evada and its Extraterrestrials

Are they for real ? Some people are quite sure that
creatures from another planet are present on Earth. And
of course they are hiding in the USA - in Nevada, to be
precise
      Ever since it was opened up in the 19th century, the American West has
attracted people looking for adventure, people with imagination, people with
their own ideas, their own beliefs ,  often quite weird and wonderful beliefs.
Perhaps not surprisingly therefore, it is a region also frequented by UFO's.....
or so they say! And to confirm it all, there is in the state of Nevada an
officially designated "Extraterrestrial" highway, for the benefit of anyone who
hopes to see little green men....

Nevada's Extraterrestrial Highway 375.

It was probably destined to happen; the ingredients have been there for a long
time. There's Nevada, with its sparsely traveled highways and huge open spaces,
where the imagination can run wild; and right in the middle of the state,
a remote super-secret military area, off-limits to all except a group of tight-
lipped employees.
    That place and those circumstances were sure to breed rumors and stories; and
in time, those rumors and stories became legends and myths. And that is how a
very lonesome road, Nevada State Route 375, has come to be known as
the Extraterrestrial Highway.

    There have always been strange things in the sky out there. During the 1950's,
there were mushroom clouds from above-ground nuclear tests. Locals and
visitors alike, oblivious of the risks, used to plan parties round the scheduled
explosions, known as "shots".
    Day and night there were other weird sightings overhead; oddly-shaped aircraft
with no markings would roar across the deserted highway right in front of you,
when you were all by yourself on the road, then disappear over the hill before you
had time to remember that you had a camera in the back of the car.
   
    People talked to each other; news reporters talked to the military; and the
military talked to nobody. Officials denied the very existence of any secret bases,
such as the infamous Area 51, also known as "Dreamland", near the tiny town of
Rachel, Nevada. And yet all anyone had to do was to climb a hill, look over the top,
and see that, yes, there was indeed a base, with aircraft coming and going.
   
    For some people, there could only be one explanation; the government had to
be hiding aliens there; maybe, people suggested, the U.S.Air Force was even test-
piloting alien craft that had crash-landed at various places on Earth. Or perhaps
the government was secretly exchanging scientists with extraterrestrials. A
wonderful rumor became very popular with UFOlogists, namely that a group of
extraterrestrial scientists were at work at Area 51 Base, while a contingent of
Earthling scientists was on some far-away planet, finding a cure for the common
cold.
    The most famous UFO-believer was a man called Bob Lazar, who drew national
attention to the area in 1989 when he publicly claimed to have seen alien ships
captured by the military. He supposedly saw them while employed as a physicist at
the base.
   
    For those with less fantastic imaginations, the "mysteries" of the area had a
more prosaic explanation, mainly that the US Air Force is secretive about the base
simply because it is used, as it has been for the past 50 or so years, to develop
new military aircraft such as the U-2 and the F117-A "Stealth" fighter.
Unfortunately, for instance, this top-secret plane was captured in flight one sunny
afternoon by a Las Vegas photographer, before the U.S. Air Force had revealed its
existence. Shown the picture, an Air Force spokesman claimed not to know what
it was! No wonder that rumors proliferated!
    Confirmed UFOlogists, however, remain convinced that the very remote area
around Area Base 51 is frequented by extraterrestrials and that the US military is in
contact with them; and so it is that the minuscule town of Rachel, population 100
people and a few dogs, now promotes itself as the UFO capital of America. Visitors
now come from all over the USA and beyond, to drive along the 98-mile highway
and stop off for a bite or a night at the social center of Rachel, the Little A "Le" Inn,
(Get it? A "Le" Inn = Alien.... and in American, the pronunciation is virtually the
same.) which serves as café, bar, hotel and UFO Information Center.
   
    Owners Joe and Pat Travis have covered the walls with photos of flying objects,
and have a library of 150 volumes devoted to UFOlogy, which visitors are free to
look through.