Over a month after it was created, the day has finally come for the “Storm Area 51” event. What started as a joke has blown out of proportions and the authorities are considering to take action.
Storm Area 51
It was in July when Facebook user Matty Roberts created an event called “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All Of Us.” Before long, over 2 million people have signed up to join the raid scheduled Sept. 20, birthing the beginning of memes on Reddit and Twitter. By Aug. 3, however, Facebook removed the event for going against community standards, but many people were already hooked on the idea.
Now that the day has come, people from all over the world are coming to Nevada for what has now become a party called “Alienstock.” As a result, residents and officials of nearby counties are concerned over what might happen.
They are already expecting people to camp out even in temperatures as low as 5 degrees and for gas stations to be overwhelmed. Residents have even put up “no trespassing” signs, fences, and floodlights on their properties, and many are concerned about the strain on resources as a result of the event. In fact, some cellphones were already not working by Thursday.
As one of the residents put it, they are “preparing for the worst.”
Breach Of Peace
While it seems like a harmless joke that just happened to go viral, authorities are taking the matter seriously. Even in August, the U.S. Air Force had already stated its readiness to protect its assets, and now even local authorities are considering to take action.
According to Lincoln County District Attorney Dylan Frehner, they are prepared to press charges on anyone promoting illegal activity. In this case, they are considering to press charges on Matty Roberts and anyone pushing and promoting the event for a gross misdemeanor charge of publishing a matter in breach of peace or other crimes, which could result in a $2,000 fine and up to a year in county jail. Facebook is also being considered for the charges because the event was posted in the platform.
Additionally, the military has also reportedly armed itself with more barbed cattle fencing around Area 51, and added signs that anyone caught trespassing will be arrested and fined $1,000. In fact, just days ago on Sept. 11, YouTuber Ties Granzier and his companion Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, both from the Netherlands, were arrested for trespassing near Area 51.
Clearly, what started as a joke is now being taken seriously, not just by authorities, but also by the people who could be affected by it.
