What do people see around Area 51? It seems like everybody sees something - from military aircraft and security guards to mysterious lights that travel at extreme speeds. Can an escaping alien be far behind?

Below are some Area 51 trip reports readers submitted to Explore The Fringe.

If you have an Area 51 experience, please submit it to us and we'll add it to this database. You can also submit reports via e-mail to comment_now@yahoo.com.

Well, we decided to go to [Area 51] because....I just wanted to say "Hey, I've been there!" Anyway, we left Phoenix and flew to North Las Vegas Airport for fuel. From there I called the Little A'le'inn and talked to Pat's daughter Connie and her husband Ray. Ray said that he would be in a blue car on the road and would stop traffic (if any.)

So, we flew low along [Highway] 375 about 700 feet a.g.l. Nellis Approach kindly said not to cross into their restricted airspace. Good advice! Lucky for us I was using GPS navigation which showed the line of the "Area 51 airspace." When we did see Rachel, sure enough there was Ray in his car, a man I never met before acting like he had known us for years. What a great guy! We made several low passes to check out the landing site and saw [that] there is one set of power lines so we landed just west of those and taxied right into the Little A'le'inn and tied down there.

Everybody was nice and a little surprised (probably from seeing something that should be flying, a Cessna!) Pat and Joe had absolutely no problem with us parking in the lot and, as a matter of fact, we are going back on August 1,2,3 for a get together there and we will [be] parking in our same spot!!

We were hiking just outside the restricted area of the Groom Lake region about 11 summers ago when we were met by a military type vehicle on patrol. The 2 men were very nice and expressed an acute interest in why we were in the area. They became quite brash when we told told them our interest and our intentions of photography and frequency scanning the area while outside the restricted area.

One of the men told me that some day all will be told. And he would not go any further. The other man said that we should leave the area and that we will be under constant watch. "Deadly force can be used" he said. We spent the evening out there that night and one more night. On the hike out of the area we were encountered and searched. I specifically said the search was illegal since we were not in the restricted area. One of the men laughed.

That was my experience with Area 51. I will return soon with newer gear. It will be good!

In November 1995 on a trip to Las Vegas, two of my friends and I decided to take a day and visit Area 51. We made our way out to the black mailbox and, with a crude map of the area, decided to venture as close as possible to the gates of the facility. This was at night for the fact that all flights are done at this time.

Anyway, we were driving along and then got lost. We decided to find our way back to the main road and the Black Mailbox. When we turned the car around, we saw another car's dust trail. There were no gusty winds to kick up that kind of dust. We were being followed all the way. We saw no tail(ing car) or headlights, which really spooked us. However, how do you explain the freshly kicked up dirt from the road? We decided to make haste to the road. Upon arriving, we did happen to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be car or truck lights from the area we had just come from.

About 15 minutes later, we observed a hovering pair of lights off in the distance. The lights hovered out by the mountain range. We were able to get a better look using binoculars. I witnessed what appeared to be three orange-yellow engine flames. The object suddenly shot off to the left, then right, all at a tremendously fast speed. I have never seen anything move so fast. The pattern of flight was triangular - no smooth turns, only jagged quick movements. We observed this object for a solid 10 minutes before it came back to it's original position. The object seemed to really power up. It's engines appeared to have three (exhaust ports) which went from orange-yellow to bluish-white (as the object) shot up into the sky and completely disappeared.

On the way back to Vegas, we did notice what appeared to be a white light which seemed to follow us on a parallel course in the distance along the range. It was a clear crisp night so there was little that could be imagined between three people. All in all a very interesting and profitable, for a change, trip.

I'm retired from the Air Force. In 1984, I had an opportunity to work at Area 51 but quickly decided not to after learning more about the duties I'd be performing.

At the time, I was assigned to Mather AFB in California but wanted to get back to Nellis where I'd been assigned to Red Flag. So, I was aware of the mystery surrounding Groom Lake, etc. It was super hard to even get a telephone number and when I did finally get a number the first question was "how did you get a telephone number out here?" Once he calmed down, I explained that I had seen a special duty listing in an AF publication. He referred me to the personnel office at Nellis and they set up a telephone call between myself and the MSgt whose job I would be taking over.

I spoke with him (MSgt at Area 51) several times and he would never say anything worth while over the phone. He did tell me that I would have to leave Nellis for two week periods and could not tell my wife, family or friends what I was doing or even where I was off to. Well, by this time, I felt that my curiosity about Area 51 was pretty well overridden by the hardships such duty would bring on my wife and me. Imagine - gone for two weeks at a time and I couldn't tell her or anyone else a thing about it. I've had easier short tours in places like Thule, Greenland than that. Anyway, the MSgt at Area 51 tried to set up a meeting at Nellis so that we could get down to the nitty gritty of the job but I told him to forget that I ever called. Had I not been married, I probably would have taken the job though.

I visited Area 51 this summer. At around 10 p.m. it got very dark. We were sitting at the Black Mailbox. A flare was shot up from where Area 51 should be. Then engines roared in the distance. Three planes went up with only red strobe lights, no other lights on. Sometimes the lights would be turned off. They flew around for about an hour. In the background behind us facing east we kept seeing what we thought was lightning but there were no clouds all day. The planes we saw made the trip worthwhile. I don't know if they were the Aurora or some other plane. We never saw any jet engines, just bright red strobes and it was definitely human built.

Well, I did visit about a year ago - did the tourist bit, etc. However, when we were spending the night by the mailbox, a light suddenly appeared and then vanished. I doubt this is E.T. technology but instead is a silent helicopter - no wind and no noise. If stealth helicopters are such frivolous craft to have buzzing tourists, one must conclude they have much more important things at the base. I imagine there is not much under the hangers themselves except maybe stealth choppers and white jeeps. [Everything important] is underground.

I have been to Area 51 and Rachel 8 times. I have seen the Stealth Bomber, F-15s, B-1s and the ever-present security helicopters and security personnel.

In March 1996, I was there for 3 days and 2 nights and observed a noiseless aircraft flying at night with chase aircraft. The aircraft had blue lights and may have, in fact, been two aircraft because we could see stars between the two blue lights. At the time, there was no air traffic flying in the area outside the "box." From our viewpoint by Bald Mt., we could see the aircraft ascend and descend from behind Bald Mt.

I was watching four jet fighters performing maneuvers in the sky. In the course of an hour from noon to one, I was buzzed 7 times by a camouflage painted biplane which came within a couple hundred feet of me several of those times. After the seventh time, a pave hawk helicopter appeared from behind a nearby hill and flew down the road at about 20 feet altitude passing within about 30 feet of me. The co-pilot was staring at me the whole flyby. I left shortly and didn't see anything else.