Pokémon Go Led to a Surge in Trespassers on Military Bases

The unexpected intrusion left the military hilariously out of its depth.

Pokémon Go Away

CBC News has obtained hundreds of pages of documents detailing the Canadian military's efforts to overcome an unexpected adversary: Pokémon Go.

Within days of the game's July 2016 launch, players reportedly began wandering onto military property in pursuit of its virtual creatures and landmarks — and based on the newly released documents, the unexpected intrusion left the military hilariously out of its depth.

"Pokemon's" 🤦‍♀️

The cache of documents includes a number of typo-laden quotes illustrating the Canadian military's confusion about both the influx of Pokémon Go players and the game itself.

"Plse advise the Commissionaires that apparently Fort Frontenac is both a PokeGym and a PokeStop," Maj. Jeff Monaghan of Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Kingston wrote in one email. "I will be completely honest in that I have not [sic] idea what that is."

"The game's premise seems to be going to the 'PokeStops/Gyms' to collect 'Pokemon's' (we should almost hire a 12-year-old to help us out with this)," security expert David Levenick of CFB Borden wrote in another message.

Bright Side

In true Canadian fashion, at least one military official did manage to find a silver lining in the surge of unexpected visitors to the military bases.

"Maybe some extra people will visit the museum!" Maj. Alicia Saucier wrote in a document about players flocking to a Pokestop at CFB Petawawa's Garrison Museum.

READ MORE: How Canada's military reacted to seeing Pokemon Go players trespassing on its bases [CBC News]

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