Literature / Area 51

The cover of the first novel's e-book edition

Area 51 is a long-running book series by Bob Mayer, starting under his pen name of Robert Doherty in 1997 and continuing to this day. It begins revolving around the titular secret military site in Nevada, though rapidly expands to a global and then interstellar scale with the reveal of what's going on there, plus its connections to other things around the world. Thus far, there have been thirteen books in the series, along with some spin-offs which involve elements from the books' past.

Books in the series

• Area 51 (1997)
• Area 51: The Reply (1998)
• Area 51: The Mission (1999)
• Area 51: The Sphinx (2000)
• Area 51: The Grail (2001)
• Area 51: Excalibur (2002)
• Area 51: The Truth (2003)
• Area 51: Nosferatu (2003)
• Area 51: Legend (2004)
• Area 51: Redemption (2018)
• Area 51: Invasion (2018)
• Area 51: Interstellar (2019)
• Area 51: Earth Abides (2020)

The series contains examples of the following tropes:

• 90% of Your Brain: It's revealed eventually that humans don't use much of their mental potential as a result of the Airlia deliberately inhibiting this when they created us.
• Abusive Precursors: The Airlia, the aliens who created humans and have covertly manipulated us throughout history, view humanity as cannon fodder at best. However, they were fighting something even worse.
• Action Girl:
  • The female Airlia and The Ones Who Wait (artificially created people who appear mostly human but have partly Airlia DNA too) also bear arms, fighting with equal competence to males.
  • There are also some human women soldiers who show their skills in the books, though not as many.
• The Ageless: As a result of their technology, Airlia can keep from aging (along with humans they've enhanced) and don't die of this.
• Alien Abduction: These were actually faked by Majic-12 to keep people in the dark about what's really going on. People abducted are implanted with fake memories which make it appear real.
• Aliens Among Us: Initially humans in the know think the aliens whose technology they've gotten hold of left millennia ago. This turns out to be wrong-some never left, and have been manipulating humanity from the shadows. Once their past presence has been made known, they reveal themselves fully.
• Aliens Are Bastards: The Airlia are coldly indifferent to humanity at best, and see us only as minions. The Swarm, meanwhile, view all other life forms as hosts.
• Aliens Steal Cattle: Part of the Area 51 disinformation campaign is taking cattle and mutilating them with lasers, which makes people think aliens did it for some unknown reason, misdirecting them down that rabbit hole.
• All Theories Are True: The prevalent occult/conspiracy theories about ancient aliens on Earth, Atlantis, Area 51 the Pyramids etc. were all or mostly true according to the books. In fact, the author himself claims 95% of the content is true.
• An Arm and a Leg:
  • Aspasia's Shadow is wounded by Mike Turcotte in Area 51: The Grail, with one hand shot off. It regenerates once he partakes of the Grail though, albeit fairly slowly.
  • Lisa Duncan's hand is later severed by Garlin too, to use her palm print for opening a secret chamber. It also grows back.
• Ancestral Name: Kaji, an old Egyptian man who guards the secret of the Sphinx, inherited his name from his ancestors. Both the name and duty are passed down by the males in his family. We are shown in the late 1800s another Kaji had guided Richard Francis Burton to the Sphinx. The line and name end with the latest, 21st century ones, since Abdu Al Iblis murders both the father and son.
• Ancient Astronauts: The series reveals there is an alien species that has interfered with humanity throughout our history, and has maintained a presence into the modern day. They were the creators of most famous edifices (the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge etc.). In fact two factions exist who have both battled each other for millennia, and their leaders took various guises (such as King Arthur) to win humans' support. Basically all myths of gods, ancient heroes and lost lands (like Atlantis) come from their past interference. This conflict boils over to the present in the novels. It's also revealed their species is combating another who's even worse. Humans, it turns out, were genetically engineered by them as soldiers to fight in this war. We're not even native to Earth.
• Ancient Conspiracy: It's revealed that two factions from the Airlia, an alien species, have been plotting against each other and covertly warring with human stooges for thousands of years on Earth, along with keeping their existence unknown to most.
• And I Must Scream: People taken over by the nanovirus have a part of their mind still independent and aware, utterly horrified by what's happened but unable break free.
• Area 51: The first book heavily focuses on the mysterious site, revealed as a secret government base for test-flying flying saucers. However, in subsequent books things move on into other areas.
