A three-year-old video of people playing Pokémon GO outside Area 51 has come back around following the popularity of the Facebook plan to storm the government area.
The US government acquired Area 51 in 1955. Considering the hype surrounding the secret government facility over the past month or so, you would think it had just opened. If you have somehow not yet heard about this hype, let us fill you in. A Facebook page titled "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All Of Us" has gained a huge amount of traction.
It has acquired so much traction, in fact, that at the time of typing this, more than 1.7 million people have claimed they'll be going to the event when it takes place on September 20, 2019. The plan is to Naruto run so that everyone storming the area will be faster than any bullets that might be fired their way. This is the page runner's words, not ours.
What more and more people are beginning to discover is that Area 51 has been invaded before - sort of. When Pokémon GO was released three years ago, some YouTubers ventured to the facility to see what they could find and posted their exploits online. Due to the unexpected popularity of Area 51 in 2019, the video has been racking up fresh views and new comments. You can check it out for yourselves below:
Unfortunately, as you can see, it's a pretty uneventful trip. The players struggle to find coverage and only end up finding a Pikachu. Eventually, they attract the attention of officials in the distance, which is probably the most exciting thing that happens during the whole five-minute video. Other Pokémon GO players have been back since and discovered that the area is peppered with empty gyms, so that's something we guess.
We have reached a point now where we are a mix of sick of hearing about this Area 51 plan and fascinated to see what happens. Even though the page was obviously created as a joke (we hope), out of the 1.7 million people and counting who have signed up, you know some of them will show up on September 20. Perhaps pulling your phone out and pretending to play Pokémon GO once you realize how much trouble you're in wouldn't be a bad option.