To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Remote Nevada County Declares Emergency Ahead Of September 'Storm Area 51' Date

Remote Nevada County Declares Emergency Ahead Of September 'Storm Area 51' Date

Officials in Lincoln County, Nevada have expressed concerns about visitors overwhelming the underpopulated area

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Officials in charge of the remote county in Nevada home to the Area 51 military base have declared an emergency ahead of the influx of people travelling to the area to 'see them aliens'.

You may remember that millions of people agreed to go to a Facebook event called 'Storm Area 51' which argued that 'they can't stop all of us'.

Well, whilst the millions who agreed online aren't expected to turn out, the local government is preparing for a decent amount of alien enthusiasts tipping up.

Lincoln County is home to about 5,200 people, despite being twice the size of the US state of Connecticut, and has recently approved two events that will take place around the 20 September date of the original 'invasion' of the site.

Seriously, are there not enough warning signs there?
PA

County Commission Chairman Varlin Higbee told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Oh, we're taking this seriously.

"With the possibility of 35,000 to 40,000 people showing up, yeah, this is serious."

Serious, in this case, means that the infrastructure of the area - stuff like mobile phone coverage, campsites, gas stations - is going to be stretched well beyond capacity.

In fact, there are thought to be only 184 hotel rooms in the entire county.

Higbee continued: "The cellphone system is going to go down.

"You get more than a couple of hundred people there, and it's going to crash. Cell service won't be available."

Meanwhile, in the tiny town of Rachel - population 54 - the Little A'Le'Inn (geddit?) is hosting a festival they're called 'Alienstock'.

Yep, Alienstock.
Alienstock/Lil A'Le'Inn

Lasting from 20 September to 22 September, co-owner Connie West said they're expecting 10,000 UFO nuts to show up.

Just down the road, another exposition is taking place at The Alien Research Center souvenir shop.

Basically, the councils have met ahead of time to agree to help out and share some of the load in case the numbers do turn up.

Local counties, as well as Las Vegas Metropolitan Police will help in the event of an 'emergency'.

The Alien Research Center.
PA

Higbee, who has rights to invoke the emergency declaration, said that Lincoln County could then turn to the state for help.

He added: "We don't know where or how far our resources are going to go.

"A lot of it is equipment and financing. The county only has so much money to deal with."

Oh, and he also re-asserted that no one should actually try to get into Area 51.

"We don't want them going down to government property; it will probably be blocked off," he said. "We don't want civilian people in contact with the military at all. That will get ugly."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Interesting, US News, Weird