Fact Check: Did Gordon Ramsay visit the top secret Area 51, long shrouded in UFO conspiracy theories?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Being a celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsay is no stranger to traveling to exotic locales in private jets. 

However, one of his recent travels, whose image the 58-year-old culinary expert recently shared on Instagram, raised eyebrows as it fueled a fresh batch of Area 51 conspiracy theories, surrounding the chef. 

On January 17, Ramsay shared a photo of him sitting inside a private jet, with a rugged landscape - including mountains - visible from the aircraft windows. A small frying pan tucked in the cup holder also appeared alongside him in the image. 

The 17 Michelin stars winning chef shared the image with the caption, "Come fry with me….Big (and small) things on the way." Soon, the internet abounded with multiple theories with a section of social media users claiming the landscape seen behind Ramsay’sphoto resembled the mountains of Area 51, the highly classified United States Air Force facility in the Nevada Test and Training Range. 

Claim: Gordon Ramsay visited Area 51

Just a few days after Gordon Ramsay made his Instagram post, TikTok user and professional GeoGuessr (a geography-based guessing game) player Trevor Rainbolt (@georainbolt), made an interesting claim in a video posted on January 21. 

Reflecting on Ramsay’s photo, Rainbolt claimed the mountains visible from the aircraft windows resembled the mountains of Area 51, the US military installation that has long spawned conspiracy theories involving extraterrestrial life after people reported seeing unidentified flying objects in the area.

Though the area is restricted to public visitations, the TikToker put forward the theory that Ramsay might have visited Area 51. 

Nevertheless, Rainbolt shared, "I saw this Gordon Ramsay post on Instagram and immediately knew something felt off, because he's not actually at an airport." 

He further added that the mountains visible in the windows did not match the hilly area surrounding the Las Vegas airports. "And well Gordon, I found you. With these pixels that resembled a fence, these mountains and this arid landscape, there's only one option: Area 51, with a perfect match. Gordon, you can't hide,” continued the TikToker. 

Towards the end of the video, he referenced the names of peaks in the San Jacinto Mountains, which are about 250 miles from Area 51, as reported by Snopes. 

He posted the video with the caption, “You can't hide @Gordon Ramsay #geo #geography #hexcladpartner." 

A few days later, another TikTok user named @leyshaa—a flight attendant who streams her life as a flight attendant—added further details about the mysterious flight. 

The cabin crew shared in the video, "One, we didn't even know where we were flying to. Usually we know where they're going to take us to. We just know that we landed somewhere in Nevada, because it didn't even seem like it was a normal airport.”

“It was like, in the desert,” continued the TikToker, before adding, “When we landed, a group of men in black suits came and escorted him off the plane." 

She further added to the mystery when she shared that the men did not allow her or any other crew members to disembark from the plane. 

Later, she held up a small frying pan (similar to the one that appeared in Ramsay's video), and asked in bewilderment, "What am I going to cook with this? This is not for a human. I don't know, but if you know who Gordon Ramsay is, you should keep an eye on him because obviously he's cooking something up."

She wrote in her caption, "I need answers! #gordonramsay #area51 #hexclad #hexcladpartner #hexcladgordonramsay." 

Fact Check: Gordon Ramsay did not visit Area 51

Though a section of social media users fueled the claim that Gordon Ramsay was visiting Area 51, several other influencers debunked the claim in no time. 

Instagram users including Christopher Alexander (@odd_chris_), Aaron Rheins (@aaronrheins) dismissed the rumors while pointing out a specific detail in both Rainbolt and the flight attendant’s captions. 

They noted that both of them used the specific hashtag "#hexcladpartner" — a huge detail while we are still conversing in the matter. 

The hashtag suggested that both of them were part of a marketing campaign for HexClad - a cookware company partly owned by none other than Gordon Ramsay himself, who also serves as its spokesperson. 

When contacted, the brand further claimed to Snopes that something big was coming up on January 31. A quick glance at the company’s social media page (namely Facebook), would further show that they indeed shared the brand's story along with a huge catalog of cookware sets comprising of cooking and frying pans of several sizes. 

Following Rainbolt’s video, Ramsay too reacted to the post by commenting in a video about the conspiracy. 

"Hey my man. You've done your due diligence, let me tell you,” shared the cooking genius, before adding, “Sounds like you're working for the old Pentagon. Well done. But, I'll be honest with you. You're getting close. But, the proof is in the pan."

Moreover, the outlet further added that it is not sure whether the picture showed a genuine aircraft or it was shot inside of a studio. The nearest airport to the San Jacinto Mountains is the Palm Springs Airport, but Rainbolt’s naming of the peaks did little to properly identify the location. 

Thus, it can be safely said that the entire conspiracy was seemingly an elaborate ruse to create an ad campaign for the new cookware set.