Things got heated on Thursday, Sept. 19, when an anonymous superhero performed a Naruto-run in the background during a live press coverage at the Storm Area 51 event, which was set to take place Friday.
After what started out as a joke on Facebook in July seemed to turn into a mass movement when 2 million people vowed to attend the storming of the notorious Area 51 site in Nevada.
“They can’t stop all of us,” the post joked. “Lets see them aliens.”
Eventually, thousands from around the globe traveled to festivals, and several hundred made forays toward the secret Area 51 military base.
Some 75 protesters showed up at the gates of the airbase, holding up signs and chanting slogans.
No one found UFOs or space aliens, Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said.
They did find they weren’t alone, amid bright floodlights, watchful cameras, and who-knows-what in a squat tan bunker building with blackout windows—all surrounded by razor wire.
Polite and patient local sheriff’s deputies ushered one woman away when she stepped too far forward. They arrested a man from Canada who urinated near the gate and cited him for indecent exposure, Lee said. The woman was released with a warning.
“We intend to keep those officers there throughout the event,” Lee told reporters Friday. “You know: Come. Look. See what you can see. But just don’t cross.”
Naruto Runner
Not only did the 20-year-old organizer, Matt Roberts, call for a massive turnout at the highly secretive military complex, but he also suggested doing so in style—Naruto style.
“We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry,” Roberts jokingly wrote in the post. “If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Let’s see them aliens.”
Naruto Uzumaki is a famed anime character, who typically runs with his face forward and his arms flung backward, so as to go faster then bullets can fly.
When local KTNV news reporter Joe Bartels presented his live broadcast in Rachel, an unnamed man was caught on video performing a Naruto-run in the background. This has since turned into a sensation on social media and a meme of his scamper has shot across the internet at the speed of light.
Area 51’s secrecy has long fueled fascination about extraterrestrial life, UFOs, and conspiracy theories, giving rise to the events this week and prompting military warnings not to approach the protected site.
No one knows what to expect, but the two tiny towns of Rachel and Hiko near the once-secret military research site are preparing for an influx of people over the next few days.
“It’s happening. We already have people from all over the world,” Little A’Le’Inn proprietor Connie West said. She is planning an “Alienstock” Thursday through Sunday in Rachel, a town of about 50 residents more than a two-hour drive north of Las Vegas. She has planned 20 musical acts, plus food vendors and souvenir sellers.
Officials expect cellular service to be overwhelmed. The nearest gas station is 45 miles away. Campers could encounter overnight temperatures as low as 41 degrees.
“We really didn’t ask for this,” said Varlin Higbee, a Lincoln County commissioner who voted to allocate $250,000 in scarce funds to handle anticipated crowds.
“We have planned and staged enough to handle 30,000 to 40,000 people,” Higbee said. “We don’t know how many will come for sure.”
The “Area 51 Basecamp” promises up to 60 food trucks and vendors, trash and electric service, and a robust security and medical staff.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
