I think area 51 is so secretive (but known by the world! )because the US government wants people's attention on it.
That's my thought too. Area 51 was used to work on new secret weapons like the SR-71 spyplane, but I reckon now the really secret stuff is done somewhere else, Area 51 is just too high-profile.
Does anyone know how we ever got through the van allen (sp?) belt?
By not hanging around. The Apollo spacecraft only spent a few hours in the Van Allen belts and the mission planners chose a trajectory to avoid the strongest parts. The capsule also provided some shielding. It'd take weeks or months of orbiting in the belts to accumulate a dangerous radiation dose.
Regarding 9/11 there has never been another 100-storey building collapse either controlled or uncontrolled before or since. Meaning there's nothing to compare to when it comes to trying to decide whether or not the collapses appear to be the result of fully-fuelled wide-body jet (much larger than the planes that existed when the towers were designed) hitting the upper floors. As for WTC7, well several other neighbouring buildings suffered similar damage, but different buildings have different construction, it's not difficult to imagine some might collapse more easily than others.
The only 'conspiracy theory' I believe is that Jeremy Hunt and the rest of the Conservative party are deliberately running the NHS into the ground (so they can get more support for abandoning the idea of free national health and move over to an US-style health insurance system).
Now this is the one I believe. Maybe others here can tear it apart.
And a general note to anybody who thinks the 'mainstream media' have some kind of agenda, well the people who promote conspiracy theories have their own agendas! Even if it's just to sell books, which quite a few conspiracy theorists have made some nice money out of.