More than 2 million people on Facebook joined the group to storm a military base in Nevada. We are talking about "Area 51", a favorite subject of disputes between ufologists and conspiracy theorists. In fact, the students have brought memes about the secret base and the rescue of aliens to absurdity. But the joke got out of hand: the US Air Force quite seriously reminded that they have the right to shoot at uninvited guests, and a fight broke out over the theme festival.
Save the green friend
On X-day, several hundred people nevertheless reached the gates of a secret military base from urban legends. One hundred people came at night, another three hundred - during the day. A total of 800 vehicles drove along the deserted road to Area 51, the county sheriff reported.
They arrested (albeit briefly) a 60-year-old California resident who “made it clear to the sheriff's deputies, her husband and everyone around her that she was going to commit a crime, no matter what”. The military caught two lovers of the paranormal in the mountains inside the perimeter of the base, somewhere between two gates. According to unconfirmed reports, another man was detained after he decided to use the base gate instead of a toilet.
The comic event "Storming Area 51, They Can't Stop Us" appeared on Facebook at the end of June. The page was created by a Californian student from the Shitposting cuz im in shambles meme community with a couple of guys. The participants numbered more than 2.1 million people from all over the world, until the group was removed on the day of the assault.
People running "like Naruto" approach Base 51 in Nevada, USA on September 20, 2019.
The plan for storming Area 51 made it clear that the intentions of meme lovers were frivolous. On September 20, the group was to gather at the Alien Center in Area 51 and split into three teams to stage a blitzkrieg. The first one should run "like Naruto to get ahead of the bullets" (lowering his head, pulling his arms back and protruding his chest, like the hero of the anime of the same name), the second (consisting exclusively of teenagers who got drunk with energy drinks) - go to destroy the base as if it were made of drywall, and the third (from the stone throwers) - to enrage the military, throwing them with pebbles.
Promotional video:
The joke got out of hand - several people headed to Nevada without waiting for the planned assault on Facebook. The American military urged people not to approach the military base - it is allowed to defend it by any means, they recalled there.
But a few days before the meme assault, two Dutch youtube bloggers were detained in the security zone of a secret base where, according to conspiracy theories, the US military is studying aliens. Prohibitory signs (including signs that read "Use of lethal force is permitted") did not stop curious foreigners. Dutch citizens were caught and sent to court, which sentenced them to 10 days in prison and a fine of $ 2.28 thousand each. Due to parking in the wrong place and an attempt to enter the protected area, 20-year-old Taiza Granzer and Gover Swip also lost their camera, laptop and drone.
Extraterrestrial excuse
Area 51 has become the prototype of the objects of secret tests and experiments on aliens in many works of pop culture. In reality, Area 51 is a subdivision of Nellis Air Force Base. It is located near the Groom Lake Salt Lake, 120 miles from Las Vegas. For more than 50 years, the Pentagon has been hiding the very fact of its existence. In 2000, a group of American scientists released photographs of the base from a Soviet satellite taken during the Cold War, which indirectly confirmed its existence.
Checkpoint before entering the base. The inscriptions on the plates “Warning! Service dogs! Do not enter "and" It is forbidden to use weapons outside the zone."
“In the early 1950s, when the base was founded, [US President Dwight] Eisenhower instructed a guy named Richard Bissell from the CIA to find the most remote, best hidden from any prying eyes (including the Soviet ones) in the States where they could to test the plane U-2, - this version of events is given by the author of the book about "Area 51" Annie Jacobsen. "Bissell cleverly outperformed another CIA operative in finding the perfect solution to the president's request: a secret base around a salt marsh in central Nevada, located inside an already classified facility where the government was testing nuclear weapons."
Detention of a girl trying to get into Area 51, September 20, 2019.
In her opinion, the special services themselves fueled rumors about UFOs. People who accidentally spotted U-2 in the 1950s mistook the flying cross high in the sky for alien intrigues. “The CIA used this misidentification to their advantage. This allowed the UFO mythology to develop, because it served as a useful cover for the secret base,”says Jacobsen. According to her, a lot is known about what happened at the base before the 1990s. But then what?
All questions to Shirley MacLaine
Area 51 is an open training ground for the US Air Force, and we warn anyone against attempting to invade the area where the military is training,”US Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said, calling for an abandonment of the assault on the protected facility.
