Area 51 Raid: Sheriff’s Respond to People ‘Storming the Gate’

A Nevada Sheriff’s office responded to the call after a group of Earthlings attempted to “Storm Area 51.” According to KTNV Las Vegas, a group of 40 people’s attempt to “Naruto run” because “they can’t catch us all” ultimately proved fruitless after the Nye County Sheriff’s Office prevented them from freeing any aliens.

The department reportedly responded to the Area 51 Alien Center on Route 373 at around 3 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, the scheduled date for the storming of the Nevada-based military facility. When authorities arrived, the group of nearly four dozen dispersed into smaller groups upon request and attempted to gain access via two nearby gates for the Nevada National Security Site, though authorities were able to persuade them to leave.

The incident was prompted by a July-created Facebook event titled “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.” Initially created as a joke, the event quickly went viral, with more than two million people pledging to storm the base which has long been the center of conspiracy theories regarding its secrecy.

Although the event’s creator made it clear that he was not serious with his proposal and even attempted to sway people to instead attend Alienstock, an extraterrestrial-themed musical festival in nearby Rachel, Nevada, not everyone was so easy to give up the chase.

According to Spectrum News, while 1,500 people had gathered at the musical festival sites in Rachel and Hiko, an additional 150 people had braved the dangers of the vast and remote Nevada desert, which runs rampant with snakes, scorpions, and other dangerous animals, and made the trek to Area 51’a gates.

The outlet reports that at least two people were arrested at the site – one man who was found urinating near the gate and a woman who was arrested for an undisclosed reason.

Additionally, 20-year-old Ties Granzier and 21-year-old Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, two men from the Netherlands, were taken into custody by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office after they got about three miles into the Nevada National Security Site. They were charged and pleaded guilty to trespassing and illegal parking, both misdemeanor charges, and were sentenced to a year behind bars. Their sentence will be reduced to just three days should they each pay a fine of $2,280.

The strong police presence at the sites does not come as much of a surprise, as several agencies had warned would-be raiders against participating. In July, Air Force spokesperson Laura McAndrews warned that “the U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”

Currently, the raid and the events spawned from it are being live streamed on various social media accounts. You can find out how and when to live stream it by clicking here.