• Artifact Domination: The Airlia computers mentally dominate the people who foolishly turned them on.
• Artifact Title: Though the first book does revolve heavily around the events at Area 51, subsequent books expand the scope to other areas, with the site being only mentioned or tangential.
• Artificial Human: It's revealed that the Airlia created many people, partly with their DNA, to serve as agents. It's eventually revealed that humanity in general were created by the Airlia. However, later on in the series it's shown that the Martians created them.
• Artistic License – History:
  • The Aymara are mentioned as having vanished mysteriously, much like the Anasazi people. However, not only are they still around (nearly two million strong across five countries) one of them, Evo Morales, was elected as President of Bolivia since the books came out. Not to mention all the various claims about ancient aliens, Atlantis really existing etc which are confirmed in the story and presented as fact by the author.
  • The Iran-Iraq War is inaccurately stated to have lasted from 1979-1990. In fact it was from 1980-88. Further, in the book it's said Iran and Iraq never made a formal peace, only a ceasefire. They did though.
• Artistic License – Linguistics: Although he's realistically tentative regarding his translation of the fictional high runes in the first book and he starts with a very small vocabulary, it's left a mystery just how Nabinger could decipher any of them. It's said they aren't related to any known language (unsurprisingly, as they turn out to be from the alien Airlia), and there is no Rosetta Stone equivalent. Without that, however, he should not have the first clue about what they mean, certainly not to the extent he does starting out.
• Assimilation Plot: Aspasia's Shadow uses nanomachines to take over thousands of people, including many US Marines and Navy personnel, forcing them into his service. When fighting the rest of the US Navy his goal is to assimilate them as well. His desire is for the entire world to be assimilated, claiming that humans will be far better off when he rules.
• As You Know: In several cases necessary information is given to the reader by repeating things characters already know. Sometimes it's lampshaded, such as Mualama's nephew Lago (whom he does this with) feeling annoyed that he's getting another lecture on things he's aware of (his uncle is a professor). Mostly though it's given by other means, such as briefings or discoveries conveyed to characters that didn't know about it.
• Atlantis: It's revealed this was the source of all civilizations on Earth, after refugees from there fled its destruction by aliens millennia ago.
• Author Tract: Though it works in the story, author Robert Doherty (a true believer in everything his work depicts as true-ancient astronauts and Atlantis, simply to start) puts in a number of slams against mainstream scientists who he portrays as just too dogmatic to accept any evidence which doesn't fit into their theories, even covering it up. To some degree, this comes from the influence of said aliens and government coverups, though a lot is apparently just his personal beef (along with pushing said alternate hypotheses in fiction form). While this does not make the books bad, sometimes it can come off as a bit much (along with insulting to real scientists who reject his views).
• Back from the Dead: Lisa Duncan is shot and killed toward the end of Area 51: The Grail. Then she resurrects shortly afterward, with her wound completely healed, due to being made immortal through partaking of the Grail.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: A ton of historical figures were actually aliens in disguise, such as King Arthur and Jack the Ripper. Others were their minions or enemies in a secret war.
• Bilingual Bonus: A villain is introduced named Abdu Al Iblis. This means "Servant of the Devil" in Arabic. Oddly enough, Richard Francis Burton (despite having lived in Mecca where he met him) doesn't realize what this means (nor does it tip off Arabs generally).
• Bio-Augmentation: Airlia nanomachines modify captured humans at times to better serve them, e.g. enhancing two Navy SEALs whom they send up on Mount Everest so their lungs don't need acclimatization first.
• The Black Death: It's revealed the Airlia weaponized the disease to cull humanity in the past. They do so again in the present, making it even worse.
• Black Helicopter: Majic 12's covert ops, Nightscape, uses them when on their clandestine missions. It's justified as they do these at night (like their name implies).
• Borrowed Biometric Bypass: Garlin severs Lisa's hand, which opens up a secret place at Stonehenge with the palm print.
• Brain Uploading: The Airlia have technology which allows this. By using it, Aspasia and Artad possess human forms many times across millennia, uploading their minds into different bodies. These are called their "Shadows", with them using medallions which can download new memories from their times in these bodies too.
• Brainwashed: The Airlia technology can brainwash humans to serve them. It can be done through affecting them with a Guardian computer, or taking them over using nanomachines.
