Thousands gather for “raid” on Area 51

By Sammy Stevenson ‘21

Thousands gathered near small town Rachel, Nevada on Friday, Sept. 20, to take part in an event to “Storm Area 51.” The event first began as an internet meme about storming the top secret U.S. military site Area 51 to see the aliens that some believe to be kept there.

The Facebook event titled “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” went viral, with 2.1 million saying they would attend and 1.5 million marking themselves as “interested,” as of Monday, Sept. 23. 

There were reports that the U.S. military was briefed on the Facebook event and went so far as to take precautions in case some of those millions actually tried to storm the base. 

The day the raid was supposed to take place, the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), a media relations branch of the U.S. military, sent out a now-deleted tweet threatening to bomb those who took part in the planned raid on Area 51. 

Although millions said they would be going to storm Area 51, major media outlets reported only about 3,000 people showed up at the military site to take part in an impromptu music festival and gathering of UFO enthusiasts. 

Only one arrest was made, and no real attempt was made to storm the base. 

Nevertheless, Catlin Gabel School junior Braden Wells, who had followed the story and meme online, said that he saw the event as a success. 

“It was productive in instilling fear in the government, but we were really just clowning on them the whole time,” he said.

Though the whole event may have only been an internet joke, the military took it more seriously, with the U.S. Air Force reportedly sending reinforcements.