“the only landmark for over 40 miles on a barren stretch of highway”
The only landmark for about 40 miles on a barren stretch of highway is this mailbox battered by time and desert gusts. It's known as the Black Mailbox although, as you can see in this photo by Oliver Robinson, it's actually a faded white. The box is made of quarter-inch-thick bulletproof metal, and its door is clamped shut with a Master Lock. Its owner, say the black letters printed on its side, is STEVE MEDLIN, HC 61, BOX 80. Over the years, hundreds of people have converged here to photograph this box held up by a chipped metal pole. They camp next to it. They try to break into it. They debate its significance, or simply huddle by it for hours, staring into the night. Some think the mailbox is linked to nearby Area 51, a military installation and purported hotbed of extraterrestrial activity. At the very least, they consider the box a prime magnet for flying saucers. A few visitors have claimed to have seen astonishing celestial oddities, but most seem to enjoy even uneventful nights at the mailbox, about midway between the towns of Alamo and Rachel. Alien hunters here are surrounded by like-minded, - that is to say, uh, open-minded - company. In a place where the welcome sign to Rachel reads, Humans: 98, Aliens: ?, few roll their eyes at tales of spaceships, military conspiracies and extraterrestrials that abduct and impregnate tourists.
Sadly, the mail box is no more. Just a concrete slab with the pole attached. Seems to be a Geo-Cache sit tho. The research center is also gone- but its a good drive and the Little A-le-inn is worth a stop.
The mailbox was there and full of alien mail as of Sept. 2019. A very very fun stop to leave the aliens a gift and love letter, and read what others have left!!!
VADER IS HERE, BOSS, CHAPLAIN.
I went looking for the mailbox about three weeks ago. I asked a guy in Rachel where it was. He told me that the owner got rid of it because people kept breaking into it. It could still be there but I didn't see it. Rachel is an interesting little place with a decent burger joint and souvenirs
One of the coolest roadside attractions along this route is the Black Mailbox (though it’s now actually white, but black just sounds so much cooler). This mailbox (along Nevada State Route 375) is a popular landmark from which to spot UFOs near Area 51. But, be warned. It's just a mailbox.
The mailbox is there as of May 2023! We didn’t stop, but it was visibly there, right where our maps app said it would be.
Even though the original was removed, an employee at the little a'le'inn told us that another mailbox has been put in its place and it has become somewhat of a shrine and is well worth the visit. When we arrived we found people had been leaving behind more than just their notes and trinkets, but dumping their trash as well. The amount of garbage left behind was beyond belief and rather than leaving our own note behind we ended up leaving the site with three full bags of trash, hardly making a dent in the amount still there. Despite this, we still enjoyed our visit.
following an attack on the person collecting mail the box has been removed according to a staff member at the little alien inn .
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The Black Mailbox (Area 51) - GONE
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