Viral Naruto Runner At Area 51 Raid Identified

It seems as though the "Storming of Area 51" has not resulted in answering the question as to whether or not we're not alone in the universe. Despite dozens of participants arriving at the mysterious government installation and employing the use of the "Naruto Run", it seems as though we'll have to wait for another day to have the mysteries of Area 51 revealed to us. The event itself was making the rounds this week thanks in part to one brave runner who pretended to be a ninja from Konoha and sprinted past a new anchor as they were reporting on the proceedings. It now seems that this brave sprinter has been identified!

Joe Bartles, the reporter for KTNV Channel 13 who originally captured the miraculous Konoha related moment, had the opportunity to interview the Naruto fan who was attempting to discover if there was truly extraterrestrial life at Area 51. Elia Elixir was the brave soul to sprint behind the reporter, as Joe the anchor described that he merely saw a flashing shadow move quickly behind him as the young man kicked up sand in an attempt to honor the current Hokage of the ninja franchise.

The video itself, which has been viewed over a million times, and subsequently shared tens of thousands of times, gets into the mind of Elixir who states that he was more interested in finding out whether or not aliens existed than attempting to run like the ninja harboring the nine tailed fox. Both the reporter and Elia have become "internet famous" thanks to the interest surrounding this event as well as the incorporation of this ridiculous move so well known from the Naruto and Boruto series.

While not nearly as many people attended the event as was previously expected, its clear that the impact made across the world is clear.

What did you think of this hilarious viral moment? Will the power of Naruto bring about the discovery of alien life at some point in the future? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, aliens, and the Hidden Leaf Village!

Originally created by Masashi Kishimoto for Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, Naruto follows a young ninja, with a sealed demon within him, that wishes to become the leader of his home village. The series ran for 700 chapters overall, and was adapted into an anime series by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex that ran from 2002 to 2017. The series was popular enough to warrant a sequel, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations which is set several years after the events of the original Naruto story and features the children of many of its key characters such as Naruto and Hinata.