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The Entrance and the Signs

As we started to drive into the small hills, I spotted a glint of metal ahead.

The road twists and turns a bit, but I'm 85% sure that the original glint of metal I saw was the video camera and microphone on the hill pointing at the entrance to the base. 

From what I'd read on the Internet, I expected to see a white jeep parked on the hill to the right watching us approach, but there was none there. 

We parked, got out of the car, and I took a few pictures of the signs that said "Photographyof this area prohibited." 

The photo on the left was taken before we got to the signs, so we were still okay to take pictures.

A car that looked very much like our own came screaming up Groom Lake Road.

Two men with military haircuts, speaking what sounded like German, got out of the car and looked around. I approached them and said "That's not a white jeep" pointing to their car. 
They ignored me and never made eye contact as if they didn't understand a word of English. They got back in the car and drove off. I only got one picture of their car.  Because 

I'd hidden my camera as they drove up in case they were Area 51 guards there to confiscate it.

We decided that driving past the signs and getting arrested would be a big mistake. 

By this time I was very hot and was actually looking forward to my waiting room in the Luxor in Las Vegas! 

From where we stood at the signs, we could see a video camera on a hill watching us. It wasn't hidden. It was white and silver and pretty obvious.

It also had a microphone dish to hear what we had to say. I didn't say much, but my companion went off about our tax dollars funding "something like this" (whatever it was.) 

We turned around and drove off. After we'd left the area where the no photography signs were posted, I looked back and spotted the Area 51 guards.

Yup. There they were on top of a hill in a white truck watching us. 

Good thing we stayed out. I was playing by the rules. Since there were no signs here, we pulled over and I took a shot on maximum zoom. I'm sure with their giant scopes that they saw me much better than I saw them.

Verdict: Area 51 exists. It is still actively guarded and off limits to average American citizens.

Looking forward to a clean room, a hot shower and some people watching in Las Vegas, we headed back up Groom Lake Road.

It's a lot longer than it looks! We drove for a long time and on the way the car nearly overheated. 

At the top of the picture, you can see where the ET Highway connects with Groom Lake Road.

Oh yeah, and there were some cattle along the way. Steve Medlin's I believe. The rancher's cattle are allowed to enter Area 51, but then they don't carry cameras or tell people about the UFOs they see at night. 

Epilogue

It is now August, 2003, over three years since I first visited the edge of Area 51 and wrote this article. During that time, freaky things have happened: 9-11, largest anti-war protests in history, Iraq invasion, etc. Some say America is at war with terrorists and that more secrecy is needed now than ever before. Others say that unchecked government secrecy is the real problem, that threats have been orchestrated, manufactured and hyped in a covert program by political-military-industrialists to take complete control and usurp US democracy. I wonder... What do aliens think of terrorists? I wonder this because I've heard that our secret government at Area 51 is working side by side with (or warring with?) ancient underground alien races. Is there an elevator that leads 800 miles down into the hollow Earth? Why are there so many crazy ideas about this place? Is Area 51 any more than a testing facility for new technology and experimental aircraft? I expect that I will never know. It amuses me, however, to think that someone who does know the answer will read this someday and have a good laugh.

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