Some have connected the site with the alleged government coverup of an alien spacecraft crash. But if that’s not true, what is?

As the internet jokingly threatens to storm Area 51, here's everything to know about the remote desert's site mysterious history.

Sri Lanka, island country lying in the Indian Ocean and separated from peninsular India by the Palk Strait. Proximity to the Indian subcontinent has facilitated close cultural interaction between Sri Lanka and India from ancient times. Sri Lanka gained independence from Britain in 1948.

Rome, historic city and the capital of Italy. It is in the central part of the Italian peninsula, on the Tiber River. Once capital of an ancient republic and empire and seat of the Roman Catholic Church, it became the site of major pinnacles of artistic and intellectual development and is called the Eternal City.

Notre-Dame de Paris, cathedral church in Paris. The most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, it is distinguished for its size, antiquity, and architectural interest. A fire in 2019 destroyed most of the cathedral’s roof and the entire 19th-century spire.

Mexico, country of southern North America and the third largest country in Latin America. It is one of the chief economic and political forces in Latin America, with a dynamic industrial base, vast mineral resources, a wide-ranging service sector, and the world’s largest population of Spanish speakers.

Maldives, independent island country in the north-central Indian Ocean. It consists of about 1,200 low-lying small coral islands and sandbanks, only some 200 of which are inhabited, the most populous of which is Male. The country’s largest industries include fishing, tourism, and shipping.

Japan, island country lying off the east coast of Asia that has Tokyo as its national capital.

Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of the worst nuclear accident in history when a routine test went horribly wrong on April 26, 1986.

Art Deco, movement in decorative arts and architecture in Europe and the United States during the 1920s and ’30s. Its distinguishing features include simple, clean shapes, often with a streamlined look; ornament that is geometric or stylized from representational forms; and unusually varied materials.