An old friend swears there’s intelligent life in the cosmos.  Just not much on earth.  He’s an astronomer, climatologist and director of a science museum in Kentucky.  He’s used to large and strange human gatherings.  One of his uncles was named Max Yasgur.  The original Woodstock Music Festival was at the uncle’s farm.  My friend thought the Storm Area 51 concept was idiocy.

The event that took place this morning in Nevada probably won’t be much remembered in 5 months, while 50 years later Woodstock remains a part of our language.

The event that took place this morning in Nevada probably won’t be much remembered in 5 months, while 50 years later Woodstock remains a part of our language.

As you may recall, the idea of storming Area 51 got started as a Facebook joke in early summer.  The response was so great the government became nervous.  The installation is top secret but conspiracy theorists have long believed it houses the remains of aliens and their craft, which some insist crashed in the desert in the late 40s.

Not once did I share the fear of some in government.  Yes, there are some crazies and they could present trouble but most people who signed up to storm the fence were in on the joke.  They just planned to attend the party.  One story I read today explains a young woman was arrested after crawling under a perimeter gate.  Then she was released.  My guess is she was told to get the heck out and decided it was a wise decision.

There will be, I’m sure, efforts to turn this into some sort of profitable yearly festival, although.  There are already numerous other celebrations in Nevada and they offer more comfortable settings.  The Vegas casinos come to mind.  Or if you like something akin to the Woodstock experience, there’s Burning Man, which may still not have a guaranteed future.  And numerous smaller gatherings invite the curious, the paranoid and the scientific to talk UFOs.

A month ago I thought broadcasting live from the storming event would’ve been cool but as time wore on I saw the eventual outcome.  Gone in the flicker of time.

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