Social media has opened many strange doors, and some are entirely creations of the current world ....
..... from the naive mistake of the teenager, who advertises a party on their Facebook page when their parents are on holiday, who is then totally shocked and surprised, when hundreds of strangers turn up, and wreck the family home.
Some others are perhaps not entirely unexpected manifestations of the human condition; on-line Internet trolling for example, which is essentially school bullying, just carried on the social media world, and now extending into the adult world .... The anonymity that social media allows, means that people who are essentially cowards, can hide behind a moniker, and then insult or abuse others.
My post today, is about something very like that teenage party gone wrong .... but not quite. However the consequences could end up being just as serious. The tiny hamlets of Rachel and Hiko in Lincoln County Nevada, with a combined populations of 173, only have one point of common interest .... their close proximity to a US base, that's better known as "Area 51". This makes them ideal jumping off points for those who want to investigate the mythical 'alien spacecraft's', that UFO folklore insists are lodged on the USAF base.
Now, lets get real first folks, its all a load of bollocks, from Roswell to Rendlesham Forest, but many people believe .... the X Files really got into the psyche of those believers. The actual stated purpose of the Area 51 base facilities are to "advance military science and technology faster and further than any other foreign power's in the world" ... It actually only became a focus for UFO conspiracy theorists in the 1980's, when a physicist called Bob Lazar, told a Las Vegas TV station that he had been reverse engineering an alien spacecraft at a separate more secret facility, 'close to Area 51'.
So when, in what is now said to be a hoax, and not meant to be taken seriously, not one, but two simultaneous events, advertised on Facebook pages, were announced for the Area 51 location .... Alienstock and Storm Area 51 Basecamp. The stated aims of both is to swamp the military defences on the site ... "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us". So not too subtle, especially as the Facebook page declared "Let's see them aliens", but now Matty Roberts, a 20 year old student from Bakersfield, California who had posted the Storm Area 51 Facebook event, now fears that the event, which he insists was just an "internet joke" all along, will now descend into a "possible humanitarian disaster".
This is because the pages went Internet viral, and suddenly people from all over the world (I am tempted to say 'nut cases,' but perhaps that's too harsh), are declaring that they will be there ... many don't come from the Anglo-Saxon culture, and didn't perhaps recognise that it was a 'joke'. Despite the possible issues, the little dipstick, who is now trying to wriggle out of the consequences of not declaring it as a joke the moment it went viral, is still proud of himself ... "It was totally a joke from the get-go. There was just a tonne of attention out of nowhere and it was awesome!!"
By now, the Facebook pages have had over 3.5 million people who have expressed interest in attending the events on 20 September 2019 .... so even if just 5 per cent are serious, the two little hamlets will be swamped with 175,000 visitors. But the local estimates are for attendance figures ranging between 5,000 and 50,000. The whole of Lincoln County's population is only around 5,000 .... so lets hope its the lower end of the estimates.
Typical of the sort of hayseeds planning to attend is Art Frasik, a 33-year-old real estate investor from Ohio who has declared that "I'm going into Area 51 because our American tax dollars funds this facility and after 70 years of hiding alien technology from the world, it's our right to see it."
The US military isn't seeing the funny side of this joke, and has threatened severe consequences for any caught breaching the bases security, stating that it is "ready to protect America and its assets" and that "any attempt to illegally access military installations or military training areas is dangerous". Already two Dutch men have been arrested trying to enter the base. They have been charged with trespassing, when they told police they "wanted to look at the facility". They could face a fine of at least $1,000 (£800), and, or, more serious punishment.
The local county on the other hand, has grasped the chance to make a few dollars (base security isn't their problem, although policing the area outside the base is, and they normally have only 26 officers for the whole county), and both Alienstock, hosted by the Little A'Le'Inn hotel in Rachel, and Storm Area 51 Basecamp, held at the Alien Research Center in Hiko, have been granted permits by Lincoln County.
The council may be sanguine about all this, but Lincoln County sheriff Kerry Lee has told the press that, even if just 1% of the Facebook guests showed up, it "would be more overwhelming than we can handle". He has called for an additional 150 officers and 300 paramedics to be drafted in from across the state to try and avert problems.
Of course, this could all be a damp squib, as people realise that the events are not going to be an invasion of Area 51, but at best a few comedians and bands in the desert, with not enough toilets .... but we shall see tomorrow. Mr Roberts in the mean time has officially severed ties with Alienstock, on its website ... He states that anyone who now attends Alienstock, or attempts to storm Area 51, is "doing so by their own accord. I've done everything in my power to try and warn against that."
But that may prove to be too little, too late ... The truth will be out there by this weekend.
STOP PRESS: Just as this story was published, the news from Area51 was that just 75 people turned up for the Storm Area 51 event ...... none tried to 'storm' the base, and just one was arrested for urinating near the gate ..... See I told you there wouldn't be enough toilets. I feel kind of sorry for all the local entrepreneurs who had booked in extra staff and facilities for the expected crowds.
No news on the Alienstock event turn out .....
Addendum: More silliness ..... The US military has been forced to apologise for a tweet from a PR arm of the US military, DVIDS, that threatened use of a bomber against "millennials" who tried to break into the secretive Area 51 base.
