Night Of The Living Geeks

Two hours north of Las Vegas, in the high desert of what we like to call the Great American Southwest, lies a base that went unacknowledged for decades. That secrecy, combined with rumors, theories, and legends, created the myth that we know as Area 51. Whether it’s merely a CIA base that developed aircraft like the U-2 and SR-71 or whether we’re to believe the stories of Bob Lazar and others that alien technology is being reverse engineered there, Area 51 became a fixture in pop culture during the late 80s and early 90s. In the mid-90s, filmmaker Roger Mexico and his friend Michael Brown captured a slice of UFO culture that feels almost quaint today. More than just a snapshot of believers and contactees, Alien Highway also preserves for us views of Area 51 that can no longer be accessed by the public because of government land grabs. This month, we headed off the main road and driving up to the gates of Area 51 with a look at Alien Highway and a look back at UFO culture in the 90s.