A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport or Groom Lake. It was also previously referred to as "Paradise Ranch" in order to make the facility sound more attractive to those that would be working there. "Paradise Ranch" was then shortened to "the Ranch." Other nicknames include "Watertown" and "Dreamland".

The original rectangular base of 60 square miles (156 sq km) is now part of the so-called "Groom box", a rectangular area measuring 575 square miles (1,480 sq km) of restricted airspace.

Area 51 is near State Route 375, and many travelers have reported UFO observations and other strange alien activity along this road. Such stories prompted the state to officially designate the route as the Extraterrestrial Highway in 1996.

The small town of Rachel, Nevada caters to tourists, geocachers, and UFO seekers with alien-themed businesses. Although the area receives some tourism due to alleged extraterrestrial activity, SR 375 remains a lightly traveled route.

Lazar claims to have been hired in the late 1980s to reverse-engineer extraterrestrial technology at what he described as a secret site called "S-4". Lazar claims the alien craft ran on an antimatter reactor powered by element 115, which at the time had not yet been synthesized. Lazar's story has since been rejected by many ufologists as universities from which he claims to hold degrees show no record of him. Lazar alleges that his records have been erased.

One popular theory is that remains from a flying saucer that crashed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947 were brought to Area 51 so scientists could replicate the alien spacecraft.

Janet Airlines is the unofficial name given to a highly classified fleet of passenger aircraft operated for the United States Department of the Air Force as an employee shuttle to transport military and contractor employees to and from Area 51. The aircraft are generally unmarked, but do have a red paint strip along the windows. The fleet's "Janet" call sign is said to stand for "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal" or a combination of two acronyms JAN (Joint Army Navy) & ET (Extra Terrestrial).

Around the perimeter of Area 51, there are numerous "no trespassing" signs that clearly state: "Use of Deadly Force Authorized". If you are trespassing and considered an immediate security threat, you can expect to be shot at. In addition, you could be subject to six months imprisonment, a $1,000 fine, or both.

As if crashed UFOs weren't enough, some conspiracy theorists also think that Area 51 is where the moon landing was staged. In his 1974 book, We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle, conspiracy theorist Bill Kaysing argues that NASA astronauts never made it to space and that all the footage of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the lunar surface was filmed at Area 51.

In response to an environmental lawsuit from civilian contractors, President Bill Clinton issued a Presidential Determination exempting what it called "the Air Force's Operating Location Near Groom Lake, Nevada" from environmental disclosure laws. Consequently, the suit was dismissed due to lack of evidence.