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From: campbell@ufomind.com (Glenn Campbell, Las Vegas) Date: Wed, 13 Aug 1997 21:17:11 -0800 |
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NewsBank, inc. - The Hartford Courant - 1996 - Article with Citation
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Headline: GOOD HEAVENS!
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE ON NEVADA HIGHWAY FAMOUS FOR UFO
SIGHTINGS, MILITARY SECRETS, BEAUTIFUL STARGAZING
Date: December 22, 1996 Edition: STATEWIDE
Page: F1
Section: TRAVEL Length: 1779 words
Author: PAT CRAIG; Knight-Ridder Newspapers
Text:
In the desert darkness, the night sky is alive with celestial dandruff:
zillions of stars, cosmic punctuation marks that ancient shepherds and
cowboys turned into bears and drinking dippers. And sometimes, late at
night in the darkness north of Mercury, Nev., sitting on the hood of a
rented Pontiac, enjoying a soda and staring into the sky, one can see the
stars move. Sometimes, on the quiet desert floor on the cusp of a secret
government test site, you could swear the moving stars were something else;
something like flying saucers, maybe, or visitors from another planet.
``People come out from cities, where they can't see the stars like they
can in the pristine skies of the desert,'' says Glenn Campbell, maven of
all that is secret and mysterious in the southern Nevada desert. ``So they
come out here, wanting to see UFOs, and they notice a lot of shooting
stars, and planes and flares. You know, they can be whatever you want them
to be.''
So, are they shooting stars, or the armored pods from some alien mother
ship?
Asking that is about the same as asking which joint on the Las Vegas
Strip has the best $3.99 prime rib. It doesn't really matter. When it
comes to chasing aliens on the southern Nevada desert, suspension of
disbelief is the key to everything. Las Vegas was built on it, the Extra
Terrestrial Highway is paved with it, and, if you saw ``Independence
Day,'' you not only suspended, but you had to completely abandon disbelief
to enjoy the show.
So, just leave your suspicion and logic at the curb, buddy, and get
into the Pontiac. We're gonna get taken for a ride.
We're headed for Area 51, or as close as you can get to the patch of
desert the government currently treats the same way they used to treat
mainland China: a place that doesn't exist.
If you paid attention during ``Independence Day,'' you already know
Area 51 is where the government keeps captured aliens and spaceships. And,
depending on whom you talk to along Nevada Highway 375, the Extra
Terrestrial Highway, Area 51 is either a secret saucer test site or the
place where the Air Force's top guns test domestically produced aircraft.
The UFO angle was forged in 1989 when a man named Robert Lazar went on
television and claimed he'd worked on some captured alien flying saucers to
determine how they used Element 115, a super-heavy substance not found on
Earth, in their propulsion system. He worked near Area 51.
``At first, when I came out here, I was perfectly willing to be the
skeptic and debunk everything out there,'' says Campbell, 36, relaxing in
his small Las Vegas apartment squeezed between the Strip casinos and the
corner of McCarran Airport, where Area 51 workers are allegedly ferried to
and from their jobs in unmarked jetliners. ``But now, I've come to admire
what a good job the government has done to keep the whole thing a secret.''
Campbell, who is making his living selling UFO information and his own
writings on the territory surrounding the government's secret site, seems
of two minds when it comes to cosmic critters and government secrecy. On
the one hand, he said he feels the government is being almost tauntingly
unaccountable by keeping the area so tightly secured; on the other, he
knows if the government turned the place into a kind of Happy Alien Village
theme park, he'd be out of work.
``All they would really have to do is invite some reporters in there
for lunch, say, `OK, here it is. Yes, we do a lot of secret work here and
we can't talk about it.' That would be it, end of story,'' he says.
Instead, the government commandeered two hills where people could hike
up and see the air base at Groom Dry Lake, which was a lot like yelling,
``fire'' in a crowded flying saucer. And, the entire area is patrolled by
``camouflage dudes,'' men in fatigues who drive around in unmarked jeeps
and chase off visitors who have ventured too close to the restricted area.
Knowing a public-relations coup when it flies past them, the state of
Nevada officially renamed its Highway 375 the Extra Terrestrial Highway
last spring.
Some legislators had tried to do it a couple of times previously, but
were laughed down by a more sober element who thought the whole idea was
stupid. This time, however, the renaming came just as the release of
``Independence Day'' loomed on the horizon between Hollywood and Las Vegas
like a massive alien war wagon. The renaming won approval.
``The Fox movie company essentially purchased the highway (by lobbying
for the renaming),'' says Campbell. ``They would have bought Area 51 if
they could, but they couldn't, so they bought the highway instead.''
Suddenly, what had been the domain of the UFOgnoscenti became public
property. And everybody, rather than just those with friends in high
places, became privy to the road lore. They know that on Wednesday nights
if you went to the black mailbox and thought loving thoughts, the UFOs
would come out and dance. They knew all you had to do was look skyward and
flying saucers would appear before your eyes.
