A huge fire near Area 51 has sparked some wild UFO conspiracy theories.
The incident caused a stir among UFO enthusiasts after a livestream camera set up near the location captured the footage of smoke plumes billowing into the sky.
The fire stemmed from the Gothic Fire, which started after lightning struck in the area on July 4, and has charred over 30,000 acres of land.
Area 51 is part of the Nevada Test and Training Range and is a highly classified US Air Force facility found at Groom Lake in southern Nevada.
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It’s famed for its secrecy, leading many to believe it’s involved in the study of extraterrestrial life and UFOs.
First established in 1955, the facility was pretty much unknown up until 1989 when Robert Lazar spoke out on TV claiming that he worked at a site studying alien technology and spacecraft.
The fire hasn’t actually reached the base and is instead around 15 miles away from the military base, but that hasn’t stopped conspiracy theorists from speculating.
Many people took to social media to share their own reactions to the news.
On Reddit, one user wrote: “I'm not saying it's aliens but..
Another joked: “I bet someone was microwaving fish and the aliens had enough of the smell.”
A third commented: “You'd think Area 51 of all places would have a better plan set to prevent damage from wildfires.”
And a fourth person added: “I'm assuming most of their truly important assets are pretty far underground anyways so. Wildfire won't do much.”
Others took to X, formerly Twitter, to question whether there was a different reason for the fire, with one person asking whether people had ‘finally stormed Area 51’.
Another wrote: “Are they trying to destroy evidence now that a congressman has asked for access to Area 51?”
The owners of the EWU Crew livestream shared an alert about the fire, writing: “A fire has broken out inside the boundaries of Area 51 and our cameras are capturing it in real time.
“This livestream is operated from private property overlooking the Area 51 perimeter near Rachel, NV.
“Watch day and night as activity unfolds. Strange lights, aircraft, convoys, and now: smoke rising from inside the base. We’re located only minutes from the back gate of Groom Lake.”
One of the most famous theories about Area 51 is that it houses an alien spacecraft and the bodies of aliens inside the vessel after it supposedly crashed in New Mexico back in 1947.
However, the US government has said that there are no aliens and the so-called spacecraft was actually a weather balloon.