Opinion: What if the Area 51 raid released the zombie virus?

Millions of people have “committed” to a raid on the Area 51 military base in Nevada to “see them aliens.” But what it they unleashed a bigger threat?

Nothing has captured my imagination like the raid on Area 51. I’ll admit, I’m a huge fan of The X-Files and I’ve watched my fair share of “documentaries” that feature “alien researchers” venturing deep into the Nevada desert to find evidence that aliens are being housed at the top-secret military base. Jokes aside, what if the military base held a deeper, darker secret? What if the base has already been experimenting with zombies?

It’s hard to imagine tens of thousands of people running “Naruto-style” through the desert to raid Area 51, but these days the thought offers a welcome respite from the dregs of reality. Area 51 has gained so much attention because no one really knows what happens there. Fox Mulder used to talk about the “black helicopters” that flew through the desert at night, and this was corroborated by the late famed paranormal radio host Art Bell.

These days, Area 51 remains a popular topic of discussion on Bell’s Coast to Coast AM radio show with George Noory at the helm.

Aliens aside, what if the base holds other secrets?

Since The Walking Dead introduced a military helicopter that whisked Rick Grimes and Jadis/Anne away, fans have wondered to what extent the military has been involved in the show’s zombie apocalypse. Fans got a glimpse of the military’s efforts to save humanity in season 1 of Fear the Walking Dead, just as former military man Abraham Ford talked about how he tried to save people as the world started to fall apart.

What if the base is hiding secrets about real-life zombies? We know that there are virus mutations that are impervious to antibiotics. We know that the CDC uses zombies as a tongue-in-cheek way of getting people to prepare for the worst.

But what if there’s more to it? What if there is already a virus in existence that turns people into flesh-eating monsters? (Lord knows we’ve seen the devastating effects of bath salts)

Though it’s all fun and games, there’s a small part of me that will be thinking about what secrets Area 51 might hold as we get closer to the “raid” on September 20. Robert Kirkman has never revealed the origin of the zombie virus but there’s a good chance it was unleashed by accident at some secret lab or military base.

With so much security at Area 51 I don’t believe that there’s any reason to be worried about the zombie virus being unleashed…but the jury is still out about what secrets are being kept there.

Thank you for joining me at my TED Talk on Area 51 and zombies.