We’ve all heard of Area 51, but what about its equivalents across the globe? Below you’ll find ten of the most fascinating, with all but three still humming with activity.
10 Rumored Area Sites Around the Globe
Out in the grasslands that hug Johannesburg, close to the semi‑rural settlement of Bapsfontein, a place called Station 13 allegedly operated from the early 1960s until the mid‑1980s. The only solid lead on its existence comes from a single source: Greg Roberts, who claims he chanced upon the site while hunting down a job interview at the nearby Baker‑Nunn satellite tracking station.
Roberts recounts that in 1966 he followed a dirt road to a gate plastered with a stark ‘NO ADMITTANCE’ sign, a four‑meter‑high trailer, and, a few kilometres away, a massive radio dish tucked into a dip. He recognized the place as the Bapsfontein tracking station—also known as Station 13—based on rumors he’d heard. Ignoring the sign, he slipped inside the trailer, where a young man in a U.S. military uniform greeted him, handed him a phone, and let him call the staff at Baker‑Nunn. The trailer was filled with humming electronic gear and paperwork that made it clear the United States Air Force owned the facility, which Pan American Airways ran as part of the Eastern Missile Test Range.
Roberts left after making the call, warned not to go any farther. The mystery deepened in 1982 when, seeking to distance itself from apartheid, the United States shut down its South African installations and auctioned off much of the equipment. Roberts missed the auction, but friends hinted at puzzling details: a frequency used only for the 1961‑65 RANGER lunar craft, and a 26‑meter dish reminiscent of Hartebeesthoek’s deep‑space antenna. He wondered aloud whether the dish ever served a purpose beyond moon missions—perhaps deep‑space tracking? No definitive answers have surfaced.
9 QinetiQ, United Kingdom
The Hampshire headquarters of defense contractor QinetiQ is, according to the British Earth and Aerial Mysteries Society (BEAMS), perched atop a UFO‑type installation. BEAMS alleges that deep underground levels—dubbed D.U.M.B.s (Deep Underground Military Bases)—host research into intergalactic defence and futuristic flight tech.
Concrete evidence is thin, but some details are oddly specific. The road layout leading to the entrance supposedly mirrors a Grey alien with arms outstretched, and the building’s silhouette is said to look like a classic flying saucer. BEAMS even ties the design to Australian cave paintings of a Grey/Reptilian hybrid.
Additional clues include the site’s tight security, alleged testimonies from former staff, remote‑viewing reports, and a history of mining work that allegedly caused strange rumblings in Farnborough over the past fifteen years. When pressed for comment, a QinetiQ spokesperson told The Daily Express they were reviewing a “very detailed dossier and working on a response.” That statement dates back eight years, and both QinetiQ and the Ministry of Defence continue to refuse comment on UFO matters.
8 Site 7, USSR/Kazakhstan (Closed)
The Soviet Union’s Sary Shagan test range, specifically Site 7, was identified by the CIA as a hub for experimental weapons, chiefly missile technology such as warheads packed with metal balls. Rumors also suggest laser weapon development took place there, possibly explaining a UFO sighting linked to the site.
In 1973, CIA documents recount a witness at Site 7 describing a bright, sharp green circular object hovering just above the clouds. Within ten to fifteen seconds the green disc expanded, spawning concentric green rings before vanishing silently.
Officially, Site 7 served as Sary Shagan’s “warhead checkout unit.” Given its experimental weapons focus and the eerie green lights, the base bears a striking resemblance to America’s Area 51. Its desert lake setting, clear skies, and secretive atmosphere further the parallel.
7 Port Wakefield Proof and Experimental Establishment, Australia
Port Wakefield forms part of a network of sizable Australian military sites, and while it isn’t the largest—covering 56 km² versus Woomera’s 120,000 km²—it stands out for its intrigue. Situated off a remote highway near the northern tip of Gulf St Vincent, the establishment handles experimental weapons testing and munitions proofing for the army, air force, and navy.
Local witnesses report odd flashes of light, glowing balls, and radio interference. One delivery driver claimed he lost radio contact with fellow drivers whenever he neared the site, remarking, “There’s a lot that I don’t think people know about it.”
He may have been alluding to the infamous Port Wakefield hitchhiker—a spectral figure in air‑force attire who appears on the highway, sometimes standing at the roadside, other times in the centre of the road, forcing drivers to slam on their brakes. Witnesses say the ghost vanishes into thin air, even dissolving when someone attempts to follow it into a nearby gas‑station restroom.
6 Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory
Diego Garcia sits just south of the equator, more than 2,000 km from Sri Lanka. Its past includes a French leper colony and, in the 1960s, a British plantation that forced child labor. Today, the island hosts a joint UK/US military base complete with a deep‑water port and a runway capable of accommodating the space shuttle.
