"I used to have nightmares about UFO. When I was a kid I desired to see some," Jirka Nerad recalls. "I would look up at the night sky so often and used to say: ,Here I am, come for me!' Later on I found out about the "project" Area 51 in the U.S. and I became a real UFO fan. Dead lawns in parks or in my friends' yards or gardens were a clear evidence of extraterrestrial life forms incidence for me :-)"

Since the other bandmates experienced similar stories in their childhoods, the name Area 51 was approved unanimously after Jirka suggested it.

After a continuous difference of opinion, Jiri Pala leaves the band called Barricade in 1997 and sets up a new one with a vision of orientation to progressive guitar rock. He invites David Uher (g, ex-Oceloid) and Mira Janas (bg, ex-Spider) for collaboration.

Being troubled by neighbors who had been switching off the circuit breakers, they found their shelter in the nearby roadhouse "Brest". The first official rehearsal of Area 51 took place on the 4th November 1997. On Tuesday 3rd and Wednesday 4th March 1998 they made the first demo which contained instrumental tracks only.

In 1999 the first official demo of Area 51 comes to life. A "singer" Mira Ulehla takes part in two songs. After his departure Franta Smazil comes in and takes part in the second demo recorded in 2001. Singing gains much more room in the band this time. The band begins to perform plentifully (they played as a support to Stratovarius or Gamma Ray).

In 2002 David Uher won a special prize in the guitar contest and accepted the offer to play with a professional Prague band called Dobrohost. He left Area 51 and moved to Prague. Guitarist Bob Rolinek took David's place for a while. However, his activities in several bands at the same time didn't bring the desired fruit.

After a year-long break the original lineup begins to rehearse again. Franta Smazil leaves the band and Michal Kopecny (ex-Mastnee Brutwan) becomes the voice of Area 51 in late 2004. His arrival pushes the band forward and impresses a brand new musical face to it. Vocals have finally become the equal part of the band's creation :-)