• Broken Masquerade: After a couple books, the world learned the alien Airlia exist and have had covert contact with humanity for millennia, in spite of their efforts to hide themselves from most. They struggle with the import of this and its threat afterward.
• Bulletproof Human Shield: Lexina makes use of Aksu, her Chinese guide while they're scaling Mount Everest, after an enemy sniper attacks. It only works temporarily before she's killed however.
• Cassandra Truth: All mainstream scientific ideas of how humans on Earth arose, human civilizations came to exist, many artifacts were created and more are shown as wrong in the books. Fringe theorists who rejected these old models and proposed aliens were behind many things, or that all world civilizations had come from a single source earlier (Atlantis) along with various legends having truth in them are shown to be right. Mainstream scientists didn't believe this until overwhelming evidence came quickly to light, and even then it's a long time until things sink in.
• Character Filibuster: Several times necessary information is explained by a person giving a long lecture on some topic. This is justified as they're usually scientists or other experts explaining this to a lay person, and they react in a realistic way through expressing annoyance at unnecessary verbosity or asking that the scientific terminology be dumbed down for them.
• Clarke's Third Law: A lot of objects deemed magical or miraculous in myth were in fact very advanced alien technology left on Earth.
• Conspiracy Kitchen Sink: The series manages to involve tons of popular conspiracy theories within its mythos (the author claims most are true), starting of course with Area 51. Yes, there is a secret base on the site, and the US government (or part of it anyway) is hiding alien craft they've been flying since the late 40's there. Also, they're behind alien abductions and crop circles (as disinformation confusing people). We later also learn most of what's believed about human history was wrong. The craft are from an alien species who colonized Earth millennia ago, and ruled ancient humans on Atlantis. Since it was destroyed, two different factions have been fighting each other behind the scenes, and numerous mythical figures were aliens in disguise or influenced by them. Also, lots of mythical artifacts were real, but alien technology. There have also been many human (or part-human) stooges serving these aliens secretly, with them having infiltrated many world governments. Oh, and one faction was the force behind the Nazis. Plus, biggest of all: they created humans to begin with.
• Conspiracy Theorist: We meet a number of these, "UFO watchers" who camp outside Area 51. They turn out to be right that the government is involved with/covering up UFOs. In the third book it's mentioned that most Americans don't believe aliens are real, that it's all been fabricated by the government (along with thinking the Moon landing didn't happen). No doubt the first lot being correct fueled later ones.
• Covert Group: The series deals heavily with these. In the first book there is Majestic-12 (alias Majic-12) and its security/black ops Nightscape. Later books soon introduce more, like Section Four (Majic-12's equivalent in the Soviet Union, then Russian Federation), STAAR, The Mission and more. Most are nefarious, others not entirely.
• Crop Circles: Majic-12 is in fact behind these as part of their cover-up for Area 51.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: People advocating fringe theories of the government covering up UFOs and world cultures all stemming from one source are proven right in the books. It's mentioned that all of human history will now have to be rewritten as a result of what's revealed.
• Cult: After aliens have been revealed to exist, along with their ships, overnight a religion emerges worshiping them as saviors (under leadership of their brainwashed servants). Other sects also get mentioned, with some more like Heaven's Gate, which perform mass suicides like them believing they'll be taken to a better place by the aliens.
• Cyanide Pill: The Ones Who Wait, artificial humans with some Airlia genetics in service to Artad, can near-instantly kill themselves by using some internal means when they're captured or in danger of this so no one can make them talk.
• Damsel in Distress: Lisa Duncan is kidnapped by Aspasia's Shadow and has to be rescued by her boyfriend Mike Turcotte along with Israeli commandos in Area 51: The Grail.
• Deadly Gas: As they invade South Korea with the North Koreans, the Chinese use gas attacks against the South Koreans, killing thousands, especially in Seoul.
• Deflector Shields: Airlia technology can create large protective shields around sites, such as those of their hidden computers at different places on Earth (like Easter Island). Later on, Artad even helps China invade and retake Taiwan through protecting their soldiers using one, so the Taiwanese fire uselessly at them.
• Demythification: A number of artifacts from religious and mythical lore get shown to be alien technology. The effect of this upon religious belief is pondered, since this includes many important ones like the Ark of the Covenant and Holy Grail, with the question raised of whether this disproves Judaism or Christianity. In one case, a fanatical Orthodox Jew uses a suicide attack by crashing the helicopter he's flying on the Ark as it wasn't made by God.