The base’s isolation fuels speculation. One whistleblower claims a D.U.M.B. lies beneath the island, supporting “Black Navy” projects such as the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, as well as human cloning experiments. According to the source, he was cloned twice in the 1980s, with his “alters” sent to Mars and Earth for secret missions.
A more grounded account comes from USAF pilot Stephen Walker, who in 2005 was ordered to avoid a large, dilapidated hangar at the northern end of the airfield because the Navy was conducting “sensitive operations.” The flight line was cleared, windows shut, and personnel waited in silence for a classified aircraft that never produced any audible landing sounds—no tires, no brakes, no whir. Walker summed it up: “There’s no quiet like the silence of a shutdown airfield on an atoll more than 2,000 miles away from the nearest sign of civilization.”
5 Orford Ness, United Kingdom (Closed)
Orford Ness, perched on the Suffolk coast about 160 km northeast of London, once housed a massive nuclear weapons laboratory. Today it’s a National Trust nature reserve, its marshland surroundings offering a glimpse of what Area 51 might become when its secrets finally surface.
Established in 1913, a decade after the first powered flight, the site originally researched aircraft for warfare. Over six decades it evolved, eventually hosting a massive centrifuge for warhead testing, a hangar for captured Axis aircraft, and the enormous Cobra Mist over‑the‑horizon radar. During WWII it played a role comparable to Bletchley Park’s code‑breaking efforts.
Research was compartmentalised: scientists worked on isolated components without knowledge of the broader weapon system. Innovations included night‑flying instrumentation, ship‑borne take‑off and landing technology, the 5,400‑kg “earthquake bomb” nicknamed Tallboy, and Britain’s first nuclear device, Blue Danube. Much of the work remains classified, and access to the site stays limited.
4 Znamensk, Russia
Better known originally as Kapustin Yar, Znamensk was founded in 1946, shortly after World War II, and may be the longest‑running experimental weapons complex on the planet. Like Area 51, it sits in a desert—this time east of Volgograd in southern Russia.
Developments there span ballistic missiles, orbital rockets, sounding rockets, and nuclear weapons. It also launched Laika, the first dog in space. Today Znamensk serves as Russia’s largest military training centre, blending weapons testing with aerospace research.
In 1953, British pilots photographed the base from a modified Canberra bomber, despite Soviet fire. Later, Turkish radar engineers helped the U.S. set up a massive antenna—roughly the length of a football field—to monitor the skies over the site. The antenna captured data on intercontinental ballistic missiles with ranges up to 2,500 nautical miles.
3 Mount Yamantau, Russia
Dubbed “Russia’s Mount Everest,” Mount Yamantau in the Urals allegedly conceals an expansive underground base. The government openly designates the peak as a strategic site, and President Putin has spoken about safeguarding nuclear command and control infrastructure there, suggesting the existence of a massive subterranean complex.
Rumors claim the facility stretches beneath 3,000 feet of quartz, covering an area comparable to Washington, D.C.’s Beltway—over 1,000 km². The quartz layer may block radio signals, making the bunker an ideal refuge for top officials during a nuclear conflict, similar to the United States’ Raven Rock Mountain Complex.
The nearby town of Mezhgorye, home to around 17,000 residents, is believed to be populated almost entirely by Yamantau scientists, all working on highly classified projects. The true purpose of the underground complex remains shrouded in secrecy.
2 Lop Nur, China
China excels at keeping secrets, especially in its most desolate regions. Deep in Xinjiang’s barren desert, hundreds of miles from any city, lies Lop Nur. Far from abandoned, the site appears to be expanding, with satellite images from 2021 revealing twelve new concrete structures surrounding a three‑mile runway.
Given the runway’s size—first appearing in 2016—analysts suspect Lop Nur is used to test a classified “space plane” and other off‑world technologies. The new buildings could signal a permanent military presence or simply housing for scientists, but the overall activity points to ongoing, highly secretive testing. The runway itself may be expanding into an equilateral triangle, enabling take‑offs and landings in three directions.
Diplomats refuse to comment, but the combination of location, activity, and secrecy makes Lop Nur a direct Chinese counterpart to Area 51.
1 Kongka La, India
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14PTajp9r00
Kongka La, or Kongka Pass, sits high in the Himalayas near Ladakh and has earned a reputation as a hotbed for strange phenomena: unexplained lights, equipment failures, and even flying saucers. The area is disputed territory, claimed by both China and India, and has seen violent confrontations in the 1950s and 1960s. Civilians are strictly prohibited from entering.
Support for an Area 51‑style installation comes from Google Earth imagery that allegedly showed military buildings, suggesting any base would be deep underground, leveraging the region’s unusually deep crust. Some images even appear to reveal “unidentified caves” that flicker in and out of view.
Ground reports add to the intrigue. In 2004, a team of geologists reported seeing a robot‑like creature, four feet tall, strolling along the mountain crest before fleeing when approached. The Indian military has also recorded odd events, including a 2012 sighting of a ribbon‑like object drifting in the sky that evaded radar detection.