Could claims that the U.S. military discovered otherworldly spacecraft be true? Might some of post-war America’s greatest technological accomplishments have been the result of reverse-engineering alien vehicles? Ancient astronaut theorists say yes and insist that the truth about Area 51 was actually revealed decades ago, not by UFO enthusiasts or whistleblowers, but by two of the men most responsible for maintaining the government’s most vital secrets.

In Burbank, California, June 1943, in the midst of World War II, the government presses the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to develop the next generation of military planes: jet fighters designed to outshine propeller aircraft and help turn the tide of war. A team headed by Lockheed engineer Clarence Kelly Johnson delivers the first production model in just 143 days. Their P-80 Shooting Star initiates the jet age for the U.S. military. Kelly Johnson’s secret research and development team ultimately becomes known as Skunk Works.

Despite his mainstream credentials, Johnson becomes the primary witness to a now-famous UFO sighting in Agoura, California, on December 16, 1953. His report of the encounter and his personal sketches of the craft were preserved by Project Blue Book, the U.S. government’s official account of the UFO phenomenon at the time.

During an era of official skepticism about UFOs, Johnson risks his career by reporting the sighting to his superiors. But instead of being penalized or demoted, Johnson is seemingly rewarded two years later when he plays a pivotal role in founding America’s most secret military base, Area 51.

Was Area 51 founded merely to test experimental aircraft, as the military insists? Or did Kelly Johnson choose the location as the best place to reverse-engineer the very alien spacecraft he believed he saw with his own eyes?