In August 2013, the CIA had to disclose some information due to the requirements of the freedom of information law. The documents emphasized that the object was classified in order to hide information from the USSR, and not due to a collision with aliens. A few months later, President Barack Obama publicly pronounced the codename "Area 51" during an award ceremony at the Kennedy Center. This happened when the actress Shirley MacLaine was awarded, who more than once publicly stated that she had seen a UFO with her own eyes.
Barack Obama and Shirley MacLaine (second from left) at the White House Awards Gala, December 2013.
“When you first become president, one of the questions you are asked is what really happens in Area 51,” Obama said. “When I wanted to know the answer to this question, I called Shirley MacLaine. I think I just became the first president to ever publicly mention Area 51.
Back in the 1980s, the American media wrote about the death of a pilot during a test of a Soviet fighter jet in the Nevada desert. But the base became a household name after in 1989 Robert Lazar, who declared himself a former researcher at a secret center, spoke in an interview about the work on creating a copy of the spacecraft shot down by American pilots. In one of the last interviews, for persuasiveness, he drew that very flying saucer - the same shape that is familiar to everyone from science fiction films. Ufologists combined the two stories and suggested that Area 51 was studying an alien ship that crashed in Roswell.
We will not save, so we will dance
Bloggers of all stripes, including Russian-speaking ones, walked on the topic of "Zone 51". The Americans arrived in closer cars, but the promising clickbait titles “SPENT IN ZONE 51 24 HOURS” do not justify themselves, and YouTube next suggests watching the children's challenges “Spent 1 Day Under the Bed”.
After the menacing statements of the US Air Force, the organizers of the group rushed to assure that they were just joking. But in early August, the Alienstock festival was announced for all who believe - with music, camping and other entertainment. 10 days before the alleged assault, it was canceled: the infrastructure of the nearest settlement to "Zone 51", the city of Rachel with a population of 54 people, would not have pulled the invasion of guests. The student who launched the viral campaign eventually deleted the event page altogether.
Nevertheless, Rachel nevertheless prepared for the arrival of people, refusing to give the name of the fest. The owner of the motel said that guests from several states and other countries, including Australia and Scotland, came to them.
Highway 375 leading to the Nellis Gated Military Base in Nevada, better known as Area 51.
Not all residents are happy with the influx of tourists and expect trouble: at least people arrived in the desert in shorts and slippers, which “will not protect them from critters, snakes and scorpions,” says Jörg Arnu. Arnu is a local resident and has been the author of the Zone 51 fan page for 20 years. Despite his love for the story, he opposed the storming and the festival by placing prohibition signs on the border of his site. However, a section with themed merchandise has appeared on his website. On the official website of the town, a pessimistic message was published that the holiday will surely take place "without food, enough infrastructure and with a large number of unfortunate tourists" who should not approach the disgruntled locals.
The crowds of Naruto runners storming Area 51 from the mountain were not there. But in the journalistic story, one still creeped in to the delight of 2 million people who followed the online broadcast of the event. According to the sheriff's estimates, 1,500 people have come to the towns of Rachel and Hiko. Since hundreds of people scattered across two towns, the desert and the territory near the military base, no one was able to accurately count their number. American correspondents reported that only earthlings were on the territory near "Area 51" - not a single alien was seen, although many wanted it very much.
The founders of the Facebook group promoted the Area 51 Celebration Party in Las Vegas. “It's time to sit down, grab a beer and talk about everything about aliens. Instead of storming a government base, they suggested. "Dude, as soon as you find your newcomer, take him to our party in Las Vegas or another event in Brooklyn." Manufacturers of beer and energy drinks decided to make money on the assault on the release of aliens by releasing limited quantities of intergalactic drinks.
Although arrests were not without, the military even played along with a group of especially aspirants, which approached the gates of the base. Instead of massive crowds of Naruto runners in Nevada, they saw dozens of people in foil hats, alien costumes and with a bottle of beer in hand. “Look, I don't believe in aliens,” a festival goer in a green suit with antennas told BuzzFeed News. "We have a group of privileged children who travel to the middle of the desert and they don't have food, water, or anything else."
While the Federal Aviation Administration of the States keeps closed airspace near Area 51, other assaults are planned on social networks. For example, to the Bermuda Triangle, where one of the activists promised to go on October 1.
Ekaterina Korinenko