The Extraterrestrial Highway
It’s got to be one of the most bizarre marketing concepts in American tourism history. Feeding on the modern fascination with UFOs, government cover-ups, men in black and all things conspiratorial, Nevada has designated NV 375 in Nye County between Crystal Springs and Warm Springs as The Extraterrestrial Highway. The pavement passes a few miles east of a portion of the Nellis Air Force Bombing and Gunnery Range that is the supposed location of the government’s ultra-secret Area 51 where, true believers theorize, debris from a crashed flying saucer and the bodies of the alien occupants were brought in the 1950s. The feds admit only that there is an Air Force facility at Groom Lake, but some of the locals swear that it’s no coincidence that more UFOs are seen in their backyard than anywhere else in the world, while guntoting guards in unmarked 4WD vehicles patrol the desert. The existence of alien technology here is utterly wild speculation, but it’s widely held that the area has been the testing ground for aircraft like the U-2 and Stealth bomber for more than 40 years. This much is sure: Former employees of the facility have sued the government, claiming that they’ve gotten sick from the burning of tons of toxic waste, a thought scarier than any little green men.
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