Area 51 is a classified section of a US Air Force base, located in Amargosa Valley in Nevada that has inspired many films and documentaries thanks to the fact it is shrouded in mystery and said to house evidence of alien life.
The military base has been in the news more than usual lately thanks to a viral Facebook event called Storm Area 51, set up by Matty Roberts, that suggested people should descend on the base en masse to try and breach the security there and try and discover once and for all what is inside.
After the hype, media attention and not forgetting the reactionary memes, Roberts cancelled the event last month citing concerns over safety, infrastructure and lack of organisation.
That doesn’t seem to have stopped people though as according to reports, crowds have started turning up in the town of Rachel, which is the closest settlement to the military base.
Why you definitely should not storm area 51
Here are six pretty darn good reasons why trying to storm Area 51 sounds like a bad idea:
- Firstly, the US government aren’t messing around when it comes to the Storm Area 51 ‘hoax’. They have already issued a strict deterrent to anyone considering actually trying to storm Area 51, warning that people could be arrested or even shot for trying to illegally break into the military base. They then made good on that warning by arresting a Dutch Youtuber and his friend who arrived in Nevada early to film their own storm Area 51 video. Those guys were jailed for 10 days and ordered to pay £1,825. As you can imagine, in addition to the usual tight security around the base there will also be extra barricades and personnel in place this weekend – just to make sure there’s no funny business.
- There are only a handful of people who work in the tiny town of Rachel and even though they say that volunteers have arrived to help them manage this weekend, the location is still under-prepared and under-resourced to cope with huge crowds. So if you don’t bring your own food, water and gas, you should be prepared to run out of supplies pretty quick.
- The desert is full of things that may harm or kill you. Under prepared campers, those trying to cross the arid terrain to reach the gates of Area 51 or just those milling around the area may stumble across rattlesnakes, tarantulas or run the risk of driving into a deer or cow – something we hear is quite common in those parts and leaves all parties involved in the collision in a bad way indeed.
- If you do get hurt or run into medical trouble while in Rachel or attempting to storm Area 51, the nearest hospital is in Caliente, which is about 44 miles away from the Area 51 perimeter. Even if you can make the 45-minute drive, the hospital is only set up to take around eight patients at a time.
- Plus, if that wasn’t too much of a deterrent already, the locals aren’t too keen on having a new influx of visitors to their tiny town of Rachel either. One local revealed that he has secured the perimeter of his property and set up a neighbourhood watch.
- Finally, even if you did successfully storm Area 51 – which is highly, highly unlikely – the chances of finding aliens or any evidence of UFO activity is slim to none. Nick Pope, former UFO investigator for the Ministry of Defence, told Metro.co.uk: ‘Even if there had ever been any alien technology – or aliens – at Area 51, it would be long gone. Common sense dictates that the moment a military base starts getting name-checked in movies like Independence Day and TV shows like The X-Files, the cat is out of the bag, so any UFO-related material would probably long since have been moved elsewhere, to a location the public has never heard of.’
Sorry, folks.
Is the Area 51 raid actually happening?
Despite the fact that the original Storm Area 51 Facebook event was actually cancelled and replaced with a party in Las Vegas last night and even in the face of warnings from the US military, some people have actually started showing up in Rachel on September 20.
Authorities are apparently expecting around 30,000 people to show up in the area, despite over 2 million saying they would attend on social media before the event was shut down.
The original ‘Storm Area 51’ event was scheduled for 20 September at 3am local time in Nevada (11am GMT).
While it’s not clear if those arriving in Rachel are actually intent on attempting to breach the security of the military base, there is a festival called Alienstock planned for three days over this weekend with music and alien-themed entertainment. With images showing a stage and temporary toilets being set up in the area, it would appear that event is at least actually going ahead for those who made the trip.
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