MYSTERY has swirled around a vast area of the western United States that has seen thousands planes vanish for years.

The Nevada Triangle has become an aircraft graveyard in the last 60 years as hundreds of pilots who venture in never return.

9 The area is half the size of England and stretches across three US states

A 2010 Channel 4 documentary revealed the astonishing number of crashes as up to 2,000 with many other sites backing up the claim.

The region stretches from Fresno, California up to Reno, Nevada, and all the way out west to Arizona.

Inside the triangle are Las Vegas, Yosemite national park, and the top secret US base Area 51 and Death Valley.

It takes up an area of almost 25,000 square miles and is half the size of England.

9 The most famous incident to occur in the infamous triangle was the disappearance of billionaire Steve Fossett Credit: EPA

The most famous case of a pilot going missing in over the arid plains of the Sierra Nevada happened 11 years ago.

Billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett had set more than 100 records during his life time and was an incredibly experienced pilot.

So when the airman’s single engine play vanished on the California/Nevada border in 2007 rescuers were baffled.

The largest search since the Second World War was launched to find Fosset who vanished on September 3 of that year.

He was piloting as a single-engine Bellanca Super Decathlon over Nevada’s Great Basin Desert.

9 The adventurer was an exceptionally experienced airman but still vanished on a routine pleasure flight on his way to visit a friend Credit: PA:Press Association

Fossett had taken off from a private airstrip near Smith Valley, Nevada on the short journey to meet his fellow billionaire friend Barry Hilton.

But when he failed to arrive six hours later a search was launched to find the missing adventurer.

The search would expand into a nearly 20,000 square mile area of some of the most rugged terrain in North America.

As they scoured the treacherous terrain for the remains of Fossett’s plane rescuers came across eight previously unidentified crash sites that had fallen victim to the triangle.

9 He vanished over the Nevada desert in September 2007 Credit: Getty - Contributor

Eventually, more than a year later, a hiker came across three crumpled ID cards that belonged to the billionaire.

Then on October 1, 2008 they finally traced the wreckage to a spot 65 miles south of his take off site.

Two bones discovered amongst the wreckage were later identified by DNA as belonging to Fossett.

But the question remained, how did such an experienced pilot just plunge into the earth?

Conspiracy theories of aliens and government interference abounded online and in the media but it turns out the answer is much simpler, the weather.

9 His disappearance sparked one of the biggest searches in America since the Second World War Credit: Getty - Contributor

9 As they scoured the treacherous terrain for the remains of Fossett’s plane rescuers came across eight previously unidentified crash sites that had fallen victim to the triangle.

9 Eventually they came across the crumpled wreckage of Fossett's aircraft Credit: EPA

9 But experts have now revealed the reason behind the crash is down to extra ordinary wind phenomena in the Triangle Credit: Handout

John Kelly has been flying in Nevada since 1974 and heard about the Nevada Triangle from a TV show.

He told 9news.com.au: "There's potentially more crashes because of the atmosphere in the mountains, but I don't think there's a phenomena.

"It's people flying over the mountains and misjudging the air pressure."

The region is particularly susceptible to something called the "Mountain Wave".

9 The region is susceptible to a event known as a 'Mountain wave' which can wreak havoc with light aircraft Credit: Handout

When fast-moving winds from the Pacific hit the steep mountainsides, it creates a dangerous effect which can be pick up a small plane by the updraft like a surfer on a wave.

But, just like many wave riders, if it only to be dumped hard on the other side.

At sea that is water, but in the desert that means the rock solid earth.

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Climatologist Kelly Redmond from the Desert Research Institute said the Sierra Nevada winds could be like getting caught in Niagara Falls.

"So, when the winds are coming up, they come up kind of smoothly on the west side and then they have this very rapid decent and there is a tremendous amount of turbulence that can be caused by such situations," he told KNPR in 2015.

"It's quite easy for a small plane to get caught in the down draft on the downwind side and not have the power or just the capability to get out of the way of that."