"Area 51:" NOT Just About "U.F.O.s?" (Are YOU Curious?)

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Okay, this is not about extra terrestrials (maybe), whether green, gray or bug-eyed, nor about flying saucers or invasions nor secret government bases (maaaaybe...), but about the whole concept of "areas" such as number 51. I have questions. Questions I've never even heard asked, let alone answered, & I'm turning to you first, fellow MyLotters, hoping you can save me countless hours of picayune research. Today I was half-watching a program on TV about UFOs over Illinois, & the phrase "Area 51" cropped up, as it usually does in these sort of programs. But for some reason, for the first time, an new idea popped into my head about the famous old address. * What exactly constitutes an "area?" * Since there is an area 51, where are areas 1 through 50? Are (or were) there more? * Is this just a U.S. thing, or world-wide? * Who decided where the areas are? * Who mapped them out, & why? * How big are they, or are they different sizes (& shapes)? * Are the areas merely pinpoints, or is there a grid of contiguous "areas?" * Do they always center around military bases, or are they the home of other significant centers, & if the latter case, what kind of places are they? * Are they all secret? If so, why? If not, why don't we hear of them? * Should we be concerned about them? I probably could ask more questions, but these are just the first ones off the top of my head, & sufficient to underline my ignorance. Does anyone have actual knowledge--not mere speculation or rumor--knowledge, of the answers? Does anyone else have questions which I didn't list that we could ponder? Maggiepie “The penalty good men pay for not being interested in politics, is to be governed by men worse than themselves.” ~ Plato, 350 B.C.