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|name=Little A'Le'Inn | |name=Little A'Le'Inn | ||
|type=Restaurant, bar, and motel | |type=Restaurant, bar, and motel | ||
Latest revision as of 13:02, 5 August 2026
The Little A'Le'Inn is a restaurant, bar, and motel in Rachel, Nevada, widely regarded as the unofficial gateway to Area 51 and the best-known UFO tourism stop along the Extraterrestrial Highway.
History
Origins and renaming
The building that now houses the Little A'Le'Inn was first opened in 1976 as "The Watering Hole" by Tom Spears.[1] It later operated as the Rachel Bar and Grill, and in the summer of 1988 was purchased by Joe and Pat Travis from previous owners Harold and Ladell Singer, at a time when the area's tungsten-mining economy was declining and the community's population was shrinking.[2][1]
Two events reshaped the business shortly after the Travises took over. In November 1989, Bob Lazar claimed on a Las Vegas television station that he had worked with recovered alien craft at Papoose Lake, roughly 35 miles south of Rachel, and UFO watchers began arriving on the highway to visit the bar.[3] The Travises added several rooms for overnight guests around the same period.[2] Then, in 1991, following a public contest to rename the business, customer Bruce Hooker suggested "A'Le'Inn" — a pun on "alien" — and the Travises adopted it, alongside a new alien-themed motif to match the growing wave of visitors.[4][3]
The Glenn Campbell dispute
In January 1993, researcher Glenn Campbell arrived in Rachel and parked a small motorhome behind the inn, beginning to publish an independent Area 51 Viewer's Guide covering sightings and public access points near the base.[3] Late in the evening of August 28, 1993, Campbell was ordered to leave the property by owner Joe Travis; Pat Travis later said Campbell "was trying to take over our business."[3] Campbell relocated to the other end of Rachel and founded a rival operation, the "Area 51 Research Center," selling UFO- and Area 51-related books and materials largely by mail order.[3][5] Earlier that same year, the inn's parking lot had hosted the "Ultimate UFO Seminar," at which Bob Lazar was the featured speaker.[6] The Area 51 Research Center closed as an independent storefront in November 2001 and its remaining stock was subsequently absorbed into a corner of the Little A'Le'Inn itself.[7]
Highway designation and later growth
In 1996, Nevada officially designated State Route 375 the "Extraterrestrial Highway," bringing a further surge of press and tourist attention to the inn.[2] That April, 20th Century Fox dedicated a time capsule outside the inn to promote Independence Day, to be opened in 2050.[8]
The inn achieved renewed viral attention in September 2019 as the designated "basecamp" location for the internet-driven "Storm Area 51" event, drawing several hundred visitors and prompting an accompanying music festival, Alienstock, staged nearby.[9][10] Co-owner Connie West described the surge of attention to the Las Vegas Sun at the time, noting that the inn's phone would not stop ringing once the event went viral.[10]
Location and offerings
Situated on the only paved street in Rachel — a settlement of roughly 48 year-round residents as of the 2020 census[7] — the inn offers a restaurant serving alien-themed dishes including its "World Famous Alien Burger," a motel with rooms in trailers and a private cabin, camping and RV space, and a gift shop selling maps, T-shirts, and UFO-themed souvenirs.[11][4]
A gathering place for UFO culture
Beyond ordinary tourists, the inn has drawn a wide range of visitors over the decades, including self-described alien abductees and individuals claiming extraterrestrial identities; owner Pat Travis also described commercial airline pilots who privately shared their own UFO sightings with her while declining to file official reports.[3] Travis recounted the inn's own local folklore to the Smithsonian, including an occasion on which she and Joe offered a beer to what they took to be a passing alien presence, and stories of a protective, unseen entity the family called "Archibald," who Travis said had once saved her life on the highway by warning her to slow down before she encountered a cow in the road.[3]
The inn has also appeared in film and television, including a gift-shop stock of memorabilia signed for the 2011 comedy Paul, which featured a fictionalized version of the restaurant.[4]
Ownership today
The Little A'Le'Inn remains family-owned and operated, run today by Pat Travis and her daughter, Connie West.[4][10]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Little A'Le'Inn."Wikimapia.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Inexplicable Moments."Smithsonian Magazine.2013.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "A Short History of Rachel, Nevada."Rachel-Nevada.com.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Little A'Le'Inn Is The Nevada Restaurant For UFO Lovers."The Takeout.2024.
- ↑ "Area 51 Research Center."Center for Land Use Interpretation.
- ↑ "My thoughts on the late Glenn Campbell, former Area 51 researcher and activist."Norio Hayakawa.2021.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Rachel, Nevada."Wikipedia.
- ↑ "Little A'Le'Inn."Atlas Obscura.2012.
- ↑ "Storm Area 51."Wikipedia.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Rural Nevada not equipped for big 'storm Area 51' turnout."The Universe (BYU).
- ↑ "This Remote Nevada Roadside Inn Is As Weird And Wonderful As It Sounds."Taking the Kids.2026.