- Rachel, Nevada
Rachel is an unincorporated portion of
Lincoln County, Nevada . As the closest habitation to theNellis Air Force Range andArea 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, 3-room motel, 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 atungsten mining town, but the mines pulled out circa 1988. Most of the year-round inhabitants live inmobile home s.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." [cite web |url=http://www.kfc.com/about/pressreleases/111406.asp |title=Press Releases |date=2006-11-14 |accessdate=2007-10-13] Constructed in early November, it took six days on site to assemble its 65,000 colored tiles on convert|87500|sqft|m2|-1 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 byMichael McKean , resided in the town. It is also a key place in thefirst person shooter style game titled .
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