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The Internet found it hilarious when Matty Roberts created his Storm Area 51 Facebook event.

The military responded with stern warnings that lethal force could be used if people entered the Nevada Test and Training Range, and local and state officials said arrests would be made if people tried.

The event went on to become a viral meme, and a few people actually showed up at the once-secret Area 51 military base in Nevada. At least two of them were detained.

There was also a festival, Alienstock, which you can read about here.

While the whole thing was amusing, it also speaks to a weird obsession in the US with aliens, extraterrestrial life, and Area 51.

Since the meme took off, a few dedicated people haven’t stopped visiting the site. According to Rolling Stone’s Stephen Rodrick, some of them have even set up camp in Hiko and Rachel, the two closest civilian outposts to Area 51.

The locals are not amused.

Signs heading out of Vegas on Highway 15 warn pilgrims to check their tire pressure and sanity. The Nevada Highway Patrol says it is advisable to bring your own water, toilet paper, and maybe an extra 10-gallon jerry can of gas.

Sounds like a good time.

Apart from the meme, alien-fever was reignited by a number of recent videos, showing what appears to be something that isn’t a standard aircraft.

In 2018, the world was treated to footage captured by a US Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet of unidentified flying objects. Then in 2019, the same footage was released, again complete with more speculation.

Late that same year, the footage was doing the rounds again, this time accompanied by interviews with the pilots that watched the UFO moving about in the sky.

Just before the pandemic hit, senators requested from the Pentagon a thorough, unclassified report on UFOs, and everyone dusted off their tinfoil hats in anticipation.

More important things, like a deadly virus, then took precedence over that request, so they’ll have to wait a little longer to find out if the truth really is out there.

Injecting some sanity into the situation is Seth Shostak, an astronomer with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), a well-respected consortium of scientists looking for alien life.

“Remember when you were little and you believed in Santa Claus?” asks Shostak. “It was great to feel like something bigger than you was out there controlling things.” He laughs over our Zoom call.

“You grow older and you realise, ‘Well, my parents might not always be here.’ You need something bigger than you. So for years that would be your local house of worship. Today, people are looking for something else, and aliens fill the bill. You think, ‘They may pick me up for experiment.’” He laughs again. “‘At least somebody’s interested in me.’”

Well, as long as he’s having fun. America’s ‘UFO culture’ is summed up as follows:

It’s true. Everyone in the UFO world is fucking nuts. Actually, that is not quite right. Everyone in the UFO world believes everyone else in the UFO world is fucking nuts.

Think of ufology like the various sects of Christianity. They all believe in the same deity, but the Catholics are always blasting the Baptists who are always blasting the Episcopalians.

Solidarity is not a word spoken here. You can be confident that, no matter what I write, many UFO people will declare it bullshit and me, possibly, a CIA plant.

Rodrick’s full article is long, but well worth a read.

What he makes clear is that if you go looking for ‘the truth’, you’re going to find a lot of crazy along the way.

[source:rollingstone]