Area 51 - Search for the Aliens

*I want to note I had this little adventure back in 2017, before there were 1 million people agreeing it was a good idea to storm the gates.*

Part adventure, part conspiracy. Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Personally, I believe we can’t be the only forms of intelligent life that exist in this universe so I really love all of the alien conspiracy theories. Area 51 is one of the secret bases that is rumored to have alien research happening at it, famously exposed by Bob Lazar (click the link to check the Joe Rogan podcast where he interviews him). I lived in Vegas for about a year, and in that time witnessed some truly odd things in the airspace around Vegas, so I was eager to head out to see what I could find around the infamous base.

The Journey

Starting from Vegas, the drive to is about two and a half hours. It’s mostly flat and in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the gigantic mountain ranges that lend shelter to the infamous base. Since you can’t exactly locate a secret base on google maps, I’m going off of the town of Rachel, which is the closest civilization (with a population of 54). Even though it’s a road through the middle of nowhere, there’s plenty of interesting finds along the way.

Extraterrestrial Highway

Once you make the turn from the 93 onto the 375, you are officially on the the Extraterrestrial Highway. Yes, they totally play into the rumors which makes you wonder how true it really is.

There’s an unmarked road you have to keep an eye out for, but it’s a left hand turn when you’re headed from Vegas. Even though it’s technically unmarked, there’s a stop sign for cars that are exiting. There were numerous dirt roads so I wasn’t quite sure it was the right road besides it was decently graded for a dirt road in the middle of the desert. About a mile in I noticed a speed limit sign, which I took as a sign that it was more than the ominous dirt road it first appeared to be.

It was the middle of winter in the desert and strangely enough there was snow on the ground as we got closer. Was it the affects of some weird weather control or were we really gaining that much elevation? Either way, it was odd and definitely added to the mystical otherworldly feel. Got caught up in taking pictures of the snow in the desert when I realized the sun was setting fast and we were in the middle of nowhere without service. There’s definitely an eerie feeling that fills the air there and the impending darkness added to the intensity. We had traveled for miles heading towards the mountain range and were finally about to get to the foothills of it. I briefly considering turning around because of the darkness but we didn’t come that far to NOT figure out what was just around the bend of the hill. As soon as we came around the corner, our headlights lit up signs like a christmas tree: WARNING US AIR FORCE INSTALLATION. Found it!

There wasn’t technically a gate we reached. Just two harmless looking stop signs… Fun fact, the mountains act as natural shields so I don’t believe there’s technically many fences for the facility. Instead they rely on security to ensure no one trespasses. The signs sprung up on either side of the road warning us of impending doom is we traveled any further. On a hill past the “gate” sat a truck with its headlights on, presumably the notorious camo dudes. We took the opportunity to snap some photos and were quickly honked at by the truck. I waved at them and hopped back in my car. As we turned around, we noticed headlights appear behind us. They stayed behind us for a while on the road with no service, assuring that we wouldn’t turn around or try another route.

Thankful that we finally reached the main road again (why does it always seem longer on the way back? esp when you have no service in complete darkness and the us military looming behind you) we decided to celebrate with a beer in Rachel.

I might not have found any aliens at Area 51, but that changed once we rolled into the Rachel. The cutest restaurant / bar / motel awaits you, called aptly, the Little A'Le'Inn (love me a good pun). They offer a 12-room motel and a place to wet your whistle and fill your belly. Sadly it was already dark when we arrived so I didn’t get to capture how great the alien decor was outside. There’s a tow truck displaying a crashed UFO out front. The walls and ceiling of the bar are filled with police patches. I was told that many officers come through here for various training at the nearby bases (!!!) and it’s a tradition to leave a patch from their branch or town.

I enthusiastically enjoyed an Alien Ale while wearing my Alien shirt in the Little Ale’Inn bar off the Extraterrestrial Highway and relished in the fact we had found the “gate”. No real aliens, but my ale was close enough.

*bonus conspiracy* JANET AIR

After making the drive, I can certainly see why Janet Air exists. If you’re not sure what is it and wanna go down another great rabbit hole: here ya go. It’s basically Area 51’s private airline that flies employees onto the base so they don’t have to make the daily 4+ hour roundtrip commute and can focus that time more appropriately on alien research. The planes are unmarked and white with a red stripe and the crazy part is they fly directly into McCarran Airport and into their own private terminal. The only reason I’m mentioning is because I’ve witnessed these planes myself during the time I lived in Vegas. There’s even a place at Mandalay Bay you can watch them rolling into their private terminal!