Clap Alien Cheeks
Clap Alien Cheeks
The idea of "Clapping Alien Cheeks" sprung up in American culture alongside the Storm Area 51 meme in July of 2019. [1]
Overview
The Storm Area 51 event was started on June 27 2019 by video game streamer SmyleeKun as a joke. A key part of the movement was the desire to "clap those alien cheeks," a term that took off in mid-July shortly after twitter user @Shvmmu posted a video of a scrambling burglar with the caption: [2]
"Me stealing all the alien tech at area 51 while the others are busy clapping alien cheeks #Area51memes"
The terminology soon took a life of its own.
On July 22nd of 2019, a document from the Facebook page Shit My LPO says 4 — Operation Enduring Memes, featured a request to allow a submariner from the USS Ohio nuclear submarine "to storm Area 51 and clap them alien cheeks."
It was soon discovered to be a hoax.
Lt. Mack Jamieson, spokesman for Submarine Group 9 said: [3]
"I can confirm that hat special request authorization sheet did not originate on USS Ohio and is not an authentic Navy document,"
The movement even spawned the fast-paced action game "Operation: Cheek Clapper," released on Spetember 20 2019 and developed by Satrio Dewantono.
Even more telling about the power these simple words have had over United States culture is the affects it's had on porn viewing habits.
Pornhub recorded nearly 60,000 searches for "alien" in the month of July.
Only after the phrase "clap alien cheeks," entered the mainstream conversation.
On September 20, 2019 thousands of people showed up around Area 51.
While no one actually Naruto-run stormed the gates, they did engage in a long and vigorous chant of "clap those cheeks."[5]