CIA Station D – Area 51

The Central Intelligence Agency, tasked by the US president to learn the war capabilities of the country’s Cold War opponents, transitioned from covert operations to a world leader in science and technology at nondescript a venue in the Nevada desert known as Area 51. Starting with the high-flying U-2 surveillance plane in 1955 – a project more highly classified than the Manhattan Project – the CIA endured the radioactive fallout of the atomic proving grounds next door to develop the stealthy 90,000-foot, Mach 3+ A-12: the world’s highest, fastest piloted jet plane ever. Acting as a power projection platform, the CIA’s Station D at Area 51 deployed its surveillance planes and crews worldwide to overfly war zones and US adversaries. Needing to stay ahead of these adversaries, the CIA continued stealth development and Russian technology exploitation throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. Missions and projects that came out of the facility – many of them secret – shaped international events, as well as relations with allies and enemies. The exploits from that period turned Station D into the high-tech laboratory and flight test facility that it is today.Thornton D. “TD” Barnes first became involved with US intelligence agencies while in the Army during the CIA’s Project Palladium. He served with the CIA on special projects at Area 51, and his on-and-off relationship with the agency continues to this day. Barnes currently serves as the president of Roadrunners Internationale, an association of Area 51 CIA, Air Force, and contractor veterans, and is the executive director of the Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame.