Extraterrestrial Highway sign reinstalled after grafitti, 'Alienstock' event

Rachel, NV (KSNV) — The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) recently reinstalled the iconic “Extraterrestrial Highway” sign at the junction of State Routes 318 and 375, just northwest of U.S. Route 93, in Crystal Springs, Lincoln County.

The sign was removed on September 12, 2019. Stickers and graffiti had rendered it no longer readable. It was reinstalled at taller height to curtail future vandalism and theft.

The sign was taken down prior to the “Alienstock” event, September 19-22 in Rachel, to help reduce traffic congestion at the location from people taking pictures.

The new sign features a silhouette of the Stealth bomber in the lower right corner as an homage to nearby “Area 51”, which is the subject of unidentified flying object (UFO) conspiracy theories.

The 98-mile stretch of State Route 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.