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This farmstead comes with cows, ranching equipment — and maybe some otherworldly visitors.
An 80-acre parcel in Alamo, Nevada — right next to legendary military base Area 51 — has been listed for sale by a local realtor. The $4.5 million property at 20031 Rock Springs Road features a 5,600-square-foot hay barn, 576-square-foot shop, a four-bedroom main house and a three-bedroom guest house.
It also includes a permit for 250 cows to graze on the most secretive, high-profile Air Force base in the United States.
The farm is currently owned by Steve and Glenda Medlin, who bought the property in 1973, before the Air Force claimed 89,000 acres of public land in the area, including some which Medlin’s cattle had been grazing on, Vice reported. Eventually, Steve reached a compromise with the US government allowing the cattle to again graze on the conspiracy-shrouded site — but he has to alert officials by government-issued radio in advance.
With the popularity and legend of Area 51, the Medlins’ ranch has been quite the tourist destination. Their black, heavily vandalized mailbox has been called “the most photographed mailbox in the world,” thanks to years of photogenic, extraterrestrial additions added to it by alien-seeking tourists. It is unclear whether the mailbox is included in the sale.
Whoever purchases the cows and their home will also be buying themselves some amount of internet fame. The Medlins stand as evidence that Area 51’s notoriety is contagious, seemingly infecting those within its proximity — whether they want it or not.
“Steve Medlin has a government contract to provide cattle for the space aliens to mutilate,” a user once proclaimed on an online Area 51 forum, Vice wrote.
“Aside from grazing rights inside the restricted area, he has nothing to do with ‘Area 51,’” another user responded, five years later. “He [gets] enough grief from tourists messing up his mailbox. Don’t bother the folks at the ranch.”
