What began as a silly Facebook entry and grew to an internet phenomenon of millions expressing interest and worrying some, including us, ended in the manner Tara Edwards shows in video and words. A sidelight needing acknowledgement is that the U.S. Military Apologizes for Deleted Tweet Threatening to Attack Area 51 Event. Though the Air Force, local law enforcement and politicians, and the citizens of Rachel, Nevada, had to take this matter seriously, it’s obvious that the tweet out of the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service was meant as a joke. Mike Jones illustrates and sketches out what needs be said of this comedic effort. The Guardian’s U.S. branch expands upon the human and financial results of Matty Roberts’ joke in ‘Storm Area 51’: Few Arrests and Fewer Actual Aliens at Party in the Desert. And Penn State University historian Greg Eghigian puts a historical context in his Thoughts on #StormArea51. Referencing the Guardian article, Greg argues the lack of voluminous turnout at the secret military base was no surprise. We share Greg’s perceptions about the genuinely UFO-interested folks, but worry about others among the millions who, excited by all the media attention to the sensation, might have had less pure motives for attendance. These strange domestic times constantly provide horrific examples of what just one individual can do, for incomprehensible reasons. We may have literally dodged a bullet. (WM)

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