Red Lights, White Mailboxes, and Little Green Men

So a few weeks ago we were on the road to Area 51. Five people, camera gear, luggage, and a substantial bag o’ snacks crammed into a Cadillac Escalade with flames painted on each side. We rocketed north out Los Angeles towards the far side of Vegas – a seemingly endless swath of dust, cacti, and occasional bomb craters officially known as the Nellis Air Force Base Test and Training Ranges.

We’ve all known each other for a while – years even – but this was our first road trip together. I was in the backseat, in the middle. The spot I fondly remember from my youth as the “hump seat” due to the lump in the floorboard caused by the driveshaft running underneath the family car. Modern technology has smoothed out the floors of today’s vehicles, so that wasn’t an issue. But the feeling that my siblings were going to start flicking me in the back of the head at any minute never quite went away.

With nothing of particular interest speeding past our windows, we were a captive audience for Ace and Simon, who declared themselves the trip DJs and began to “educate” the rest of us. Two bigger music fans I have never met. Their depth of knowledge and range of musical taste was astounding and a little bit frightening. Both have been band tour managers so there wasn’t just running commentary about the music, there was info on the band members, producers, record labels, groupies, and all sorts of random minutia.

Soon, mercifully, they were so busy entertaining each other that they forgot about those of us in the backseat. Joel (DP), Jen (Exec Prod), and I chatted about nothing in particular, although there was a delightful interlude during which we described our favorite Dairy Queen treats. Good times.

We were off to shoot our first series for Simon Cox Investigates – “Little Green Men and Other Strange Beliefs.” Along the way we shopped at the Alien Beef Jerky store in Baker, traveled the Extra Terrestrial Highway, marveled at the giant metal man in front of the Alien Research Center, chatted with the locals at the Little A’Le’Inn, and watched the night skies near the legendary Black Mailbox (now painted white). It seemed like the little red lights on our cameras were always lit and it was great.

Our journey to the gates Nellis AFB Ranges containing Area 51 (aka “Dreamland,” “Paradise Ranch,” and “the Box”) was one of the highlights of the trip. In movies people are always breaking into top secret places or smuggling out top secret documents, but when you come up against a real place with real warning signs and real guys with real guns, well, your perspective changes a bit. The military has every intention of keeping the secrets within those gates, including whatever monkey business that may have occurred in Area 51. The “camo dudes” (armed guards in camouflage gear) positioned on surrounding hills spend their hot, dusty days watching the roads for potential threats – and for idiots who think it would be fun to step over the line just to see what happens. Putting a boot on the neck of such a prankster would totally make their day. So, when an unmarked truck suddenly came down the road towards us while we were filming, we immediately decided that, hey, maybe we have enough footage of this area, you know? Maybe it was time to head back to town. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea. And the flame-painted Escalade made a neat little U-turn and we skedaddled.

Before we said our farewells to Rachel, Nevada, and the surrounding area, we interviewed the owner of the Little A’le’Inn (“aliens are among us; they take over our bodies…”), a woman behind the counter at a local gas station (“those lights are just Air Force maneuvers…”), and other folks with varying opinions about what they believe, what others believe, and why it all seems to matter so much. FYI, no one at the Dairy Queen in Baker seemed to have a strong opinion about the subject, but the Blizzards and the Dip Cones were most excellent.

Can’t wait to show you the footage. (teaser!!) I’ll let you know when it’s gonna hit the website.