agent mulder knew it in "the x files". >> the proof is here. >> it was the world's worst kept secret.ven the president in "independence day" got included in. >> there is no area 51, no recovered space ship. >> excuse me, mr. president, that is not entirely accurate. >> we always suspected. so what was the government hiding all of these years? hidden history. the u.s. had been flying spy planes over the soviet union but they couldn't risk being spotted at normal altitudes, so the air force began to develop planes that could fly much, much higher at 90,000 feet. and they found the perfect high altitude base at home in the deserts of nevada. conspiracy and ufos, this was supposed to be, of course, a tightly guarded secret. but it is no surprise that people in the area and then around the country began to suspect that there was more than just sand in the middle of the mohave. >> i think maybe reverse engineering ufos out there. >> truth revealed. now, actual government proof including maps of the secret site. although no mention of alien autopsies. according to u.s. documents, they were u

mulder, they've been here for a long, long time. >> reporter: leaving ufo buffs to wonder what's next to be declassified. pete williams, nbc news, washington. >>> and then there's the story of the lion who was living a lie. a chinese zoo is under fire for trying to disguise a dog for a lion. really? visitors thought something was strange when the beast inside the lion's cage started to bark instead of roar. think that's a clue? the animal was actually a tibetan mastiff, a breed with a mane not unlike a lion's. but come on, really? in its defense, the zoo says it wasn't trying to deceive anyone. it was just making do while the lion was away for breeding. >>> when we come back, the young man who's following a dream thanks to a lot of people who never met him but were moved by his story. >>> finally tonight, a story of beating the odds. a young man from california who learned some tough lessons about life, now headed for a college education. his journey to get there was capped by a remarkable turn of events just in the last week. nbc's miguel almaguer has our report. >> reporter: like so

. >> reporter: even mulder and scully visited one dark night. >> area 51. >> classified experiments involving extraterrestrial technology. >> reporter: now, for the first time, the u.s. government has released cia documents showing a map of the secret base in the nevada desert with area 51 not redacted. dun, dun, dah! so this might be one step on the road to finding out really what has gone on there? >> yes. but i wouldn't expect it's ever going to involve aliens. >> reporter: okay. area 51 has launched a thousand conspiracy theories. some say the roswell aliens were brought here for reverse engineering. other it is say the moon landing was shot here on a sound stage. and hundreds who saw spy planes flying unbelievably high in the sky called in ufo sightings. the newly declassified documents relate to that u2 spy plane program. but, i'm afraid, no mention of ufos whatsoever. will this staunch the flow of conspiracy theories? yeah, right. nick watt, abc news, los angeles. >> nick, we'll keep searching. thanks. >>> still much more ahead on "world news" this friday night. the real money team is

. >> somewhere agents scully and mulder are saying i told you so.the existence of area 51. we'll tell you where to find it. stay with us. humans. sometimes, life trips us up. sometimes, we trip ourselves up. and although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. like multi-policy discounts from liberty mutual insurance. save up to 10% just for combining your auto and home insurance. call liberty mutual insurance at... to speak with an insurance expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. personalized coverage and savings -- all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. call... and ask about all the ways you could save. liberty mutual insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like

agent mulder had to be riding for a car -- in a car for 45 minutes straight with a bad guy holding a gun to his head and being very nasty and repellent and anti-semitic and a nauseating character who nonetheless when he expired at the end of the hour the audience needed to feel sympathy for him. to feel sad for his demise. and it was very hard to cast that. very easy to find -- very scary bad guy actors in hollywood. but to find the packages who could embody nastiness and yet also have some sort of underlying core of humanity that could show through intermittently when the moment called for it, very tricky and bryan came in, i didn't know him from adam, i didn't realize i'd already seen him in "saving private ryan" and "from the earth to the moon" and "seinfeld" because he's such a chameleon and he came in and just nailed it and as soon as he walked out of the room i looked to the other producers and said "o.t.w." which is trade speak for "off to wardrobe. "and lo and behold he was great and i wanted to work with him in the future and the moment came. >> rose: and the moment came. yo