Fears that thousands of alien hunters could attempt to “storm” Area 51 after responding to a viral Facebook event have proved unfounded, with fewer than 200 people turning up at the gates of the secretive US military base.
Most of those left peacefully after “heated warnings” from police, although authorities said two people were arrested at perimeter of the remote facility in Nevada.
It was a far cry from the millions who signed up to Storm Area 51, a joke Facebook event which suggested attendees “all meet up” to “see them aliens” at the base which conspiracy theorists claim holds evidence of extraterrestrials.
The event page was later shut down following condemnation from American authorities and locals, who feared a “disaster” if huge crowds descended on the harsh desert area where internet, phone signal and credit card facilities are scarce.
But the invitation nonetheless spawned alien-themed festivals in the tiny Nevada towns of Rachel and Hiko nearest the military site.
Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee estimated that about 1,500 people had gathered at the festival sites and said more than 150 people also made the rugged trip several additional miles on bone-rattling dirt roads to get within selfie distance of the gates.
Another group of about 40 people gathered at a different gate in the Amargosa Valley.
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