---
title: "Pokémon Go Led to a Surge in Trespassers on Military Bases"
description: "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, […]"
date: "2020-01-02"
modified: "2020-02-13"
authors:
  - name: "Kristin Houser"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/kristin"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/pokemon-go-trespassers-military-bases"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
  - "Military"
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "gaming"
  - "military"
  - "pokémon go"
  - "the digest"
---

# Pokémon Go Led to a Surge in Trespassers on Military Bases

![Soon after the launch of Pokémon Go, players reportedly began wandering onto Canadian military property in pursuit of the game's virtual creatures.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/pokemon-go-surge-trespassers-military-bases.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Tim1337/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Pokémon Go Away

*CBC News* has obtained [hundreds of pages of documents](<https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/pokemon-canada-military-bases-1.5393774>) 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](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/company-pokemon-go-making-ar-glasses>) 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](<https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/canadians-more-optimistic-most-world>), 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](<https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/pokemon-canada-military-bases-1.5393774>) \[C*BC News*\]

**More on Pokémon Go:** *[The Company Behind Pokémon Go Is Making AR Glasses](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/company-pokemon-go-making-ar-glasses>)*

### Author social links  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinjhouser>)