YouTubers capture world-first footage of unreleased next-gen stealth fighter over Area 51
Area 51 has spent decades as the beating heart of conspiracy, from alien theories to rumours of secret experimental testing.
The CIA has officially admitted the site exists and insists it is nothing more than a military airbase used to test aircraft away from prying eyes, yet with so little confirmed, the theories have never gone away.
Now two YouTubers say they have captured world-first footage of an unreleased next-gen stealth fighter flying over the base.
GroovyGavin and Uncanny Expeditions set out to get eyes on Area 51 the hard way. Since hiking to the base's nearest lookout, Tikaboo Peak, was banned, they mapped a route to a different 'secret peak' they reckoned offered a view of the base just as clear.
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"We will be going up there with long-range cameras and seeing inside the base," they explained.
From the top, they got exactly that, looking down on the iconic triangular tower that conspiracy theorists have long spotted on Google Maps, along with Hangar 18 and another hangar.
"I don't think they even knew how good of a view you could theoretically get from this mountain," one said.
"This is so unbelievable to me. Like we're literally looking at Area 51 right now," added the other.
Then something arrived that they were not expecting, as an aircraft came in to land.
"It's a secret airline the Air Force uses to transport employees to Area 51", they noted, joking that while it was not an experimental craft, it could be 'transporting aliens.'
Given the number of UFOs and Dorito-shaped objects reported over the base, though, the pair were hoping for something more spectacular. Camping out overnight, they only spotted the strangest moment when reviewing their footage later.
"It was just past midnight and all of a sudden this ball of light comes over the mountain right to the left of us," one described.
It took some long-range gear and very careful aim to get a clear shot.
"We literally thought it was a helicopter [...] looked like an orb, almost no sound."
They explained: "It literally looks like a big triangle in the wing and an arrow-head at the front. It was going so slow, that was the weirdest part."
After sending the clip to contacts they know in the Air Force, they say it was identified as a next-gen stealth fighter, the F-47, also dubbed Stealth++.
According to the content creator, there was 'zero contrail' even on a thermal scope, meaning no heat or exhaust, which caught them off guard.
It has plenty of company in the skies over US military sites, where the Pentagon has been baffled by thousands of mysterious orbs.
For the pair, the sighting only confirmed their suspicions. "If they're testing that out there, you know there's other stuff," one said, arguing the flyover was no accident given the base's secrecy.