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| Facebook Advertised House Parties End In These Sorts Of Scenes ...... |
..... from the naive mistake of the teenager, who advertises a party on their Facebook page when their parents are on holiday, who is then totally shocked and surprised, when hundreds of strangers turn up, and wreck the family home.
Some others are perhaps not entirely unexpected manifestations of the human condition; on-line Internet trolling for example, which is essentially school bullying, just carried on the social media world, and now extending into the adult world .... The anonymity that social media allows, means that people who are essentially cowards, can hide behind a moniker, and then insult or abuse others.
My post today, is about something very like that teenage party gone wrong .... but not quite. However the consequences could end up being just as serious. The tiny hamlets of Rachel and Hiko in Lincoln County Nevada, with a combined populations of 173, only have one point of common interest .... their close proximity to a US base, that's better known as "Area 51". This makes them ideal jumping off points for those who want to investigate the mythical 'alien spacecraft's', that UFO folklore insists are lodged on the USAF base.
 |
| I Want To Believe Infected Many ..... |
Now, lets get real first folks, its all a load of bollocks, from Roswell to Rendlesham Forest, but many people believe .... the X Files really got into the psyche of those believers. The actual stated purpose of the Area 51 base facilities are to "advance military science and technology faster and further than any other foreign power's in the world" ... It actually only became a focus for UFO conspiracy theorists in the 1980's, when a physicist called Bob Lazar, told a Las Vegas TV station that he had been reverse engineering an alien spacecraft at a separate more secret facility, 'close to Area 51'.
So when, in what is now said to be a hoax, and not meant to be taken seriously, not one, but two simultaneous events, advertised on Facebook pages, were announced for the Area 51 location .... Alienstock and Storm Area 51 Basecamp. The stated aims of both is to swamp the military defences on the site ... "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us". So not too subtle, especially as the Facebook page declared "Let's see them aliens", but now Matty Roberts, a 20 year old student from Bakersfield, California who had posted the Storm Area 51 Facebook event, now fears that the event, which he insists was just an "internet joke" all along, will now descend into a "possible humanitarian disaster".
 |
| The Area 51 Base In Nevada, And The Hamlets - Plus The Facebook Event |
This is because the pages went Internet viral, and suddenly people from all over the world (I am tempted to say 'nut cases,' but perhaps that's too harsh), are declaring that they will be there ... many don't come from the Anglo-Saxon culture, and didn't perhaps recognise that it was a 'joke'. Despite the possible issues, the little dipstick, who is now trying to wriggle out of the consequences of not declaring it as a joke the moment it went viral, is still proud of himself ... "It was totally a joke from the get-go. There was just a tonne of attention out of nowhere and it was awesome!!"
By now, the Facebook pages have had over 3.5 million people who have expressed interest in attending the events on 20 September 2019 .... so even if just 5 per cent are serious, the two little hamlets will be swamped with 175,000 visitors. But the local estimates are for attendance figures ranging between 5,000 and 50,000. The whole of Lincoln County's population is only around 5,000 .... so lets hope its the lower end of the estimates.
Typical of the sort of hayseeds planning to attend is Art Frasik, a 33-year-old real estate investor from Ohio who has declared that "I'm going into Area 51 because our American tax dollars funds this facility and after 70 years of hiding alien technology from the world, it's our right to see it."
The US military isn't seeing the funny side of this joke, and has threatened severe consequences for any caught breaching the bases security, stating that it is "ready to protect America and its assets" and that "any attempt to illegally access military installations or military training areas is dangerous". Already two Dutch men have been arrested trying to enter the base. They have been charged with trespassing, when they told police they "wanted to look at the facility". They could face a fine of at least $1,000 (£800), and, or, more serious punishment.
The local county on the other hand, has grasped the chance to make a few dollars (base security isn't their problem, although policing the area outside the base is, and they normally have only 26 officers for the whole county), and both Alienstock, hosted by the Little A'Le'Inn hotel in Rachel, and Storm Area 51 Basecamp, held at the Alien Research Center in Hiko, have been granted permits by Lincoln County.
The council may be sanguine about all this, but Lincoln County sheriff Kerry Lee has told the press that, even if just 1% of the Facebook guests showed up, it "would be more overwhelming than we can handle". He has called for an additional 150 officers and 300 paramedics to be drafted in from across the state to try and avert problems.
Of course, this could all be a damp squib, as people realise that the events are not going to be an invasion of Area 51, but at best a few comedians and bands in the desert, with not enough toilets .... but we shall see tomorrow. Mr Roberts in the mean time has officially severed ties with Alienstock, on its website ... He states that anyone who now attends Alienstock, or attempts to storm Area 51, is "doing so by their own accord. I've done everything in my power to try and warn against that."
But that may prove to be too little, too late ... The truth will be out there by this weekend.
STOP PRESS: Just as this story was published, the news from Area51 was that just 75 people turned up for the Storm Area 51 event ...... none tried to 'storm' the base, and just one was arrested for urinating near the gate ..... See I told you there wouldn't be enough toilets. I feel kind of sorry for all the local entrepreneurs who had booked in extra staff and facilities for the expected crowds.
No news on the Alienstock event turn out .....
Addendum: More silliness ..... The US military has been forced to apologise for a tweet from a PR arm of the US military, DVIDS, that threatened use of a bomber against "millennials" who tried to break into the secretive Area 51 base.
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