The Nevada Department of Transportation recently reinstalled the iconic “Extraterrestrial Highway” sign at the junction of Nevada Highways 318 and 375, just northwest of U.S. Highway 93, in Crystal Springs, Lincoln County, NDOT announced.
The sign had been removed on Sept. 12. Stickers and graffiti had rendered it no longer readable. It was reinstalled at a taller height to curtail future vandalism and theft.
The sign was taken down prior to the “Alienstock” event, Sept. 19-22 in Rachel, to help reduce traffic congestion at the location from people taking pictures, NDOT said in a news release Nov. 20.
The newly fabricated 3-foot-high by 8-foot-long sign features a silhouette of the Stealth bomber in the lower right corner as an homage to nearby “Area 51” – a highly classified Air Force facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range – that is the subject of unidentified flying object (UFO) conspiracy theories.
The 98-mile stretch of Nevada Highway 375 between Crystal Springs and Warm Springs was given its catchy nickname in February 1996 by the Nevada Commission on Tourism. The Extraterrestrial Highway moniker is designed to draw travelers to the austere and remote reaches of south-central Nevada, where old atomic bomb test sites, secret Defense Department airstrips and huge, sequestered tracts of military land create a marketable mystique.
NDOT works with Waze to inform the public about planned highway restrictions, but unscheduled construction changes, closures and restrictions are possible due to weather or other factors.
For the latest state highway conditions, visit nvroads.com or call 511 before driving.