Area 51 invaders come in peace
The Area 51 raid did not play out as advertised.
October 31, 2019
Area 51 was scheduled to be raided by more than two million people on Sept. 20.
“They can’t stop all of us. If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let’s see them aliens,” posted organizer Matty Roberts.
Area 51 is a popular U.S. military base commonly depicted as an alien-holding facility in science-fiction movies. This conspiracy began in 1954, when President Eisenhower gave the green light on a project to start testing secret aircraft to be used in stealth missions to spy on the USSR. The first of these aircraft to be tested was the U-2, which flew at an altitude of 60,000 feet.
The next closest military aircraft to this maxed out at around 40,000 feet. Keep in mind that commercial airlines only flew at around 10,000 to 20,000 feet, so to people on the ground or in other aircraft, the U-2 looked like a small speck in the sky, moving around on its own. This is when people started to claim that they saw UFOs, but in reality, it was the U-2.
“I believe in the possibility of alien life somewhere else in the universe but I don’t think they would ever bother to visit here,” stated Science Department Chair Colleen O’Rourke.
The origin of this event could have been found on Facebook before the event organizers removed it. The event was intended to be a joke and started picking up traction on the internet. Thousands of memes were being shared about it and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands of people had signed up for the event.
When the memes were in full swing, more than two million people had signed up for the event and another million people marked that they were interested.
“Would I have gone? No, but when I was a huge X-Files fan, probably,” said O’Rourke.
With this much attention on raiding a military base, the authorities had to be a little cautious. There are always those who will take things too seriously, so there were extra guards posted at the gates to Area 51 to stop
people from actually raiding it. Only a few thousand alien enthusiasts showed up and they did not cause any trouble. Most of the attendees just stood outside the gates and had friendly conversations with the guards. Many people were surprised that people actually showed up.
“I’m not surprised,” said Ethan Daly ’20. “There are some crazy people out there.”
The event organizer, Roberts, took the event down from Facebook after so many people signed up because they feared people would actually go in and get hurt. As an alternative, a new event called “Alienstock,” a music festival, was to be held in Rachel, Nevada.
Rachel is a small town near the entrance to Area 51. Due to poor management, this event was canceled.
The Area 51 raiders were going to barge into the facility using the “Naruto running” method. “Naruto running” is a form of running from the popular anime, Naruto, where the person in question puts their arms behind their back, leans forward, and runs as fast as possible.
Nobody was hurt.
