As the Internet half-jokingly prepares to “Storm Area 51” in September, they may want to look back on a documentary crew’s recent attempt to get into the site. In May, a 12-person film crew tried to enter Area 51, but were caught and detained by the U.S. Military. It may give a slight hint as to how the September attempt will go.
Social media is going crazy for a joke Facebook event called “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.” More than 1.3 million people have signed up to “Naruto-run” at the top secret government facility, in the hopes of prevailing where many investigators and journalists have failed by sheer force of numbers.
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Coincidentally, one film crew’s attempt to get into the site is just about to air on the BBC. Back in May, comedian Andrew Maxwell, UFO expert Darren Perks and their film crew tried to sneak past security to get into the mysterious base for UFO: Conspiracy Road Trip.
The crew was caught by guards and held at gunpoint for three full hours, according to the Daily Mail. The were forced to the ground and their phones, wallets and identification were confiscated. The FBI ran a full check on the crew as they laid on the dusty dessert ground.
“Basically the concept of the trip was to tour across California, Arizona and Nevada with comedian presenter Andrew Maxwell and four people who had an interest in the UFO phenomena,” Perks told reporters. “We went to Area 51 in Nevada firstly because it’s related to the UFO phenomena and secondly so we could do a night time sky watch to see if we could spot anything unusual.”
The crew crossed the barriers into Area 51 hesitantly, ignoring the warning signs saying “NO ENTRY” and “NO PHOTOGRAPHY.” They filmed for about half an hour, hoping to call out guards to ask questions, but nothing happened at first. The team pressed deeper into the classified site, passing by guards sitting idle in security huts.
“One of the other stars of the trip pointed out that on looking through one of the security hut windows, she could see the guards all sitting down eating dinner and watching the basketball game on TV. They did nothing,” Perks recalled.
Finally, the crew knocked on the security hut door to get the guards’ attention. At that point, they were met with loaded M16 rifles and detained. Their film equipment was confiscated along with the rest, putting an end to their illicit footage.
The team was fined for their trespassing, which was made even more complicated by their international status. They were led to believe that they got off easy thanks to the intervention of someone in Washington, D.C., who called back to London on their behalf. Perks shared with the outlet his “Order not to enter or reenter military reservation.”
Guards told Perks and his crew that Apache attack helicopters had been scrambled due to their trespassing. He also claimed that there were sensors in the ground nearby to detect vehicles or even pedestrians in sensitive areas. Close to midnight, they were finally let go.
Perks and his team were interested in similar conspiracy theories to those who set up the Facebook event — rumors of alien technology, alien cadavers and even alien prisoners on the site. Far from seeing anything, however, they simply got a good preview of how the military intends to treat any unauthorized trespassers at Area 51.
The joke Facebook event is scheduled for Sept. 20, 2019.