• Driven to Suicide: Johnny, who had been brainwashed into believing he was abducted by aliens, jumps over a cliff to escape his delusions of them.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Turcotte's a Green Beret (US Army Special Forces). We also encounter members of other elite units, including the British SAS (Special Air Service) or later US Navy SEALs. This is usually justified, as they're used for very hard, important missions, and explains why Turcotte's so good.
• Enemy Civil War: Two factions from the alien Airlia have been fighting on Earth for millennia, and both use human agents (such as The Guides, The Ones Who Wait or even entire countries when they're revealed) as their minions.
• Energy Weapon: The Airlia Talon craft and the Ark, among others, use powerful lasers as weapons.
• ET Gave Us Wifi: The atomic bomb is revealed to be based in part on alien technology.
• Evil Redhead: The Airlia all have fiery red hair, and are uniformly malicious.
• Fake Memories: Majic-12 has a technology which can give people memories of false events, such as being abducted by aliens. It's used to cover up what's really going on at Area 51. We later learn that Turcotte and Duncan's memories are fake too.
• Fate Worse than Death: Two Navy SEALs who were sent out on a covert mission to destroy the Easter Island Guardian computer get infected with the nanovirus instead, which makes the pair into unwilling minions of the enemy. When they get used to fight the US after this by Aspasia's Shadow, it's said that for them it's much worse than death.
• Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: One of the Swarm says to Lisa Duncan after she asks why their singular purpose is harming, ultimately destroying other species that it's to make the whole universe "clean", as all other intelligent lifeforms pose an existential threat in their view.
• Flying Saucer: The government has nine of these at Area 51 that they found in the 1940s-50s and have been testing their capabilities ever since, along with a mothership for them.
• Foreshadowing: Several hints that humanity was actually created by the Airlia occur before the revelation, for instance Che Lu mentioned that splicing their DNA with ours should be impossible absent a close biological connection.
• Ghostapo: The Nazis were aided/manipulated by secret aliens on Earth, pursuing ancient mythical artifacts that turn out to be lost alien technology, and were motivated with a belief in Thule, which is essentially a Germanic Atlantis per their view. Additionally the real Thule Society (an early occult group that some leading Nazis were members of) is described as the force behind the Nazi Party driving this. The occult beliefs that some Nazis like Himmler held are highlighted.
• God-Emperor: Aspasia ruled over Atlantis with his followers as gods. Later others did the same in ancient Egypt. Artad did this in ancient China as well. Given their technology was so far advanced over ancient humans, including granting them immortality, this was easy to believe.
• God Guise: More than once the Airlia pretended to be gods, and were worshiped as such. Due to being immortal (although not invincible) and having incredible powers as a result of their technology (even to modern humans) this was easy. Even while not impersonating deities, they pretend to be similar figures like Shi Huangdi, China's semi-divine first Emperor.
• Go Out with a Smile: "Popeye" McGraw, a Navy SEAL brainwashed into serving Aspasia's Shadow, is able to resist this long enough that he can kill himself, smiling when he's succeeded as at least he's free then.
• Government Conspiracy: Initially the US government had long been covering up flying saucers which they held for decades and test-flew regularly with faked alien abductions, cattle mutilations, crop circles etc., besides trying to crack other mysterious technology they found on Earth while also hiding it from other people. Further, they hid the source of the above-aliens. Later it all gets exposed.
• The Great Flood: It's revealed to have occurred as a result of Atlantis's long-ago destruction by aliens. However, it wasn't global, but still a substantial enough event to inspire myths around the world.
• Group-Identifying Feature: All Airlia are red-eyed, red-haired and have white skin. Ones Who Wait, artificial humans having some Airlia DNA, share their red eyes (but otherwise look human).
• Half-Human Hybrid: The Ones Who Wait are artificial humans created to serve Artad, with some DNA from his Airlia species in the mix. Usually, the only sign is having red eyes, which they cover by contact lenses.
• Healing Factor: Someone who's partaken from the Grail is able to quickly heal most injuries as they're infected with nanomachines capable of repairing nearly all damage, including lost limbs.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In Area 51: The Reply, a Russian Spetsnaz team make a last stand against oncoming Chinese troops to let their American counterparts get away.
