As has been reported so heavily on social media the past week or so and featured on national TV news, more than a million people have signed up to gather in the wee hours of the morning Sept. 20 close to Area 51 to storm the facility to reveal any aliens and/or extraterrestrial treasures believed by some to be stored within the once ultra-secret government base at Groom Lake.
The story has been featured by numerous news organizations since social media picked up the idea and it spread rapidly over the web.
The mass event is said to be fake, but local authorities and government officials have commented on the situation if some take the joking a little too far.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee was asked how he would handle the situation in the possible face of such an occurrence.
“We would be there and it would be our task to enforce criminal law in the county,” Lee said. “If those people were just standing out in the desert, not crossing the boundaries, then there would be no problem. We would not take any action. But if anyone did try to trespass or to break any other law, then we’d start taking them into custody and take them to jail.”
Lee said, “I’ve had all kinds of news outlets calling me from around the country asking all kinds of questions.”
Earlier this week Lee received a prepared statement from U.S. Air Force spokeswoman, Commander Laura McAndrews, stating, “[Area 51] is an open training range for the U.S. Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come to the area where we train American Armed Forces. The U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”
In 2017, the Pentagon admitted the existence of a $22 million program to analyze “anomalous aerospace threats” (a.k.a. UFOs).
In regards to the call to have a mass invasion of the NTTR, some published reports since had noted that even the organizer of the event claimed it really was just a joke, not to be taken seriously.
But the question remains what if some do take it seriously? Even 1/10 of one percent would be a tremendous number coming to Lincoln County at one time.
Lee said he thinks the whole idea is ridiculous, “But we’re not going to take chances. We are going to talk to our partners in law enforcement and be prepared to respond if we have to. The Air Force is going to defend it like any other military installation in the United States, and will treat it the same as if someone stormed one of those other bases.”
