Officially, the U.S. government has never acknowledged the existence of Area 51. Unofficially, it has become a place associated with conspiracy theories, alien landings and tiny spaceships. In Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base, [Los Angeles Times journalist Annie] Jacobsen details how several agencies - including the Atomic Energy Commission, the Department of Defense and the CIA - once used the site to conduct controversial and secretive research on aircraft and pilot-related projects, including planes that traveled three times faster than the speed of sound and nuclear-propelled, space-based missile launch systems. Nuclear tests at Area 51 gave the Department of Defense ideas about how the technology could be used to help the United States' newly minted space program. Jacobsen: There was an unusual moment where [my] source became very upset and told me ... that a flying disc really did crash in New Mexico and it was transported to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and then in 1951 it was transferred to Area 51. My source, who I absolutely believe and worked with for 18 months on this, was one of the engineers who received the equipment and he also received the people who were in the craft. The people ... were child-sized pilots. I absolutely believe the veracity of my source, and I believe it was important that I put this information out there because it is the tip of a very big iceberg.