Jackson Barnes/Facebook/PAOfficials in Lincoln County, Nevada, have organised an emergency plan for the Storm Area 51 event as it could ‘get ugly’.
What started out as a joke event to swarm the military base and ‘see them aliens’ quickly took the world by storm and while actually invading the base will likely be an impossible task the creator has come up with another way to bring the two million potential attendees together, in the form of Alienstock.
The event is a festival set to begin on September 20, the same day Storm Area 51 is scheduled for. It is going to be held in Rachel, Nevada, the closest town to Area 51, and according to the website it will involve live music, food and camping.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, the County Commission conditionally approved an event permit for the festival, as well as a permit for the UFology Expo, set to be hosted the same weekend at the Alien Research Center in Hiko.
The permits depend on each group behind the events coming forward with their complete plans at a commission meeting on September 3. Between the two events, up to 40,000 people could invade Lincoln County – an area of around 5,000 residents.
Varlin Higbee, the Lincoln County Commission Chairman, explained the influx of tourists would stretch the area’s resources thin.
He commented:
Oh, we’re taking this seriously. With the possibility of 35,000-40,000 people showing up, yeah, this is serious.
WikipediaIn preparation for the two events, Eric Holt, emergency manager for Lincoln County, where Rachel is located, requested the commission approve the pre-signing of the emergency declaration form. The document would allow the county to reach out to the state for assistance should their emergency response and financial resources be depleted.
Holt explained:
We had them sign it, but we haven’t actually declared it as an emergency at this time. It’s more preparatory in the event for the time that we have to declare an emergency we don’t have to wait for the next commission meeting to happen.
We want to ensure it’s a good, safe event. It could impose some impacts to the county if we do see a large influx of people. So, we are trying to plan and prepare for that.
With emergency and law enforcement personnel likely having to work overtime to control the events, the declaration could be tied to financial needs.
As Alienstock stemmed from the Storm Area 51 event, some visitors will probably want to explore as much as they can when it comes to the military base.
However, Higbee warned festivalgoers to not attempt to breach the Area 51 site, warning the military would protect it at all costs.
WikipediaHe said:
We don’t want them going down to government property; it will probably be blocked off.
We don’t want civilian people in contact with the military at all. That will get ugly.
Understand that is a military base, and regardless of whether that base is in Afghanistan, Syria or wherever, it’s still a base and they’re going to protect it, just as if it were in a foreign country.
Higbee added all the media attention has already resulted in an increase in visitors to the area.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.