Karl Puchlik, one of my best friends, finally agreed to go on a trip with me outside of Las Vegas, to a top secret military installation known as Area 51. We started on Saturday late morning, and began driving to the middle of nowhere to find this conspiracy "wonder of the world". We were met with dirt, dust, rocks, and that is about it.

We had over 100 miles to drive, and boy was it exciting for me. Wondering if the "Jeep Cherokees" would really follow us around, or would the cameras on tripods be mounted in the middle of the desert watching us? I didn't want to take Karl out there, saying it would be fun, and see absolutely nothing.

When we got to Highway 375, we saw the sign for the "Extraterrestrial Highway". "Whew!" I thought to myself. “We were on the right track.” We stopped, took pictures by the sign, and continued on our way through the desert. We eventually came to a long stretch of dirt road as far as the eye could see into the mountains, which we could only deduce as Groom Lake Road. Unmarked, this road leads into the base, and is even traveled daily by the workers at Area 51, trucked in from neighboring towns.

We went up the road just a bit more to make sure we had the right road, which we did. So, I turned around and we went off-road to Groom Lake Road. Karl of course wanted me to drive. He was a bit nervous about the security guards I was talking about, so I said "Sure, I'll drive!” Needless to say I was nervous as well, but more so that we wouldn't see anything.

The maps I printed off the Internet said that the Groom Lake Road would stretch for 13 miles, before we came to signs, which said we could not go any farther. I set the trip meter, and continued on our way. Not incredibly treacherous road, I took it about 40 miles per hour the entire way, just making sure we didn't barrel through any signs. I was so eager to get there; Karl had to tell me to slow down a bit on our way there.

As we pass cows in the middle of nowhere, and millions of Joshua Trees as far as the eye could see, there were no security guards, no cameras that I could see, and I was starting to sweat. Was this drive completely a waste of time?

I look at the trip meter, and it was already at 13.4 miles, farther then the map said the signs would be. Did I pass them? I wasn't sure, so that in itself made me a bit nervous.

Yet, out of me thinking we weren't going to see anything, I slammed on the brakes and asked Karl if he saw what I saw. He looked at me, and questioned what I was talking about, so I point to a neighboring hill. I saw the glimmer of the sun on the hood of the car. I knew it was a car, but not a white Jeep Cherokee as I always read about. We finally thought it was another tourist, and continued on our way.

About a quarter of a mile later, I stopped the car again, and was able to find the cameras on the hills with binoculars. I showed Karl, and we knew we were in a place we shouldn't be. So, when two 20 year-old guys know they shouldn't be in a place, we did what we should've, we continued to drive forward.

I turn a small hill, and there straight in front of me are the famous Area 51 warning signs. We finally made it! To the hills from the North East of us, behind the military boundary, were our new friends from Area 51, sitting watching us. The car we saw was in fact the security guards, but they weren't in the car I was expecting.

And to the hills to the West of us, were the security cameras. So, I parked the car, and we got out. Started taking pictures of the signs, the cameras, and yes, even of the security guards.

After about 10 minutes of standing by the car, Karl has the idea to walk up the hill to the east of us, still outside the military boundary. This made me a bit nervous. I did not know if the security guards would like this, and I would not have tried it if he didn't. So, thank goodness he was there.

I grabbed my camera, the binoculars, and ran up the hill towards him. Once at the top, we had a great view of where we drove in, but better yet, of the security guards car now about 30 yards in front of us, starting us straight on. We took additional pictures, and I did what any nervous, but excited UFO researcher would do. I walked towards them.

I made sure they knew I was NOT going to cross the boundary. I was even pointing to the border so they knew I was watching it, and was not going to cross it. With my binoculars, I could even see their hair color and there heads staring right at me.

If that wasn't intimidating enough, I decided to turn half way around before I heard an engine start. I turned to face them, and they started to pull forward, towards me. I turned around quicker then a flash of lightning, when I yelled to Karl saying they were moving. I knew we weren't going to get shot, but I figured we could kiss our cameras goodbye.

Now nerves higher then they were, I could not turn around to see how far away from me they were. They eventually stopped, only pulling forward about 10 yards or so. Karl and I made our way back to the car, and he said, "Ok, it's time to go now." I agreed at first, then said, "No, we did not do anything wrong, let's give it a few minutes." I pulled out my camera again, and took a shot of them again; to show they tried to pull an intimidating move to get us out of there. After about 10 more minutes, we finally dispersed.

As we drove out, I kept turning around and saw the car just watching us leave. Little did they know, we would return again that night, to visit the base in the pitch-black desert dark.

We then made our way to the Black Mailbox Road, or so we thought. I took a wrong turn, and ended up on a road no bigger then the width of my car, and went for miles into the desert. We came to forks in the road, so thank goodness I bought a $4 compass before we left, and we made it back to the highway to make it to Rachel, Nevada, home of the Little Ale'Inn.

The people were nice, the famous "Alien Burger" was great, and I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck Clark, the most knowledgeable Area 51 researcher I have yet to meet. I bought his Area 51 & S-4 Handbook that was sold at the Inn, and had him sign it. We shared stories and research, and even shared how we both annoyed the government from time to time. It was a great time, where we stayed for a few hours until the sun started to set. We knew that was our cue to get back to Area 51, to see if we could see any lights in the sky.

When we left the Inn, we found the "Black Mailbox", and took pictures. Now, the mailbox is white, and covered with hundreds of scratchings of people’s names and graffiti. We continued on mailbox road, followed by a few other tourists into the desert roads. They too were coming from the Inn, just out to sight see. We came to a fork in the road, both leading to the same highway. Karl and I took the shorter route, and the car behind us we think got lost, or decided to give up the drive for a while, because we didn't see them until we left again later that night.

We got to the signs again, pitch black in the desert. I had my bright lights on, and told Karl to watch the hill where the guards were the last time. I turned my car up the hill just enough to shine my lights right on them, and sure enough in the pitch black I saw my headlights reflect in their reflectors. They were there, watching us with night vision.

It was a day I'll never forget. I finally made it to the infamous base of Area 51, and even made the security guards upset enough to try and intimidate us out of there. Karl, probably not nearly as excited as I was, still had a blast out there.

Just remember, I can vouch that Area 51 has not moved to anywhere other than it has been for over 50 years. The base is alive and well, and the security guards and cameras are also genuine.

Unfortunately, I took disposable cameras because I did not want to get them taken away. Now that I know what to expect, I will bring better cameras next time and take some better pictures.