An recently updated feature of Google Earth allows users an unprecedented look at how Area 51 has grown and changed over the last three decades.
Known as Google Timelapse, the service harnesses thousands of satellite images to create an annual overview of the Earth from 1984 to this year.
While the fascinating perspective on the planet has generated headlines for how it reveals the sheer scope of human development on the planet, one particular location has drawn the attention of conspiracy theorists: the infamous Area 51.
Using Timelapse, curious viewers can peer back 32 years and follow the evolution of Area 51 up until the most recent images of the base that were released earlier this year.
Anyone expecting to spot a UFO or maybe a tiny alien accidentally caught on camera will be disappointed, but there are still some interesting details contained in the chronological showcase of the base.
A side-by-side comparison of 1984 and 2016 shows a significant expansion of what appear to be buildings at the base as well as a much more complex infrastructure including several additional runways.
What may be most compelling, perhaps, is how the details of the base become increasingly clearer as the satellite images progress through the years.
By 2016, a fairly crisp glimpse of the base is available, leaving one to wonder just how much better the pictures will get in the future.
Explore Area 51 using Timelapse here and see if you can spot anything that 'they' don't want us to know about.
Coast Insiders looking for a different kind of journey into the history of Area 51 can check out Bob Lazar's 11/23/2014 appearance on the program to commemorate the 25th anniversary of George Knapp's news report which revealed the now-legendary base to the world.
Source: Daily Mail
