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The Sun
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
I wanted REAL truth about Area 51… my reckless idea cost military $11m & almost sparked ‘deadliest mass shooting' ever
IT started as a joke, posted by a bored keyboard warrior who couldn't sleep. But the invitation to Storm Area 51 - the top secret US military base where conspiracy theorists believe evidence of alien invasions is stored - caused a national security alert, involving the State Department, US Marshals and Air Force, the FBI and millions of dollars. 13 13 13 And the midnight post, by 20-year-old Matty Roberts, saw millions of alien-obsessed geeks hailing him as their spiritual leader and making plans to converge on the Nevada military base - with potentially fatal consequences. The extraordinary incident, in 2019, is told in the two-part Netflix documentary, Trainwreck: Storm Area 51. Living with his mum in California, Matty's long black hair and beard, pallid complexion, baseball cap and excitable talk, perfectly fits the mould of 'computer nerd'. Bored with his dead-end job selling vapes at a deserted shopping mall, he entertained himself watching humorous podcasts, memes and YouTube videos. One day he stumbled upon amateur Ufologist Jeremy Corbell on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast talking about the top-secret US Air Force base, Area 51, where he claimed alien space craft were hidden. 'I thought, 'Oh, my God, this finally explains the flying saucers stories,'' says Matty. 'It was fascinating but I filed it in the back of my mind and my shift ends and I go home.' It might have ended there but a decision made in the middle of the night to post a jokey message encouraging people to 'Storm Area 51' was to have unimaginable consequences. 'I have this sh**posting account on Facebook, which is my happy place,' he says. It is where he posts satirical and provocative material from his bedroom. 'It's great because nobody knows who you are. You can post stupid stuff – memes, random thoughts that come to mind, funny, zingy one-liners. 'That night, I can't sleep. My mind's kind of going. And then it comes to me. The ultimate sh**post. If the government won't tell us anything about this top-secret military base, what if every fool on the internet converged on Area 51? What would they do? Shoot everyone? I'm an Area 51 investigator – FBI raided my home & tried to silence me but I know secret UFO base is hiding new weapons "It seemed like a hilarious idea to me. Jokes are funnier when they're edgy. So, I'm going to make it sound like a real call to arms.' Having named the event 'Storm Area 51: They Can't Stop All of Us', he went back to bed. 'I just thought it would be a funny post for my page of 40 followers,' he recalls. 'I didn't think it would go anywhere.' Reality hits But the following morning, Matty was astonished to find hundreds signing up for the event. Over the next few days it continued to attract thousands, from people thinking they are aliens, to adrenaline junkies, conspiracy theorists and wannabe social media stars. All were competing with each other in posting humorous alien-related memes. But worryingly, as well as enjoying the fun, most were seriously intent on making the raid happen. 'I was like, 'What the f***?! I figured I had to tell my mom,' says Matty. She warned him that people might not understand it was a joke and that he could get into a lot of trouble. 13 13 13 Area 51 has been the testing site for some of America's top fighter planes, such as the U-2, the F-117 and the Stealth Bomber. Security forces who guard the base are authorised to shoot to kill anyone crossing the barrier. With Matty now receiving messages from people threatening to kill guards who got in their way, things were getting serious. 'I told Mom I would sort it,' he says. 'So, I added a line to the description saying that if we Naruto run, we can move faster than the guards bullets.' Naruto is a young Ninja character in a series of Japanese manga cartoon stories who has a distinctive run in which he leans forward and holds his arms out behind him. Matty's followers needed no such explanation. Instantly, he was bombarded with videos of people in alien and superhero costumes running Naruto-style down the street. 'I was just trying to help calm things down but the whole thing exploded even more,' he says. 'Now, I'm suddenly this renegade guy that's got this group of people where everything I say is funny. I had no idea what I'd started. I thought, 'For God's sake, this is just a joke. Nobody's actually planning on going there.'' But they were. On the long road in the desert-land of Nevada to Area 51, known popularly as the Extraterrestrial Highway, Connie West runs the only motel – the Little A'Le'Inn in the small town of Rachel, with a population of 56 people. The motel has a bar, just 10 rooms and a camping site. 'July 11 th, our phone started ringing,' she says. 'Somebody wanted to hire a camping spot. As soon as I hung up with that person, the phone was ringing again and again. It was insane. Everybody was wanting to come on the 20 th of September. I thought, 'What's going on?'' Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee, whose patch takes in Area 51, was growing increasingly concerned. 'When my friend texted me, saying, 'Have you seen this post?' I thought it was another one of those wacko things people say and it never happens,' he says. 'It wasn't until the days progressed and things started getting bigger and bigger, that I thought, 'Oh, this isn't funny anymore.' We have less than 12 officers to police an 11,000 square-mile county.' Celeb endorsements After the story was covered on mainstream TV news channels, things just got bigger and bigger with celebrities getting in on the joke. Miley Cyrus posted a selfie of herself with an alien captioned: 'That one time @ Area 51.' Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Elon Musk and the Jonas Brothers also joined in. With over a million people now planning to converge at Rachel, Nevada, Matty was desperately trying to think of a way to stop the momentum. 'It's gone from just being dipsh** on the internet to now I've got real people coming to a real place that can get really hurt. How the f*** did it come to this?' 13 13 After a messenger suggested they throw an electronic dance party in the desert, right by Area 51, he saw his opportunity to divert the focus. He gave it the green light and was then advised that only one man could pull off an event this big – legendary events organiser Disco Donnie. 'I was at my place on the beach and I got this call from a promoter explaining that this Area 51 post had gone viral,' says Donnie. 'He asked me if I wanted to get involved and do a festival. I was like, 'Sure. When is it?' And he said, 'In September.' 'I said, 'Two months from now? No way. That's crazy.' Normally, I'd have at least eight months to plan something like that. 'When I looked to see where they were trying to do it, it was in the middle of the desert. I knew it was impossible, but I also didn't want to be left on the sideline. This could be it.' Meanwhile, the mainstream media had discovered Matty's identity and were following him with cameras. With little time to spare, Donnie and Matty drove to Area 51 and met up with Connie at her motel, who decided to go into partnership with them. But Donnie was despairing of the logistics of holding the event. 'When you're doing a show in the middle of nowhere, you have to bring everything yourself – porta potties, fencing, staff, water, staging. We were building a city from nothing.' As the realisation of what was happening set in, locals did all they could to stop the invasion of alien thrill-seekers. 'People in this tiny little town live there for a reason,' says Matty. 'Now suddenly, some d***head from California is bringing a million people over there.' 'Mass shooting' fears Colonel Cavan Craddock commanded the 99 th Air Base Wing, which provided support for Area 51. 'Imagine someone has a gun,' he says. 'If people start shooting and suddenly, hundreds or maybe thousands of people get shot over this event, you're looking at one of the deadliest mass shootings in the history of our nation.' Sheriff Kerry Lee declared the Lincoln County to be in a state of emergency. 'I got a call from the Los Angeles Police Department,' he says. 'They were getting together every government agency they could to deal with this thing. So, I jumped in my patrol car and headed to Las Vegas.' 13 13 13 He sat at a big U-shaped table with the Las Vegas Police Department, the FBI, the State Department, US Marshals and US Air Force personnel. It was decided that the best way to stop the event from happening was to put pressure on Matty. That was when the FBI called at his home. 'I'm sitting there shaking, thinking I'm about to get a bag over my head and thrown into a van and shipped off to God-knows-where,' says Matty. 'And they are grilling me to find out whether or not I am actually a terrorist. 'I'm telling them the truth. I'm not actually planning on doing this. We're planning a music festival. They essentially let me know that it was my ass on the line if anybody decided to go in there and storm the base. 'After the meeting I needed to figure out a way to move away from Storm Area 51 and rebrand it so I can keep myself out of prison.' He starts looking at the famous 1960s music festival Woodstock, with its peace and hippy vibe and came up with the idea of a similar large-scale event called Alienstock. With Disco Donnie having pulled out, another promoter named Frank DiMaggio took over the running of the gig and finally persuaded Matty to hold it in Las Vegas, where there was a venue and infrastructure. The festival successfully took place but, worryingly to the authorities, that didn't stop the faithful from continuing on their mission to Storm Area 51. 'All of our forces were ready,' says Colonel Cavan. 'We'd been monitoring events and around 3am we were starting to see some increased activity.' People were congregating, chanting, 'They can't stop us all,' and then counting down from 10 to one before charging the base Naruto-style…. and stopping. To whoops of laughter, they spent the rest of the evening partying at their ad-hoc music festival in the desert. 'It was a joke,' says Sheriff Kerry Lee. 'They got their moment of fame and their picture and it was done. Three point five million people turned out to be just a few hundred in the end.' But the joke had ended up costing Lincoln County $250,000 and the US military an estimated $11 million for beefing up security. Matty made just $1700 from selling T-shirts at Alienstock and then slipped back into anonymity. 'I'd just gone through the most surreal and exciting moment of my life,' he says. 'And one week later, I'm back at the vape shop.' Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 drops on Netflix on July 29 13
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Possibly Hostile 'Alien' Object Could Arrive in November 2025, Wild Research Paper Says
A team of researchers has presented the wild theory that an interstellar object might be hostile "alien technology" that could reach Earth in Fall 2025. The findings were reported by the New York Post, which wrote that the "inflammatory paper" was published on July 16 on the preprint server arXiv. According to Live Science, the paper is controversial, was not peer-reviewed, and experts think its claims are "nonsense," however. That site says that other scientists believe the object is natural. 3I/ATLAS was discovered on July 1 "barreling toward the sun at more than 130,000 mph (210,000 km/h)," and is a confirmed "interstellar object," according to Live Science, but "initial observations strongly suggest" it's a large comet "surrounded by a cloud of ice, gas and dust called a coma," the site reported. The paper in question is titled, "Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology?" It was written by Adam Hibberd, Adam Crowl, and Abraham Loeb. According to Live Science, Loeb is a Harvard University astronomer who is "renowned for linking extraterrestrial objects to intelligent aliens." "At this early stage of its passage through our Solar System, 3I/ATLAS, the recently discovered interstellar interloper, has displayed various anomalous characteristics, determined from photometric and astrometric observations," the research trio wrote. "As largely a pedagogical exercise, in this paper we present additional analysis into the astrodynamics of 3I/ATLAS, and hypothesize that this object could be technological, and possibly hostile as would be expected from the 'Dark Forest' resolution to the 'Fermi Paradox'. We show that 3I/ATLAS approaches surprisingly close to Venus, Mars and Jupiter..." the paper continued. "Furthermore the low retrograde tilt of 3I/ATLAS's orbital plane to the ecliptic offers various benefits to an Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (ETI), since it allows the object access to our planet with relative impunity," they added. "The eclipse by the Sun from Earth of 3I/ATLAS at perihelion, would allow it to conduct a clandestine reverse Solar Oberth Manoeuvre, an optimal high-thrust strategy for interstellar spacecraft to brake and stay bound to the Sun." The researchers noted: "An optimal intercept of Earth would entail an arrival in late November/early December of 2025." Loeb wrote a blog post on the findings. "Today I co-authored an intriguing new paper with the brilliant collaborators Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies in London, UK," he wrote. "This new interstellar interloper has displayed a number of anomalous characteristics." Possibly Hostile 'Alien' Object Could Arrive in November 2025, Wild Research Paper Says first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 26, 2025 Solve the daily Crossword
The Sun
7 days ago
- Science
- The Sun
Mystery object zooming towards Sun may be ‘hostile alien probe' – but experts brand Harvard prof's claims as ‘nonsense'
THE mysterious interstellar object blazing through our solar system could be a piece of "possibly hostile" alien technology, according to a controversial new study. The research, from a small group of scientists including a renowned alien-hunting Harvard University astronomer, argues that object 3I/ATLAS is actually an extraterrestrial probe in disguise. On 1 July, astronomers spotted a highly unusual object zooming towards our Sun at roughly 245,000 kilometres per hour - or 68km a second. With a "short tail" and a "fuzziness" around it, astronomers declared it an icy comet - and the fastest rock our solar system has ever seen. Judging by its bizarre orbit, experts determined that the super-fast space traveller had come from outside our solar system. That would make it the third interstellar object to pass Earth on record, following the rare visits of the famous 1I/ʻOumuamua asteroid in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. But Harvard astrophysics professor Avi Loeb and his colleagues suggest it could be something more advanced than an interstellar rock. "In this paper we present additional analysis into the astrodynamics of 3I/ATLAS, and hypothesise that this object could be technological," they write in their paper. The study, which has not yet been peer reviewed, added that the technology could even be "possibly hostile". Loeb and his colleagues say this would "be expected from the 'Dark Forest' resolution to the 'Fermi Paradox'" - a theory that alien civilisations exist throughout the universe but are both silent and hostile. 'Dark Forest' theorists believe aliens remain hidden for fear of being destroyed by other intelligent lifeforms. It is one of many possible explanations of the Fermi Paradox, which aims to answer why humans have not yet found alien life. Why We Haven't Met Aliens Yet: 9 Theories Loeb is a controversial figure among astronomers and astrophysicists, having previously suggested that interstellar object 1I/ʻOumuamua may have also been an alien craft in 2017. Now 3I/ATLAS is showing signs it could be of alien origin as well, according to Loeb. 5 The object's orbit, for example, brings it suspiciously close to Venus, Mars and Jupiter, Loeb writes in his study. Yet separate experts told Live Science that the new claims are "nonsense" and "insulting." They insist that the available evidence points toward the object being completely natural. What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet? Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa... Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth) Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vaporizing) If it is natural like most researchers say, then 3I/ATLAS appears to be a comet older than our solar system - a whopping 7.6billion years old. The space rock is estimated to be up to 20km in size. Its current trajectory suggests it came from the Milky Way's 'thick disk' – a field of ancient stars. No comet from that region has ever graced Earth with a flyby, according to astronomers. 5 To figure out whether 3I/ATLAS really is an alien probe - similar to Earth's Voyager 1 and 2 - scientists will have to continue monitoring it. Radio waves coming from the object would be strong evidence that the object is of alien origin - assuming the probe was still in working order. Any signs of manoeuvring or propulsion would also be a good indicator that it's more than cosmic debris. If it were to approach to Earth, a rare type of world as planets come, in a stable orbit - that too might suggest it is an otherworldly probe. Our planet, with its water, healthy atmosphere, strong magnetic field and life, would be of great interest to other intelligent forms of life. But for now, evidence mostly points towards 3I/ATLAS being an ancient, icy and speedy comet. 5
Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Harvard Paper Explores Possibility That Object Approaching From Beyond Solar System Is Hostile Alien Technology
A strange interstellar object is hurtling its way toward our pale blue dot — and according to a Harvard astronomer, there's a chance it's not a benign asteroid or comet, but instead some harmful form of alien tech. In a new, yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb — the same scientist who suggested that 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever detected back in 2017, was alien in nature — teamed up with researchers from the Britain-based Initiative for Interstellar Studies to hypothesize not only that the newly-discovered interloper 3I/ATLAS is alien in origin, but that it may be from a hostile civilization, too. Loeb is an interesting character: he's an enormously accomplished academic and the former chair of Harvard's prestigious astronomy department, but in recent years has often made headlines for suggesting that various detections in the cosmos might be alien spacecraft. In other words, he was almost bound to weigh in on this latest interstellar visitor, which is only the third ever detected. And weigh in he did. Citing the so-called "dark forest" hypothesis — which comes from sci-fi writer Cixin Liu's novel of the same name and posits that the universe is full of silent and aggressive aliens, all staying as quiet as possible to avoid mutually-assured destruction — Loeb and his colleagues Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl suggest that 3I/ATLAS could theoretically provide evidence that we are not alone, and that our neighbors would do us harm. "The consequences, should the [dark forest] hypothesis turn out to be correct, could potentially be dire for humanity," Loeb wrote in a blog post accompanying the paper, "and would possibly require defensive measures to be undertaken (though these might prove futile.)" In another recent post, Loeb argued that 3I/ATLAS' strange characteristics — including that it's likely over a dozen miles in diameter, which is far larger than the obelisk-sized 'Oumuamua — render it statistically improbable. "If 3I/ATLAS is not an asteroid — based on the interstellar reservoir argument in my paper, nor a comet — based on the lack of the spectral fingerprints of carbon-based molecules around it, then what is it?" Loeb mused in that previous post. It's worth noting that these sorts of hypotheses have made Loeb controversial among skeptical colleagues who consider his quest for alien artifacts to be sensationalist in nature. In his latest paper, to be fair, Loeb acknowledged that there's a good chance 3I/ATLAS is not from an extraterrestrial civilization. "By far the most likely outcome will be that 3I/ATLAS is a completely natural interstellar object, probably a comet, and the authors await the astronomical data to support this likely origin," the scientific trio wrote. Still, Loeb argues that undertaking a "pedagogical exercise" like the one presented in the new paper is important not just to stretch open minds, but also to create protocols for determining the natures of future interstellar objects. "When viewed from an open-minded and unprejudiced perspective," the researchers concluded, "our paper includes many compelling insights that could be applied to tens of interstellar objects that are expected to be detected over the next decade." More on space objects: Remember That Asteroid NASA Deflected in a Test of Saving Earth? We Have Bad News Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jeff Bezos looks unrecognizable in throwback photos from his bizarre Star Trek cameo
Newlywed Jeff Bezos may have totally changed up his looks when he started dating now-wife Lauren Sanchez - but during his 2016 Star Trek cameo, you wouldn't even be able to recognize him. Nine years ago, the Amazon tycoon starred in Star Trek Beyond, making an appearance as an alien. The movie was so popular that it was even nominated for an Oscar that year for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Bezos looked like a totally different person, as he was transformed into character, wearing a huge, misshapen alien head with skin that resembled a chicken's and had veins popping out of it in gruesome detail. The face he wore had blue, scaly markings on it, along with a super pointed chin and a flat nose. To top everything off, Bezos wore a pair of bright blue-colored contacts. In the film, Bezos looked so different that viewers would have never guessed it was really him behind the costume. Since he was young, Bezos has been a huge fan of Star Trek. 'You have to understand, when I was in fourth grade, I watched every Star Trek episode and re-runs, many times over and over, they would just repeat them,' Bezos revealed during a sit-down talk at the 2016 Pathfinder Awards at Seattle's Museum of Flight. He recalled loving it so much that he would always play Star Trek with his two friends growing up, Dean and Kyle, who lived down the block from him. As a diehard fan, Bezos explained that he had been 'begging' to be in a Star Trek movie for years. 'For years, I have been begging Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, to let me be in a Star Trek movie,' he shared. 'I was very persistent, and you can imagine, the poor director who got the call, you know, you have to let Jeff Bezos be in your Star Trek movie,' he joked. Bezos was so committed that he had even told them that he would wear any amount of makeup and costume required. However, the Amazon founder did have a few requests - he wanted to have a speaking part, and appear in a scene that was 'critical' to the central story so he wouldn't run the risk of being edited out. 'They honored those requirements, and I have a speaking part, it is two words long, I say, "Speak normally,"' he said during the Pathfinder Awards. He joked that you shouldn't blink during the movie, or else you would miss his appearance. 'It was super fun for me, and it was a bucket list item,' Bezos admitted about the opportunity. But of course, it seems like nothing could compare to him marrying the love of his life, Lauren Sánchez. In late June, t he two tied the knot in Venice, Italy, celebrating with a lavish multi-day extravaganza that featured high-profile guests like Ivanka Trump and Kim Kardashian. Not only did they throw a luxurious wedding, but they also had a foam party on Bezos' $500 million yacht and pajama-themed get-together. Sánchez even graced the cover of Vogue for the occasion, marking her special day with an interview and photo spread in her Dolce & Gabbana wedding dress, which took over 900 hours to make. The cover showed the former journalist with a huge grin on her face as she posed in her white gown, which featured a high neck, lace sleeves and long, trailing veil. 'I'm very happy,' Sánchez told Vogue of her nuptials at the time. 'More than the dress, I'm happy that I'm getting married and I get to spend my life with my best friend, someone who sees me, someone who adores me, someone who I adore,' she continued. 'I am the luckiest woman on the planet.' Since the big day, Sánchez has been spotted in Paris at Haute Couture Week, and at Allen & Co.'s annual leadership retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho, nicknamed 'billionaire summer camp.' Bezos also attended the retreat, as they were spotted arm-in-arm walking to the week's various events together. On Tuesday night, they were seen having dinner at the AVIV restaurant inside 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami. AVIV specializes in fine Israeli cuisine, with the name meaning 'Spring' in Hebrew. The restaurant is owned by chef Michael Solomonov and renowned restaurateur Steve Cook.
