Back in 2007, while I was working on 'The Fourth World' I had an opportunity to visit Rachel, Nevada -- the town closest to Area 51, which of course is where much of my book is set. While there, the nice folks at the Little Ale'inn gave me directions to the closest place you can get, on public land, to the facility. So naturally, I drove down, binoculars in hand, to check out the area.

I found the famous 'mailbox' and drove westward, not seeing any of the famous 'white jeeps' or any of the rest of the security for some time. At one point, the road started to rise, and I noticed vehicles ahead of me on the ridges, half hidden by the scrub. They were white pickup trucks, and due to the heat mirage, they actually looked like low-flying saucers! :)

Anyway, I figured I shouldn't go any further, so stopped the car, turned it around, and got out to take a few pictures and to take a look around with my binoculars to see if there were any other crazies around.

Then I heard a rustling in the underbrush behind me. I turned around and saw a bull the size of a bus. He was covered in scars, most notably right at the top of his head, and he had an expression on his face that said he wasn't pleased to see me.

I RAN and got into my car to drive away. I put the car in gear, and started to drive. Then, I realized that nobody would believe me -- so I snapped this picture.

If you don't have Silverlight already, install it and come back to this page. It'll be worth it. Then check out sites like http://stargate.mgm.com or http://memo.hardrock.com that have been built with this technology!