Storm Area 51
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RACHEL — The first two days of Storm Area 51 events have been peaceful and uneventful, yielding only a handful of arrests — though none for actually storming the secure Air Force base.
About 100 extraterrestrial enthusiasts converged at the back gate of Area 51 around 3 a.m. Friday to follow through on the original Storm Area 51 plan.
Law enforcement officers blocked the road about a mile from the gate, with attendees walking the rest of the way. About a dozen officers were stationed at the gate, ready to act if anyone tried to breach the area.
Some of the crowd acted as if they were going to
AREA 51
storm the gates but stopped after getting laughs from the crowd, as Europe’s “Final Countdown” blared from an attendee’s speaker.
“They did threaten that they were going to storm; once officers warned them of the consequences they would face, they did have second thoughts,” Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said.
Law enforcement officials were lighthearted for the most part about the gathering, joking with the crowd. They gave a stern warning to a man in a purple Lucha Libre mask for touching the gate as he posed for pictures.
A Canadian resident was arrested by the Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Department on a charge of indecent exposure for relieving himself on the gate. Another woman threatened to cross the gate, resulting in her being detained for questioning, but she was released later.
The gathering grew out of a Facebook post in June encouraging people to storm Area 51, a secretive Air Force base located inside the Nevada Test and Training Range that has long been rumored to house extraterrestrial technology.
The Facebook joke went viral, spawning two Storm Area 51-related events this weekend in Lincoln County: Alienstock, scheduled for Thursday through Sunday, and Area 51 Basecamp, occurring Friday and Saturday in Hiko, about 40 miles from Rachel.
Rebekah Scholes, 27, from Colorado, made the trek to the Nevada desert just to take part in the alien-themed events. She said she had to see if people would actually show up at the gate.
“I’ve been out a few months ago, but I had to come back. It’s pretty out here,” Scholes said.
Portland, Oregon, resident Nathan Brown dressed in a SWAT team outfit of his own. He drove from Portland to join the movement.
On his way to the gathering,
Brown wondered if anyone else would show up and was surprised to see the crowd as he pulled up on the dusty road leading to the gate from state Route 375.
“I was nervous,” said Brown, 21, “but then we got here and it was like, ‘Oh, people are into this.’ ”
Despite the large group, Brown said he felt the occasion was a bit underwhelming after millions of people had said they would be at the gate on the Facebook post. Still, he was glad he made the trip.
“I’m a little disappointed because it’s a lot less people than they said online,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll be back (to the area). This was kind of the thing.”
In addition to the two people detained at the Area 51 gate, Lee said, the sheriff ’s department also arrested someone not at the gate for having an open container in their vehicle and for warrants.
“Very few (arrests), but we’ve had a couple,” he said.
The Nevada Highway Patrol also made a pair of arrests, Lee said.
Thus far the events also have been relatively safe with no major medical incidents.
Connie West, owner of the Little Al’le’inn in Rachel and organizer of the Alienstock event, said that everything has been smooth besides someone being kicked out of the bar for a minor disturbance, causing a swarm of law enforcement to converge on the establishment.
“You don’t see any fights. No one is getting belligerent drunk,” West said. “It’s a fun time.”
As of Friday evening, an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people had descended on the area. Lee expects the number of attendees to jump to 5,000-6,000 people between the two events, which he said is still manageable for the 300 first responders in place throughout the county.
“I think for emergency services that’s good,” he said. “Officers have been mingling with the crowds, and the crowds have been positive.”
Meanwhile, in Hiko, Area 51 Basecamp got off to a sluggish start Friday afternoon at the Alien Research Center.
The event, which was supposed to start at 1 p.m., was still being set up by 3:30 p.m. The few people who actually bought $51 tickets roamed the festival grounds..
“See, like, there’s more workers than people so far,” said Jess Barrios, who paid the admission price to get in with his wife, Trip.
Grammy-nominated DJ Paul Oakenfold’s tour bus rolled into the Area 51 Basecamp festival grounds shortly before 6 p.m.
He said that organizers asked him to perform for an hour after sunset and that he was told the festival had sold “a few thousand” tickets.
“There’s a lot of people out at the gates just up the road,” he told the Las Vegas Review-journal.
The festival in Hiko had been sparsely attended all Friday.
Oakenfold said curiosity is what attracted him to the Area 51 Basecamp festival.
“I do think there’s something out there,” he said. “I really do.”
Contact Mick Akers at makers@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter. Review-journal staff writer Blake Apgar contributed to this report.