Updated.
2 million people registered as going and 1.5 million registered as interested. Even though the site owner implored people not to go, and only about 150 people turned up at the front of Area 51, the fact that 3.5 million people were interested enough to visit the site, and tap going or interested, says a lot about people’s increasing interest in aliens around the world. Visit the original site here: Storm Area 51
As a side note, the series Ancient Aliens suggested that most alien tech and evidence had been moved away from Area 51 decades ago. It’s probably why the Area 51 guards, while alert and doing their jobs, were friendly; no one was hurt, and people had a great time at the nearby festival.
The great thing about this event is not only the viral nature and fun craziness about it that gripped many people, but the fact that the media spent days talking about it! That created a massive worldwide spike in interest in space aliens and extraterrestrials. Of course, with the Star Wars movies, Doctor Who, Star Trek and other fictional TV shows, an underlying interest in aliens in first world countries has been there for decades. But fictional interest doesn’t usually translate to factual interest. If you go to a science fiction convention you’ll find the tables about real aliens have much smaller groups around them then the tables about fictional aliens. The media talking about ‘real’ aliens enabled that awareness to be switched on in millions more people. Since this time there has been a lot more interest in first contact with aliens worldwide.
Of course, producers were quick to jump on the bandwagon, and 2020 is going to be an absolutely packed year for fictional science fiction series available for streaming. It is the new golden age of science fiction and there is going to be so much to watch that it is unlikely anyone will have time to actually go out and look up at the stars.
In the meantime, if you prefer to read stories about aliens, then I recommend Alien Dimensions #18. Check it out!