``You realize there are a lot of military and celestial activities out
there, so if you want to see UFOs, you're gonna see UFOs,'' says Campbell.
``Of course, you could explain all of what you see with logic, but why?
Now, I'm looking at it as a philosophical challenge to fight every instinct
that tells me this is all rubbish. I'm willing to give it the benefit of
the doubt.''
That's why we're out here on the ET Highway, a seemingly endless
stretch of lonely blacktop, where a desert pilgrim is not necessarily a
welcome sight to others wandering the dirt and sagebrush in search of
alternative intelligent life.
The road runs straight as a Baptist picnic, so you can see seekers from
miles away. You hope to reach out and make contact with others who have
ventured out in their rental cars to find UFOs. But as soon as they notice
you have spotted them, and you're slowing down to talk, they scramble
into their autos and speed away. The Pontiac scared two of these parties
away. People, it seems, have been frightened with tales of strong-arm
camouflage dudes, and camera-snatching sheriff's deputies. But it would be
nice to find someone to talk to.
Three lonely hours out of Vegas, you reach Rachel, a town constructed
primarily of mobile homes, home address to about 100 souls and the
celestial center of the southern Nevada saucer search.
Campbell has a place here, as do Pat and Joe Travis, the couple who
appear to have benefited most from the saucer shower. They own the Little
A'Le'Inn, an oasis of burgers and beer that caters to earthlings and others
who visit Rachel, the town named for the first and only baby born in this
patch of desert.
Joe, 57, sits at the edge of the bar in the bright tavern, decorated in
Plan Nine from Outer Space Modern and Roadhouse Practical. Big bottles of
booze line the bar, beer and soda fill the coolers and the sounds of
sizzling come from the back room, where Pat is grilling up an Alien Burger
(made from unmutilated cows, not aliens). Otherworldly art covers the
walls: A life- sized picture of a space creature stares out from a door,
and the area behind the bar is decorated with alien masks. In one corner,
there are all the alien souvenirs you could want.
``Who's to say? I mean, we get all kinds of people in here: those who
are interested in aliens, those who say they are aliens, those who believe,
those who don't. It's all fine with me,'' says Joe, a garrulous, bearded
man who seems to enjoy the celebrity he has found on the Extra Terrestrial
Highway. ``You can say whatever you want, but whenever someone talks about
aliens, people listen. And the more educated you are, the more likely you
believe. It's a fact.''
Outside, Air Force jets scrape across the sky, tiny dots that move as
fast as, well, as fast as flying saucers. Off in a field, 200 yards from
the tavern, someone fires smoke flares into the sky.
``Planes pretend they're enemy missiles,'' explains Steven Phipps,
gesturing skyward as the desert breeze blows through his long hair and
beard. ``You can see all kinds of stuff flying by here.''
``We have had what you might call a couple of experiences,'' says Pat
Travis, resting her hands on the bar as she chats.
There was the beam of light that shone through a solid door. Then,
there's Archibald, the alien who lives at the bar and reassures the
Travises.
LaRae Fletcher looks over from a nearby table.
``I saw the ship once,'' she says softly. ``It was big, kind of shaped
like a sugar shaker. It was just over there and I was scared. Then, I heard
well, I didn't really hear it, it was more like a thought -- `If you don't
come closer, we won't come to you.' And I left. It was the most frightening
thing.''
On the lonely road, thoughts like that play on your mind. They haunt
you. And the quiet desert road offers the Pontiac nothing but time.
TripTips
If you go
From Las Vegas, drive east on Interstate 15 to Highway 93, then north
to Highway 375, the Extra Terrestrial Highway.
Make sure you have plenty of gas;there are only two stations between
Las Vegas and Rachel, which is a three-hour ride. Also, pack food and
drinks. There are no convenient places to stop for food.
On Highway 375, a number of unmarked, westward dirt roads lead to
secret government bases. Go only as far as legally possible. Arrests or
confiscation of cameras and film are not uncommon.
Rachel is a small but interesting place to stop. If you're looking for
souvenirs, try the Quik Pick convenience store, Area 51 Research Center or
the Little A'Le'Inn, the only restaurant in town.
Once out of Rachel on 375, you can finish out the ET Highway at Warm
Springs, then go west on Highway 6 to Highway 95 for a return trip to Las
Vegas. But if you're on a tight schedule, go back the way you came, which
is quicker.
PAT CRAIG; KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Caption:
PHOTO: (2 color), Pat Craig / Knight Ridder Newspapers
MAP: (b&w), Knight-/Ridder Tribune
* Nevada's Route 375, top, was renamed Extraterrestrial Highway because
of many rumored UFO sightings. Above, Joe and Pat Travis own the Little
A'Le'Inn (Get it? Alien?) in Rachel, Nev., along the stretch of desert
road.
* An otherworldly road
The Nevada Transportation Board has named Highway 375 its official
Extraterrestrial Highway.
Copyright 1996 The Hartford Courant Co.
Accession Number: 9612190036
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Index: Area 51 Reference List: 1996
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Created: Aug 14, 1997