Groom Lake, Nevada

Area 51 and the Extraterrestrial Highway: What’s Actually Out There

The U-2 reconnaissance aircraft, the SR-71 Blackbird, and the F-117 stealth fighter were all developed and tested at the US Air Force installation on the shore of Groom Lake, a dry lakebed in the Nevada desert 150 kilometres northwest of Las Vegas. None of that is disputed or classified anymore. The UFO mythology that grew around the site developed partly because civilians were spotting classified test flights – aircraft that genuinely did not look like any known aircraft – and reporting them as unidentified objects. Which they were, technically.

The installation is not open to the public. It is surrounded by motion sensors, armed guards, and signs stating that the use of deadly force is authorised. People who have approached the boundary have found the guards polite but unambiguous. The experience involves a firmly worded conversation and a request to leave.

The Extraterrestrial Highway

Nevada State Route 375, running along the eastern boundary of the test range for about 100 kilometres between Crystal Springs and Warm Springs, was officially designated the Extraterrestrial Highway in 1996. Nevada correctly calculated that the route was already attracting tourists and decided to lean in.

The turnoff to the back gate of Area 51 at Groom Lake Road, a graded dirt track passable in most vehicles in dry conditions, runs about 25 kilometres from the highway junction near Rachel. The road dead-ends at the base perimeter: orange markers, a cattle grid, cameras on poles, and white guard vehicles visible in the distance. If you get too close, the guards will approach. The whole exercise takes about 10 minutes and is not dramatic in the way the mythology suggests.

Rachel, Nevada

Rachel is the nearest town to the base: population around 54 people, depending on recent arrivals and departures. The Little A’Le’Inn (pronounced “little alien”) is the only functioning restaurant and bar, with alien-themed decor, a decent alien burger, and rooms for around USD 60 to 80 per night. The guest book goes back decades and includes Japanese tour groups, German journalists, and apparent regulars who return every few years. It is one of those American roadside places that has accidentally become a cultural institution without trying to be anything other than what it is.

Stargazing

This is the genuine reason to make the trip. The Nevada desert at 1,500 metres elevation, with no city light for 100 kilometres in any direction, produces some of the darkest accessible skies in the continental United States. The Milky Way is visible to the naked eye on clear nights with a clarity that people who have only seen it from the suburbs cannot anticipate. Pull off on any dirt track off the ET Highway after dark, lie on the ground, and look up. Clear nights outnumber cloudy ones about 4 to 1 in summer months.

Practical Notes

From Las Vegas, take US-93 north to Alamo, then NV-318 north and NV-375 west to Rachel: about 2.5 hours. Fill the tank in Alamo or Crystal Springs; Rachel has no petrol station. Mobile signal is nonexistent for most of the journey. Temperatures exceed 40 degrees Celsius in July and August; carry significantly more water than you think you will need. Do not rely on finding any.