The power of social media

By BRIAN LOCKHART

You would think that any society that has the technology to travel several light years through space and visit another planet while remaining undetected would be a pretty smart bunch, and pretty sneaky.

I guess even aliens have the occasional flying saucer driver who misses a turn and has an accident.

That seems to be the case near Roswell, New Mexico, where in 1947 a backseat driver in a flying saucer told the pilot to turn left at the next cloud, but realized his mistake and yelled “No!!! I meant right!! Turn right!!”

It was too late and their small silver coloured space craft crashed in the New Mexico desert scattering debris and little aliens all over the parched ground.

It was a good thing a local yokel went out to investigate because he found the remains of the flying saucer complete with strange hieroglyphics and some kind of high strength super lightweight metal material – unknown on this earth.

Of course the U.S. Air Force arrived and took over the investigation which included retrieving the debris and several alien bodies. 

By some reports one of the little tiny aliens was still alive. He was taken back to the nearest Air Force base, where in a strange turn of events, it was the alien who was prodded and probed for a change.

Officially the Air Force said it was a weather balloon that crashed. 

Yes, the old weather balloon excuse. 

More weather balloons seem to crash than go airborne. Maybe they should spend more time perfecting a balloon that can actually get off the ground and stay aloft.

By the 1970's the story of the crash at Roswell had morphed into a giant conspiracy theory with entire books written about the incident. They demanded answers and claimed the local air base, dubbed Area 51, held the debris and kept the alien bodies on ice.

Hundreds of people were interviewed about the incident. Unfortunately, none of those interviewed had any real knowledge of what had occurred and their reports were mostly hearsay that they picked up from others, who had talked to others, who new others, who had known the guys involved in picking up the debris. 

In the past few weeks, a fellow decided that it was time to learn the truth, and if enough people could amass with a common goal, they could storm through the desert, infiltrate Area 51, find the aliens, and finally get the truth out to the public. 

This is where the impact of social media really shows its power. He created a Facebook event page called “Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us.”

Already, 1.1 million people and counting have signed up to go on the excursion. Another million or so are ‘interested” in attending.

That's pretty impressive.

They plan to meet at the Roswell tourist centre prior to starting the cross-desert trek. 

Parking is going to be a nightmare, so try renting a small compact car or moped if you plan to attend.

The Air Force has to take some blame for the rumors surrounding this particular military base. 

If its supposed to be a secret, and you give it a name like Area 51, you can pretty much expect a lot of interest from inquiring minds. You might as well hang a highly visible banner naming it Super Secret Air Force Base X. 

Perhaps if they gave it a real name like Air Force Base Gilligan, there wouldn't be so many conspiracy theories surrounding it. 

Of course the signs stating guards are ‘authorized to use deadly force' that greet you when getting too close to the facility seem to imply the public isn't welcome to take a tour.

How a single guy can rally 2 million people for a common cause without even leaving his mom's basement certainly is a sign of the times.

It also brought him some unwanted attention when authorities paid him a visit to inquire why he was planning to trespass on a secure federal facility. 

He told them it was just a ‘joke' while smiling uncomfortably with beads of perspiration pouring from his forehead and nervously glancing at the imposing government vehicle parked in the driveway.

The men in black told him they didn't find it to be funny.

If a single guy could rally that many people in a short time, the power of socially connected media could one day really change the course of world events.

I was thinking of attending this middle of the desert rally, however my tinfoil hat is still at the cleaners and my moped is in the shop having a turbocharger installed.