carry have been replaced by digital cameras. In fact, some public land has weird, barcode-like patterns on it, built for U-2 camera tests,” said Popular Science magazine, citing the document.

However, Area 51 is still highly restricted. A warning sign posted on a gate, as shown in a recent YouTube video, says it’s a “restricted area.” Another sign says it is a “no drone zone” and says “photography is prohibited in this area.”

Russian Planes Should ‘Get Out’

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Russia to pull its troops from Venezuela and said that “all options” were open to make that happen.

The arrival of two Russian air force planes outside Caracas on Saturday believed to be carrying nearly 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel has escalated the political crisis in Venezuela.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on March 31, 2019. Tasos Katopodis-Pool/Getty Images

Russia and China have backed President Nicolas Maduro, while the United States and most other Western countries support opposition leader Juan Guaido. In January, Guaido invoked the constitution to assume Venezuela’s interim presidency, arguing that Maduro’s 2018 re-election was illegitimate.

“Russia has to get out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, where he met with Guaido’s wife, Fabiana Rosales.

Asked how he would make Russian forces leave, Trump said: “We’ll see. All options are open.”

Reuters contributed to this report.