Rachel is an unincorporated portion of Lincoln County, Nevada

Lincoln County, Nevada

Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2000 census, the population was 4,165. Its county seat is Pioche.-History:...

. As the closest habitation to the Nellis Air Force Range and Area 51

Area 51

Area 51 is a military base, and a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles north-northwest of downtown Las Vegas. Situated at its center, on the southern shore of Groom Lake, is a large military airfield...

, Rachel enjoys a modest celebrity, particularly among aviation enthusiasts and UFO

Unidentified flying object

A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...

 hunters.

The town lies approximately three hours drive north of Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...

 along Nevada Highway 375

Nevada State Route 375

State Route 375 is a state highway in south-central Nevada in the United States. The highway stretches from State Route 318 at Crystal Springs northwest to U.S. Route 6 at Warm Springs. The route travels through mostly unoccupied desert terrain, with much of its alignment paralleling the...

 (the "Extraterrestrial Highway"), which has an unofficial "speed limit" of Warp 7

Warp drive (Star Trek)

Warp drive is a faster-than-light propulsion system in the setting of many science fiction works, most notably Star Trek. A spacecraft equipped with a warp drive may travel at velocities greater than that of light by many orders of magnitude, while circumventing the relativistic problem of time...

. The tiny town receives a modest number of visitors interested in the U.S.