• Herr Doktor: Werner von Seeckt is a German physicist whom the US "recruited" as part of Operation Paperclip (he was in the SS, though not a true believer in Nazism). He claims to regret that. Later other German scientists are introduced who were also recruited the same way, and share a Nazi past (but appear to have been more hard core than him).
• Historical Domain Character: Several real historical people are (minor) characters in the books, such as famous English explorer Richard Francis Burton.
• Humanity Came from Space: It's revealed that humanity isn't native to Earth. They were created elsewhere by the Airlia, an alien species, to be their soldiers.
• Humanoid Aliens: The Airlia, who look very similar to humans, with uniformly pale skin, slitted red eyes, heads that are twice humans' average size, very long earlobes which reach to the shoulders, longer limbs and fiery red hair. This resemblance makes a lot of sense, as humans were created by them.
• I Have Many Names: Aspasia uses numerous aliases over the millennia, Al-Iblis and Domeka being just a couple.
• Immortality Hurts: Though being immortal is sought after, its nature in the series means you still die from fatal wounds, but resurrect shortly after as your Healing Factor kicks in. As a result, an immortal can be continually tortured and or killed while still coming back. Aspasia's Shadow and Lisa find this out the hard way.
• Immortality Inducer: The Grail, as in the legend, can make someone immortal when the Urim and Thummim stones are connected to it. Many had served the Airlia on the promise of immortality this way.
• Immortal Life Is Cheap: Given that immortality here means nearly all injuries can be healed from and even if the immortal dies they just resurrect, an immortal person can be killed continually by someone else while knowing it wont stick.
• Insane Admiral: General Gullick, Area 51's commanding officer in the first book, at first just seems like a very harsh, straight-edged military man involved with nefarious dealings. However, we see increasingly that he's not just bad, but mentally unstable, and grows more so as the novel goes on. It's shown to be a result of the alien computer affecting him. He dies at the end when it's destroyed.
• Keystone Army: Getting control of the Airlia Master Guardian computer that is inside Mount Ararat shuts down both Artad and Aspasia's Shadow's computers. Most of their forces are disabled instantly as a result, defeating them.
• La Résistance: There's a human resistance against the Airlia which has, like them, existed on Earth for millennia and even precedes it on other planets.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Majic-12 is shown to have a technology called EDOM (for Electronic Dissolution Of Memory) which can erase people's memories selectively.
• Last-Name Basis: Many of the main characters such as Mike Turcotte and Lisa Duncan mostly get called by their last names.
• Layman's Terms: Scientists are asked multiple times to explain things in ways non-scientists can understand.
• Lecture as Exposition: Plot-important information is often conveyed through scientists or other experts explaining things for other characters (and the reader), along with dumbing this down for them.
• Legend Fades to Myth: Due to centuries passing plus an active coverup, most humans have no idea alien beings lived on Earth or that various mythical artifacts were not only real but alien technology. A small number of human resistance members pass down the knowledge in secret however.
• Lightning Gun: The Mission has one, being capable of directing lightning blasts at aircraft and people nearby. However, it has only limited range near Mount Sinai.
• Lost Language: The fictional high runes and real rongorongo language of Easter Island feature in the island. In both cases, characters are able to partly or wholly decipher them (how is not explained).
• Lost Technology: The Airlia, an alien species, left their technology in different locations hidden across the Earth long ago. Humans gradually discover some of it over the years.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: General Gullick orders Dr. Cruise to kill Von Seeckt with an insulin overdose to make it look like he died of a heart attack after the latter's strenuous objections to their upcoming test make him think he might blow the whistle on it. Luckily, Turcotte finds out and stops Cruise.
• Masquerade: Members of the Airlia, an alien species, have covertly been living on Earth for millennia and also manipulating humans to their ends unbeknownst to most aside from their minions.
• Mind Rape:
  • The memory-altering technology can cause this by making subjects believe aliens abducted or tortured them.
  • Lisa later is tortured horribly when Garlin uses the Ark of the Covenant and then brain surgery (with no anesthesia) while retrieving the memories hidden in her brain.
• The Mothership: Along with the flying saucers (bouncers) the US government long ago found a carrier ship for them, which they call the "alien mothership". For decades they couldn't even get inside due to its hull being impenetrable with their tools. Eventually though they managed to on the basis of new information, with the idea of turning its engine on (they theorized it had interstellar FTL capabilities). Stopping this because it might result in a disaster makes up part of the first book.
