Five UFO hunters nabbed at Area 51 raid
RACHEL: UFO enthusiasts drawn by alien-themed festivities poured into rural Nevada near the Area 51 US military base, but fears of a mass raid on the remote site or a public safety crisis proved unfounded, with only five people arrested.
More than 3,000 out-of-towners ventured on Thursday and Friday to the desert region around Area 51, a secretive US Air Force installation long rumoured to house government secrets about extraterrestrial life and spaceships.
The pilgrimage and two festivals welcoming the visitors were organized after a Facebook user jokingly exhorted readers to “storm” Area 51 on Sept 20 “to see them aliens”. The date chosen for the gathering was never explained.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said the region’s guests were largely well behaved, with just a few exceptions. Three people were arrested on suspicion of trespassing onto the grounds of Area 51, Lee said.
One of them was woman in her 60s from California who made it clear to sheriff’s deputies, her husband and everyone around her that she was going to trespass no matter what.
Another was arrested for indecent exposure after urinating near an entrance to the base, and a fifth for an alcohol-related incident, Lee said.
One young woman ducked under a protective gate and was momentarily detained by authorities and released. Most showed no interest in crossing the barrier, according to law enforcement officials keeping watch over the crowd.
“They’re just here to see what’s going on,” said Sergeant Orlando Guerra of the Nevada Department of Public Safety Investigation Division.
“They’re here to have fun.” While costumed space aliens were a common, day-glow, and sometimes hilarious sight, no one reported seeing actual extraterrestrials or UFOs.
Lee said a man reported missing on Friday morning after heading from a festival camp ground in Hiko toward an Area 51 gate was found safe on Friday evening.
Details weren’t immediately made public, but his disappearance was not believed to have been an abduction.
The Air Force had issued a stern warning to the public not to trespass on the installation, which it said is used to test aircraft and train personnel.