In the summer of 2016, Pokémon GO caused a stir worldwide. The Canadian military was aware of this and apparently had quite some trouble understanding this hype.
This has now come to light: The Canadian site CBC published documents from the military that show the handling of Pokémon players in the summer of 2016.
Some documents are quite funny, as they show that the military initially had no idea what was happening on their grounds. More and more unauthorized individuals were entering military territory because it apparently had many Pokémon to catch.
This is how the military fought against Pokémon players
How it all started: The documents indicate that the military initially did not understand what the citizens were suddenly searching for on their grounds.
More and more passersby were getting lost on various military bases of the army. They stopped cars and even found a woman searching for Pokémon on the grounds while her children played on tanks.
This was communicated by the military: Officers then tried to clarify among themselves and explain to the uninvited guests. Major Jeff Monaghan said in an email: “Please inform the Commissionaires that Fort Frontenac apparently has both a Gym and a PokéStop. I want to be honest, I have no idea what that is.”
According to the documents, the military even had at least 3 employees mandated to play, so they could understand what was happening on their grounds. The employees were supposed to highlight the locations of PokéStops and Gyms and document Pokémon spawns.
“We should almost hire a 12-year-old to help us,” wrote David Levenick, a security expert at a military base in Borden, Ontario.
Another Major even mentioned in an email that this might increase the visitor numbers at the museum on the base and even suggested submitting another PokéStop on one base to also increase visitor numbers there.
Are there more reports like this? Pokémon GO repeatedly turns up in connection with crazy actions from people. For example, there is a Gym that the fire department and police are battles over.
In Florida, a drug dealer was caught because he was playing Pokémon GO. A Japanese man even hit a police officer because the officer interrupted him while he was hunting Pokémon.
In Australia, the police even set clear boundaries for Pokémon hunters:
