Mobilizing to Storm Area 51: A Few Reasons Why It's One of the Most Asinine Ideas Ever
It would seem that a large number of people are talking about storming Area 51 in Nevada.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 60 years, you know that Area 51 is a government test facility. Some people believe that there are aliens (possibly alive, probably dead), alien technology and so on.
These people think that if their numbers are sufficient, they should be able to capture this area. Their motto is "They Can't Shoot Us All."
I'm going to address these two ideas separately.
First, aliens.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. The spacecraft that carried the three astronauts to and from the moon, the command module, could fit in a two car garage. It had roughly the same space and weight at a modern minivan (with surprisingly less technological advancement but that's another blog post).
In order to hurl a spacecraft of that size to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, in a time span of 25 years, it would require the same amount of energy that the entire United States consumed in 2009.
Consider what it takes to generate that kind of energy.
Proxima Centauri has no planets that seem to meet the criteria needed for intelligent life to develop. Any alien life would have to travel a much greater distance which would require even more energy.
For the sake of argument, let's say that aliens did manage to get to Earth.
They've traveled more than 25 trillion miles across unimaginable spans of space and managed to keep their crew alive for the decades (if not centuries) it took to cross that void. Their technical prowess is far beyond what we can even imagine.
Then they crash outside Roswell, New Mexico?
Really?
Pun intended, the odds against aliens in Area 51 are astronomical.
Now, the intended raid.
Like it or not, the United States has enemies in the world. That means we need a military and that military needs weapons. In this modern, technological age, that means advanced weapons. When we develop weapons to give us a strategic advantage, we don't want our enemies to know about them.
Sometimes, we have to keep secrets.
Facilities like Area 51 exist to protect those secrets.
Anyone trespassing on the Groom Lake Testing Facility (the actual name of this facility) is subject to arrest, imprisonment and fine. Anyone resisting arrest could be subject to much worse.
To those who say, "They can't shoot us all," I offer a challenge:
They might not have to shoot everyone.
Just a few. Maybe just one.
Do you think it's worth your life to enter this base? And for what?
Have you ever seen an Air Force A-10 in action?
I have. The weaponry on the A-10 can take out a tank. I don't even want to consider what a single strafing run would do in a crowd of a thousand people.
Then multiply that by a few strafing runs in a crowd of tens of thousands.
Think they can't shoot you all?
Guess again.
Why not mobilize this kind of energy towards a worthwhile goal like letting the Senate know they aren't doing their jobs? Feeding the hungry? Building homeless shelters?
That's worth getting a bunch of people together for.
Unless you've been living under a rock for the last 60 years, you know that Area 51 is a government test facility. Some people believe that there are aliens (possibly alive, probably dead), alien technology and so on.
These people think that if their numbers are sufficient, they should be able to capture this area. Their motto is "They Can't Shoot Us All."
I'm going to address these two ideas separately.
First, aliens.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11. The spacecraft that carried the three astronauts to and from the moon, the command module, could fit in a two car garage. It had roughly the same space and weight at a modern minivan (with surprisingly less technological advancement but that's another blog post).
In order to hurl a spacecraft of that size to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, in a time span of 25 years, it would require the same amount of energy that the entire United States consumed in 2009.
Consider what it takes to generate that kind of energy.
Proxima Centauri has no planets that seem to meet the criteria needed for intelligent life to develop. Any alien life would have to travel a much greater distance which would require even more energy.
For the sake of argument, let's say that aliens did manage to get to Earth.
They've traveled more than 25 trillion miles across unimaginable spans of space and managed to keep their crew alive for the decades (if not centuries) it took to cross that void. Their technical prowess is far beyond what we can even imagine.
Then they crash outside Roswell, New Mexico?
Really?
Pun intended, the odds against aliens in Area 51 are astronomical.
Now, the intended raid.
Like it or not, the United States has enemies in the world. That means we need a military and that military needs weapons. In this modern, technological age, that means advanced weapons. When we develop weapons to give us a strategic advantage, we don't want our enemies to know about them.
Sometimes, we have to keep secrets.
Facilities like Area 51 exist to protect those secrets.
Anyone trespassing on the Groom Lake Testing Facility (the actual name of this facility) is subject to arrest, imprisonment and fine. Anyone resisting arrest could be subject to much worse.
To those who say, "They can't shoot us all," I offer a challenge:
They might not have to shoot everyone.
Just a few. Maybe just one.
Do you think it's worth your life to enter this base? And for what?
Have you ever seen an Air Force A-10 in action?
I have. The weaponry on the A-10 can take out a tank. I don't even want to consider what a single strafing run would do in a crowd of a thousand people.
Then multiply that by a few strafing runs in a crowd of tens of thousands.
Think they can't shoot you all?
Guess again.
Why not mobilize this kind of energy towards a worthwhile goal like letting the Senate know they aren't doing their jobs? Feeding the hungry? Building homeless shelters?
That's worth getting a bunch of people together for.
posted by Jim at 8:04 AM
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