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U.S. NEWS Saturday 21 September 2019
Revelers reach gates of Area 51 then peacefully rejoin party

By KEN RITTER ley about 3 a.m. and ap- "Area 51 bound" and "Co-
Associated Press proached a base gate be- min 4 Dem Alien Cheeks"
HIKO, Nev. (AP) — Thou- fore leaving after "heated in green paint on their car
sands of curious Earthlings warnings" from officers. windows.
from around the globe No one found UFOs or "People were taking pic-
traveled to festivals, and space aliens, Lincoln Coun- tures and laughing the
several hundred made ty Sheriff Kerry Lee said. whole way," Gore said.
forays toward the secret They did find they weren't By noon they'd visited the
Area 51 military base in the alone, amid bright flood- Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, the
Nevada desert on Friday, lights, watchful cameras Alien Research Center in
drawn by an internet buzz and who-knows-what in Hiko and the Rachel gate
and a social media craze a squat tan bunker build- to Area 51. By Saturday,
sparked by a summertime ing with blackout windows they'll be in Las Vegas, a
Facebook post inviting — all surrounded by razor more than two-hour drive
people to "Storm Area 51." wire. A man in an alien mask stands at an entrance to the Nevada away.
"They can't stop all of us," Polite and patient local Test and Training Range near Area 51 Friday, Sept. 20, 2019, out- "Area 51 Basecamp" in Hiko
the post joked. "Lets see sheriff's deputies ushered side of Rachel, Nev. was set to feature music,
them aliens." one woman away when Associated Press speakers and movies —
In the end — at the ap- she stepped too far for- headlined by an eletronic
pointed hour of 3 a.m. Sept. ward. They arrested a man town of 50 residents now evening event at an out- dance music DJ who tours
20 — about 75 to 100 peo- from Canada who urinated hosting more than 2,000 door venue in downtown the world and attracts
ple braved chilly darkness near the gate and cited "Alienstock" campers and Las Vegas also using the packed clubs on the Las
and a bumpy, dusty 8-mile him for indecent exposure, alien-seekers. "Alienstock" name. Vegas Strip.
(13-kilometer) drive to the Lee said. The woman was Another event started in "It started as a joke and now Alien Research Center
Rachel gate of the legend- released with a warning. Hiko, a crossroads town a people are getting to know owner George Harris said
ary former top-secret U.S. "We intend to keep those 45-minute drive closer to each other," said Tracy he expected a crowd of
Air Force base. Another 40 officers there throughout Las Vegas. Ferguson, 23, of Sioux Falls, 5,000.
traveled about 20 miles (32 the event," Lee told re- Meanwhile, Matty Rob- South Dakota, who said the Michael Ian Borer, a Univer-
kilometers) a more rugged porters Friday. "You know: erts, a 20-year-old from internet gave him the idea sity of Nevada, Las Vegas,
washboard-dirt road to a Come. Look. See what Bakersfield, California, who to drive to Nevada with his sociologist who researches
different gate. you can see. But just don't sparked the Area 51 phe- girlfriend, Jade Gore, 19, of pop culture and paranor-
The sheriff in neighboring cross." nomenon with a late-night Worthington, Minnesota. mal activity, called the fes-
Nye County reported that As he spoke, a trickle of Facebook post and then Gore quit her job at a Dairy tivities a blend of interest
about 40 people gathered vehicles grew to a stream broke with Little A'Le'Inn Queen and dyed her hair in aliens, the supernatural,
overnight at a conspicu- on a two-lane state road owner Connie West over and eyebrows green. They government conspiracies
ously green "Area 51 Alien dubbed the Extraterrestrial production of the Rachel drove through Wyoming, and the desire to know
Center" in Amargosa Val- Highway toward Rachel, a event, hosted a Thursday Utah and into Nevada with what is unknown.q

'What is that, man?' Navy confirms videos of flying objects

By BEN FINLEY into sightings by its pilots electromagnetics and
Associated Press of what it describes as "un- thermodynamics," North
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — In identified aerial phenome- Carolina Congressman
one of the videos, a small na" or UAPs in U.S. airspace Mark Walker wrote in a let-
object streaks across the on both coasts. ter to Navy Secretary Rich-
sky before the U.S. Navy "We are not going to try to ard Spencer in July.
fighter jet's tracking system characterize anything that "If the accounts are true,
locks on and follows it. may have been seen out the unidentified crafts
"Whoa. Got it," the pi- there," Navy Spokesman could pose a serious se-
lot yells, laughing as the Joseph Gradisher said. "But curity risk to our military
dot moves on his screen. the number of sightings personnel and defense
"Woohoo!" has increased since about apparatus," wrote Walker,
Another pilot asks: "Wow. 2014 when the advent of a Republican on the U.S.
What is that, man?" new technologies such as House's Homeland Security
The Navy isn't offering an drones and quadcopters Committee. "They could In this undated image made from video from a U.S. Navy air-
explanation — at least not have come into being." also represent a tremen- craft and released by The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, an
publicly — for exactly what Meanwhile, lawmakers are dous opportunity for ad- unidentified object moves near the plane in the air.
that object was. But the calling for more informa- vancements in science in Associated Press
service is confirming the tion on the so-called UAPs, technology that can con-
authenticity of that video saying some of their move- tribute to the public good." Super Hornets are based, to reporting on something
and two others taken from ments seem to challenge The Navy is updating its to talk to aviators. being unidentified."
its planes in 2004 and 2015. the laws of physics. guidelines to encourage "We need reports and Gradisher said the issue, ul-
The release of the videos, "Based on pilot accounts, pilots to more thorough- data and things we can timately, is the safety and
which have been circulat- encounters with these ly report what they see, analyze, and that's where security of the Navy's op-
ing online and in news re- UAPs often involved com- Gradisher said. And Navy our aviators come into erations.
ports, was not authorized, plex flight patterns and investigators have been play," Gradisher said. "We "Our aviators train as they
Navy officials said. But the advanced maneuvering, traveling to bases such as need them to participate. fight," he said. "And we
footage has prompted the which demand extreme Naval Air Station Oceana In years past they didn't don't like the idea of some-
Navy to publicly discuss advances in quantum me- in Virginia Beach, Virginia, necessarily do that be- one or something observ-
an ongoing investigation chanics, nuclear science, where squadrons of F/A-18 cause there was a stigma ing how we train."q