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Well here it is, the day we finally get to "see them aliens".
Several months ago, a Facebook joke inviting everybody to "storm Area 51" on September 20 got out of hand, when far too many people signed up. Most people realized it was a joke (maybe, fingers crossed, all of them??), but nevertheless millions of people committed to the idea to charge right at the armed guards of Area 51, in the belief that "they can't stop all of us" and "the bullets won't hit us, not if we Naruto run".
It spawned thousands of memes, and endless hours of Internet fun. But people have now started to show up.
One wave of Naruto runners (or to be more accurate, two YouTubers) has already been arrested several days prior to the event. They made it about 5 kilometers (3 miles) inside the Air Force base before they were detained by officers from the Nye County Sheriff's Office and had their recording equipment confiscated.
That was almost a week before the official date. With hotels near the base booked up, people have been worried that people might show up in huge numbers to attend the event. Locals of the nearby towns Rachel (with a population of 54 people) and Hiko say they are "preparing for the worst", fearing their small towns aren't equipped to deal with the influx, lacking enough accommodation, food, and water supplies to cope if too many people turn up. One Lincoln County commissioner says the county has "planned and staged enough to handle 30,000 to 40,000 people,” The Independent reports.
Despite stern warnings from the military, people are beginning to show up, though not yet in numbers large enough to carry out the official attack plan. So far we have no info on the precise breakdown of how many Kyles we have (important for beserking), nor whether we'll have enough Karens to distract everyone whilst we all sneak around back.
However, we do have our first Naruto Runner. One man (or hero, whichever term you prefer) showed up behind a journalist from KTNV ActionK News covering the event earlier today and was seen Naruto running towards the military base, or at least the line of toilets set up for visitors.
There are currently individuals on YouTube live-streaming their travels to Area 51. (Although curiously, one were were following earlier that involved two people exclaiming they were "f***ing terrified" a lot has since been listed as "private". This may occur a lot today)
We will be updating this story throughout the day as more info is available and more people arrive and attempt to see them aliens. In the meantime, here are some of the best memes so far to get you in the mood.