Unless you’ve just beamed in from outer space, you’ll have heard of Area 51, the highly secretive United States Air Force Base in Nevada that conspiracy theorists would have us believe is where the U.S. government carries out research on crashed alien spacecraft.
That kind of notoriety has naturally given rise to a booming souvenir industry selling all kinds of novelties, including fake Area 51 license plates. Unfortunately, some of the people buying those plates don’t just pin them to their garage walls. They stick them on their cars in the hope of evading tolls, and that’s caused a major headache for one driver in Nevada who owns the real Area 51 tag.
In a couple of videos posted to the @area51plate TikTok account, the plate’s owner, Chris, explains some of the trouble he’s run into over the last seven years, and all the tickets he’s been sent by automated fine-issuing computer systems across the country that assume a car snapped with what looks like his plate is actually his car.
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“So this is what I deal with,” says Chris as the camera shows a stack of fines laid out on the floor, looking like they take up at least as much floor space as a recovered Roswell UFO. “Hundreds of people from all over the country committing thousands of dollars of violations.”
Fortunately, Chris says he’s been able to successfully dispute every one of the tickets, but it sounds like some of the harassment has been fairly serious. In another TikTok, Chris claims that the Las Vegas Metro Police left a voicemail telling him that if he didn’t call them back an arrest warrant would be issued in his name.
Would you put up with all that grief just to drive around in a car with a plate that most people probably assume is fake anyway?
@area51plate A warning from the owner of the real Nevada AREA 51 license plate. #area51 #licenseplate #uap #ufo #uaptiktok ♬ original sound – Chris 👽