'Storming 51' may turn into ET-themed variation of the Burning Man festival

Let’s see them aliens,” says a social media meme gone viral.  The creators of the Facebook page, (facebook.com/events/ area-51/storm-area-51-they-cant-stop-all-of-us /448435052621047/), were joking when they referenced 70-year-old conspiracy theories. But social media has amplified that joke to the point where the US Air Force has issued nervous warnings. 

The page says it’s setting up a flash mob for storming “Area 51”, a mysterious military base at the centre of many weird theories. The event says a flash mob will form up in Lincoln County and proceed to the gates of Area 51 and walk through to visit aliens housed within that facility. This event is scheduled for September 20, and like all FB “events”, people sign up to say they are going, or are interested. Over 1.6 million Facebookers from all over the world have signed up for the flash mob! 

Area 51 lies deep in the Nevada Desert, in Lincoln County, about 150 km northwest of Las Vegas. The easiest way to locate it is to look for a rectangular 40 km x 37 km box of restricted airspace, closed to civilian flights. Area 51 is within that box. It can be accessed by service roads leading off Nevada State Route 375, a 160-km road that runs through Lincoln County. Anybody driving into that zone will encounter barbed wire fences, forbidding notices and armed guards. They may be arrested and fined — this has happened. They may even 

be shot — this is rumoured to have happened. 

Area 51 is officially the Nevada Test and Training Centre insofar as it is ever referred to officially. It has a US Air Force base and a site where the US tested hydrogen bombs in the 1950s. This is where ultrafast spy planes such as the U-2 and the SR-71 Blackbird were tested. It is said to include a missile testing range as well. 

The Nevada desert is very sparsely populated. In the 1950s, reports of mysterious lights, explosions and UFOs started. This was probably due to U2 test flights and missile tests. The H-bomb tests caused huge mushroom clouds and seismic rumbles as far away as Vegas. Rumours spread that 51 was where the US did R&D on crashed and captured UFOs — and ETs (the extra-terrestrials). 

An individual named Bob Lazar claimed in a 1989 interview that he was a physicist who had worked in Area 51. He said he helped to dismantle a crashed UFO. That fuelled more rumours. By the 1990s, TV series The X Files had referenced it. In 1996, the movie Independence Day made Area 51 world famous and the Nevada State authorities renamed route 375, “The Extraterrestrial Highway”.

Until 2013, the US officially denied the existence of “51”, although, of course, it was impossible to hide mushroom clouds, barbed wire fences and restricted airspace warnings. The locals decided to cash in on the branding as “conspiracy tourists” appeared. 

The small town of Rachel, which lies close to Area 51, lives off visitors chasing aliens. Though Rachel has a permanent population of less than 100, it has “Welcome Earthlings” signs for the tourists who drive the ET Highway and stay at the Little A’Le’Inn. They can buy maps and memorabilia and swap anecdotes at the Alien Research Center Gift Shop. 

Most of the flash mob are probably playing along. But the meme has mutated into an “official website” (stormarea51.us) which is selling T-shirts with funny slogans and ET-esque art, and alien-themed coffee mugs. 

The FB event was created and hosted by three different hosts. Of these, “Shitposting cause im in shambles” (sic) self-identifies as a “religious organisation”, while The Hidden Sound is an event planner, and Smyleekun is a gaming video creator.  They’re encouraging people to post memes based on the Storm 51 event and the internet has responded with tons of quirky hilarity. 

The page encourages the mob to “Naruto run” past the guards, which is a reference to a Japanese anime character, Naruto, who runs with his head down and arms behind him. It’s clearly meant to be a joke. But apart from merchandise, it’s led to the Little A’Le’Inn being booked up solid for September 20. 

The US Air Force has issued a flat warning, “We stand ready to protect America and its assets. This is an open training range for the US Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area.” 

Almost certainly, a very tiny percentage of the mob will actually land up in Rachel, and it’s unlikely anyone will try to enter 51. But the images indicate that Lincoln County is a stunningly beautiful place, and marijuana is legal in Nevada. “Storming 51” could turn into an ET-themed variation of the Burning Man festival.