In The News: Department of Sociology

KLAS-TV: 8 News Now

Storm Area 51 has everyone talking about the seclude once-secret military base. So, when people look back at Area 51 and when it garnered national attention to now, and how it sprung back into the pop culture spotlight — it’s very apparent the age of social media was a driving force.

Las Vegas Review Journal

A bored college student in Bakersfield, California, logs onto Facebook and creates an alien-themed event as a goof. Two weeks later and more than 400 miles away, a small Nevada town is thrown into turmoil. It’s a prime example of the butterfly effect, part of chaos theory, which Jeff Goldblum warned us about in “Jurassic Park.”

Evening Standard

UFO enthusiasts from around the world have descended on a remote Nevada town near the once-secret Area 51 military base.

Fortune

Alien-hunters are arriving near Area 51 after a viral craze that saw them commit to storm the mysterious US military base as a variety of events are taking place to mark the weekend, including music festivals in a variety of locations.

CBS News

The "Storm Area 51" invitation spawned festivals in the tiny Nevada towns of Rachel and Hiko nearest the military site, and a more than two-hour drive from Las Vegas.

Associated Press

About 75 people arrived early Friday at a gate at the once-secret Area 51 military base in Nevada — at the time appointed by an internet hoaxster to “storm” the facility to see space aliens — and at least two were detained by sheriff’s deputies.

Guardian

Lincoln county sheriff said about 1,500 people headed to two desert towns in response to the internet hoax to ‘raid’ the base

Billboard

Sound checks echoed from a distant main stage while Daniel Martinez whirled and danced at dusty makeshift festival grounds just after sunset in Rachel, the Nevada town closest to the once-secret Area 51 military base.

O Estado de S. Paulo

For sociologist and pop culture expert, event that was born without pretensions on Facebook risks becoming a security crisis in a protected area of the U.S. government.

Daily Mail

Authorities admit they don't know what to expect as the 'Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us' event kicks off in rural Nevada.

ThisIsMoney.co.uk

About 75 people arrived early Friday at a gate at the once-secret Area 51 military base in Nevada - at the time appointed by an internet hoaxster to "storm" the facility to see space aliens - and at least two were detained by sheriff's deputies.

PBS

The music kicked off weekend events — inspired by an internet hoax to “see them aliens” — that Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said had drawn perhaps 1,500 people to two tiny desert towns.