• Nanomachines: The Airlia utilize nanites for taking control of or transforming human technology, regenerating their own injuries, turning humans into slaves and completely dissolving corpses.
• Nazi Grandpa: Professor Werner Von Seeckt, who is pushing eighty in the first book and the only sane man at Majic-12. However, he also turns out to be a former SS member, forcefully recruited by US intelligence and has worked for them ever since. Von Seeckt however claims he wasn't a true believer, and didn't know of the atrocities (but also admits it was mostly willful ignorance), with no evidence of him participating in any. He shows no signs of retaining Nazi beliefs in any case, and is largely heroic. Still, his past understandably disturbs most characters.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Leif Jorgenson is an obvious stand-in for Thor Heyerdahl. Both advocate the same diffusionist views on culture, and Heyerdahl's famous "Kon-Tiki" expedition is mentioned as done by him.
• No Full Name Given: Many of the military antagonists in the first book don't have their first names shown. This is fairly standard for military address of course.
• No-Sell: Most of the Airlia artifacts and deflector shields can withstand even the most powerful human weapons, such as a direct hit by a nuke.
• No Such Agency: There are many of these in the books, starting with Majic-12 and its covert ops Nightscape.
• No Such Thing as Wizard Jesus: It's strongly implied that Moses (and the Exodus events generally) was really connected to the aliens somehow. Jesus is also implied to maybe have survived death with Airlia technology as well, though it's left uncertain.
• Off with His Head!:
  • A government official is assassinated through being shot in the head with a .50 caliber bullet. That alone destroys his head overall-then the assassin fires into his head again, to completely destroy it.
  • Al-Iblis has Saddam Hussein killed by one of his top military advisors, who shoots him repeatedly in the head until there's nothing left (changed to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the e-book, which updated things).
  • Airlia can only be killed with certainty by having their head severed or brain itself destroyed, so this happens multiple times.
• Outliving One's Offspring: It turns out Duncan and her husband had a son on another planet in a past life, whom they had to leave behind while fighting the Airlia, knowing they'd never see him again. He died an old man on the planet, always wondering why they left him.
• Past-Life Memories: Memories from past lives in other lives (via a Brain Uploading technology, not anything that was mystical) can be blocked away, but restored and accessed too. They are downloaded to a new body along with the Brain Uploading process as well.
• Path of Inspiration: Brainwashed humans called the Guides set up a religion worshiping Airlia, claiming they're akin to gods and will bring humanity into the future. Those who don't believe, meanwhile, will be destroyed. It's just one means which the Airlia use to control humans.
• The Plague: In The Mission an engineered strain of the Black Plague is released to cull humanity of all except those who obey the Airlia.
• Plot Hole: When the first nine books were reprinted in e-book form, the author added references to make their setting updated. Unfortunately, they conflict. For instance, a reference is left to the Pathfinder launch "a year ago" (in 1997). Che Lu is seventy eight, taking part in Mao's Long March (1934-35) at age seven. This would put Area 51: The Reply in 2005. However we then hear Viking 2 had been launched to Mars "over thirty years" ago. Since that was 1976, this would put things somewhere past 2006. It seems like this could have been avoided by simply keeping the original setting, or omitting such references entirely.
• Psychic-Assisted Suicide: Brainwashed human agents of the Airlia can be forced to kill themselves after completing their missions.
• Puppeteer Parasite: The Swarm, an ancient enemy of the Airlia whose sole objective is infecting and living in all other life as their hosts.
• Pyramid Power: It turns out that the Pyramids were built to be beacons by an alien species called the Airlia. Their computers are pyramid-shaped too.
• Really 700 Years Old: The alien characters are revealed to have been around for millennia, as their technology can stop them aging. Duncan and Turcotte are revealed to also be like this.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: The Airlia all have red eyes, and sure enough, they're bad guys.
• Reduced to Dust: The Airlia have nanomachines able to dissolve a body in seconds, leaving only their clothes behind. It's used for destroying those whose corpses are potentially revealing.
• Reincarnation: In a technological version, the Airlia are able to upload their minds into new bodies. Aspasia and Artad, among others, experience this many times, with it being called reincarnation explicitly. It's later revealed how Duncan did as well.
• Religion Is Wrong: Not entirely wrong necessarily, though it's revealed the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail are actually highly advanced technology made by aliens, not divine creations. It's speculated other events, such as those in Exodus were also done by aliens, although not shown with certainty to be the case. Aspasia's Shadow admits the Airlia did create some of humanity's religions, though he never says which ones.
• Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: This turns out to be the only way the Airlia can be killed, since their technology heals anything else.
• Resurrective Immortality: Someone who's partaken from the Grail gains immortality that works this way partly. Though they briefly will die like anyone else if, say, they're shot in the heart, within a couple minutes they'll revive and be healed.
• The Reveal: The series runs on these, starting with the fact that there are aliens on Earth. Probably the biggest is that these aliens created humanity. It's even the source of the seventh book's title-Area 51: The Truth.
• Sacred Hospitality: Richard Francis Burton relates in his manuscript how he was once saved by a bedouin named Taiyaba from Al-Iblis, as he'd been Taiyaba's guest. As a result, he felt honor-bound to rescue Burton, even though doing so meant most of his band being killed.
• Second Coming: Some alien-worshiping cults present aliens as the promised saviors come again to aid humanity.
• Setting Update: The 2012 e-book version of the first book updated references to reflect time passing since it was published in 1997. Turcotte references 9/11, and Von Seeckt no longer states that his birth year was 1918-while fairly plausible then as 79, he'd be 94 when the e-book came out. Of course, the reference to him joining the SS in 1940 remains, so if he'd been younger it raises questions. There's only so far a character's age can be pushed (yet the next book says his birth year is 1918 anyway).
• Space Police: Artad was leader of a Kortad detachment (the Airlia police) who came on a space ship to arrest Aspasia, Earth's commander, as he had gone rogue, disobeying orders from their government. Both of them were cut off from the wider Airlia and fought a millennia-long war with each other, throughout which the Kortad on Earth remained loyal to Artad.
• Suicide Attack:
  • Area 51: Excalibur has many examples.
    • The Airlia have humans who they've brainwashed into serving them use suicide attacks against their enemies multiple times, seeing them as easily expendable (once a high-profile Murder-Suicide as well), using pilots to make kamikaze runs against US ships.
    • An Israeli Orthodox Jew deliberately crashes the helicopter he's flying on the Ark of the Covenant when it's displayed in Jerusalem, due to having heard it was made by aliens, not God (presumably making this sacrilege by his faith).
    • Facing the North Korean/Chinese forces' invasion of South Korea, a defending US Army general personally flies a tactical nuke out and sets it off, making to attempt to escape, which slows the advance.
    • A Taiwanese general later detonates a nuke while hidden inside a foxhole as a contingent of the invading Chinese march overhead, killing them all with him.
    • The CAG for the remaining US Pacific fleet also does a kamikaze attack on the Washington, which has been taken over by the nanovirus.
  • In Area 51: The Truth Duncan crashes the mothership on Mars right into the array that the Airlia are building, destroying it so they can't call in reinforcements, even as she kills Artad, who came onboard.
• Synthetic Plague: The Mission, an alien front organization, genetically alters the bubonic plague to unleash it and cull humanity when we're deemed as a threat. It's stated the original mass bubonic plague outbreak in the 1200s is their work too, with the same goal. The protagonists only barely manage to stop it.
• Switching P.O.V.: Ubiquitous in the books. Mostly different main characters' viewpoints are shown, though a lot of minor characters' too to a lesser degree.
• They Would Cut You Up: After being made immortal, Lisa Duncan is kidnapped by the new Majestic-12. She's experimented on, including by being shot dead and observed while she resurrects, healed, for discovering just how far this extends.
• Updated Re-release: When the books were rereleased as e-books, author Bob Mayer had updated certain details to fit events which had happened since their original publication. Unfortunately, this made for some plot holes as things no longer align in every case.
• We Are Everywhere: The Airlia have agents placed in governments throughout the worlds (such as within the CIA) to influence events favorably or gain intelligence. Many attempts to stop them are thwarted this way, and this has been the case long into the past (they are mentioned as being inside the Inquisition, Nazi Party etc). It helps that they have hybrid agents who can pass for humans, and mind control others.
• World War III: After both Artad and Aspasia's Shadow reveal themselves to the world, it soon results in war across the globe. Artad backs the Chinese invading Taiwan to retake it. Simultaneously they invade South Korea with the North Koreans. While this is going on, Aspasia's Shadow takes much of the US Pacific fleet over with his nanovirus. Iran and Iraq also fight each other once more, while rogue Iranians briefly invade Turkey.