Rachel, Nevada
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Rachel is an unincorporated portion of Lincoln County, Nevada. As the closest habitation to the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51, Rachel enjoys a modest celebrity, particularly among aviation enthusiasts and UFO hunters.
The town lies approximately three hours drive north of Las Vegas along Nevada Highway 375 (the "Extraterrestrial Highway"), which has an unofficial "speed limit" of Warp 7. The tiny town receives a modest number of visitors interested in the U.S. government's secret doings to the west, to whom a small tourist shop and an alien-themed bar cater, the Little A'Le'Inn.
Rachel's population generally hovers around 80 inhabitants, nearly all involved in ranching. The town was originally established as a tungsten mining town, but the mines pulled out circa 1988. Most of the year-round inhabitants live in mobile homes.
In 2006 KFC created a giant company logo on the ground at the north edge of Rachel and claimed it to be the first logo visible from space. "[It] marked the official debut of a massive global re-image campaign that will contemporize 14,000-plus KFC restaurants in over 80 countries over the next few years."[1] Constructed in early November, it took six days on site to assemble its 65,000 colored tiles on 87,500 square feet (8,130 m²) of flat desert terrain. The logo also had a hidden message on the tie area of the logo that featured an impostor colonel holding a sign over his head, reading "Finger Lickin Good." All evidence of the giant logo has been removed (verified April 17th 2007) and a flat, well graded field is all that remains.
Rachel was mentioned in a two-part episode of The X-Files entitled Dreamland. In that episode a secret agent aware of the hidden backstory of the show, played by Michael McKean, resided in the town. It is also a key place in the first person shooter style game titled BlackSite: Area 51.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Little A'Le'Inn site
- "The Closest Town to Area 51"
- Rachel, Nevada — award-winning documentary by Jessica Landaw and David Dawes.
- Rachel Lies Dreaming — a short film by visual artist Mark Hatter, portraying the town of Rachel, Nevada
- Rachel, Nevada is at coordinates Coordinates:
- Google Maps image of KFC logo
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