‘Extraterrestrial Highway’ sign reappears after Storm Area 51 events
After being “abducted” by road crews ahead of the Storm Area 51 events in September, the popular Extraterrestrial Highway sign has reappeared.
A new version of the sign was installed at the junction of state Routes 318 and 375 in Lincoln County after the former one, which was covered in stickers and graffiti, was taken down ahead of the Alienstock and Area 51 Basecamp events, the Nevada Department of Transportation said Wednesday.
The sign is the most stolen sign in the state and was installed at a taller height to reduce vandalism and theft, according to NDOT.
The newly fabricated sign, 3 feet high by 8 feet long, features a silhouette of the Stealth bomber in the lower right corner as an homage to nearby Area 51 — a classified U.S. Air Force facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range — where some believe unidentified flying objects and alien life forms have been held.
The 98-mile stretch of state Route 375 between Crystal Springs and Warm Springs was given its nickname in 1996 by the Nevada Commission on Tourism. The Extraterrestrial Highway name is designed to bring travelers to the remote reaches of south-central Nevada, where old atomic bomb test sites, secret Defense Department airstrips and large, isolated areas of military land create a marketable mystique.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.