LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputy in Nevada had a close encounter over the weekend not far from secretive Area 51, a magnet for reports of UFO activity.

Occupants of a vehicle that resembled a glass-domed saucer allowed the deputy to approach and document the visit. Official reports failed to disclose the nature of the occupants, but photos indicate the vehicle never left the ground — thus avoiding government classification as an Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAP).

The Facebook page for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office appeared to downplay any possible threat to national security:

“Just another day patrolling in Lincoln County on the Extraterrestrial Highway! These folks are on a cross-country trip to Roswell for a UFO Festival!”

The Extraterrestrial Highway, CR 375, between Crystal Springs and Warm Springs, skirts the northern edge of land controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense. The small town of Rachel has cultivated the connection with UFOs and was even the site of 2019’s “Alienstock” festival.

Several media reports over the past few weeks appear to confirm the Lincoln County sighting involved two beings dressed in garb from the U.S. Midwest, claiming to be from Indiana. Photos posted elsewhere on Facebook show the vehicle in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Missouri.

The vehicle was stopped on June 28 in Crawford County, Missouri. The occupants told a deputy there that the vehicle is a converted 1991 Geo Metro. He called himself Steve Anderson. Body camera video from the incident appears to show a lack of understanding of traffic laws, despite Anderson’s claim that he is a former member of Indiana law enforcement.

He took a long time to produce a driver’s license, having to sort through many cards — some of which carried Area 51 labels and photos that looked more like an alien. The officer told him his license plate was expired, and he produced proof of insurance that was 10 years out of date.

If the vehicle was traveling from Missouri to New Mexico for a UFO Festival, as he told the Missouri deputy, it somehow avoided detection in Texas before arriving in Roswell for the July 5-7 event. Our sister station, KRQE in Albuquerque, confirmed that the vehicle was indeed in Roswell during the event.

“Anderson says he will be in Roswell until Tuesday, and then he will make the drive to Area 51,” according to the KRQE report.

NewsNation affiliate KLAS has reached out to humans who took photos of the vehicle in Nevada. Mysteriously, those people have not replied.