COMMENTARY: Area 51 collides social media and America’s paranoia toward government

In a social world where users increasingly interact through a graphic user interface or application on their mobile device, what constitutes a real experience has changed. As a result, anything posted or shared online could be perceived as a threat.

Thanks to the relative ease of creating an account with Facebook from a computer or mobile device, and the impressive communication platform it has established, almost anyone can join and start networking with friends, associates and strangers by sharing and liking content as long as one has an internet connection or can connect to Wi-Fi.

Social media, in general, can be a positive force for change by connecting like-minded people together over a shared interest or cause. Additionally, platforms such as Facebook helps them to organize events, invite volunteers and collect donations all from the same app on one’s phone.

Although such a platform can be a powerful tool for local communities to come together and share information, the ease of access and minimal requirements to create an account can be harnessed for destructive objectives to aide adversaries of the United States of America. In some cases, the starting point for a joke or meme online has the potential to transform into something catastrophic.

An event to raid Area 51 Sept. 20, 2019, to “see them aliens,” may have started as a joke on Facebook, but has now become a Schrödinger’s cat of “will they or won’t they” actually show up to a military base and try to storm the gates. Over 3.2 million users have declared themselves as “going” or “interested.”

The sudden viral interest in mobilizing towards a military base raises questions about why has something like this not happened before. It may be that reality in today’s flourishing information age is skewed because of social media.

It could be possible the social perception of how a military installation would react has been influenced by decades of TV shows, video games and movies. Those marked as attending the event may be under the impression that the Air Force would not seriously prepare and respond to such a whimsical threat, or perhaps if the government does fire upon civilians then it would fuel a civil revolt against the oppressive and secretive social structure of America.

A revolt might be a stretch, but the adage “Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance” is a catchphrase of sorts to senior military leadership with contingency plans galore. An example is “CONPLAN 8888-11,” the counter-zombie dominance plan created should the undead rise up. It is therefore not out of the question to believe that the Air Force would rule out the possibility of civilians trying to rush the entrance en masse and prepare accordingly.

Most American citizens and some of its founders have been paranoid of big government since the inception of the country. This may be the reason conspiracies have been a part of our history since before the 9/11 or JFK Assassination conspiracies, and why the mindset has been fueled since before the Roswell, New Mexico UFO incident of the late 1940s.

The uncovered Watergate scandal involving President Richard Nixon validated American citizen’s mistrust of the government in the 1970s and continued cynical attitudes towards the government.

Conspiracy theories seem to pop up as a response to perceived or actual threats and shifts in power, political or otherwise. This explains the current Area 51 memes and interest in a raid of the Nellis Air Force Base as a social projection of the public’s stance toward the government and current political tension.

In a time of uncertainty because of the propagation of fake news, alternative facts and a worrying concern for a “1984”-esque future, it should be evident that citizens are looking for some type of verifiable answer that can give them hope or reassurance. Unfortunately, a large number of people are under the impression that raiding a secret military base will provide that for them.

One reason people may have been in doubt that the Area 51 raid would even happen is likely because of the trend of fake Facebook events starting to be posted around 2015. They began with common days of the year with the events being tied to not dealing with life somehow like “December 03: crawl under the coffee table and never leave.”

Mid 2016, however, the reoccurring pattern of fake events had some kind of live performance from a superstar artist at an unlikely venue, usually creating a satirical event for those who know the artist such as “Fetty Wap performing at Lenscrafters.”

With the event starting on the internet, it seems only right that internet sub-cultures would band together to create some sort of strategy to increase the likelihood of sneaking off the base with looted aliens and technology. People have commented on the original Facebook post with aerial photos of Nellis AFB in Nevada with multiple possible strategies that seem drawn with Microsoft Paint and include different roles for each sub-culture.

This raises the question of whether they would actually work together for a common goal, even if it is in the attempt of a ridiculous cause. For the effort being put into creating hilarious memes and strategies to get in Area 51, one would think they could apply the same drive to actually voting or creating positive change in their communities instead of goofing off on Facebook.