Air Force, FBI Investigating Mysterious Crash Near Area 51

FAA ordered pilots to avoid the area due to ‘national security.’

Zach Vasile

Tuesday, October 07, 2025 at 05:04 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

An MQ-9 Reaper drone taxis into Creech Air Force Base. [Credit: U.S Air Force/Senior Airman Larry E. Reid Jr.]

Key Takeaways:

An aircraft from the U.S. Air Force's 432nd Wing crashed near Area 51 on September 23, with no fatalities or injuries reported.
Two weeks later, investigators found evidence of "tampering" at the secured crash site, including the post-incident placement of an inert training bomb and an unknown aircraft panel.
The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) and the FBI are investigating the tampering.
The military's vagueness about the incident, combined with an FAA "national security" flight restriction near the site, has fueled public speculation about the type of secretive aircraft involved, potentially an RQ-170 Sentinel drone.

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Two weeks after a mysterious aircraft crash in the Nevada desert near Area 51, the U.S. Air Force and the FBI are investigating what appears to be tampering at the crash site.

In a statement released Saturday, the 432nd Wing, stationed at Creech Air Force Base in Clark County, said one of its aircraft was involved in an “incident” on September 23, with no fatalities or injuries. The crash site was secured and cleaned up, the unit said, but on October 3, returning investigators discovered signs of “tampering” at the location, “including the presence of an inert training bomb body and an aircraft panel of unknown origin that were placed on the site post-incident.”