CERN is the council for european research nuclear.. their flagship project is an LHC, a large hadron collider.
The LHC is a 17-mile long pipe that runs in a circle, 100 meters underground in France.
(in this picture you can see the 4 sensor facilities - ATLAS, CMS, LHC-B, and ALICE)
The LHC sends a subatomic particle at near-light-speed spinning clockwise around the pipe circle while simultaneously sending another subatomic particle, also at near-light speed spinning counter-clockwise around the pipe circle. There are 4 facilities built around the pipe at certain locations, these facilities are fine-tuned sensors that will read data and collect findings. When the LHC fires they will gradually speed up the subatomic particles to the desired speed then smash the two particles into each other at one of the 4 sensor facilities. The sensor facilities are designed to see what debris comes out of the smashed subatomic particles.
Scientists know how much subatomic particles weigh as a whole but they don't know what they're made of. This was true at least until the first LHC firing back in 2008. Here are the sub-subatomic forces they discovered.
These forces reside in every subatomic particle.
This year CERN did a 150 million dollar upgrade to the LHC that will enhance our ability to see even more. The missing element, the one unknown is what percentage of mass each subatomic force has influence on inside of a subatomic particle. If you're anything like me then this can seem a bit difficult to understand but, to me, here's where it gets interesting.
The missing element, the one unknown is how much of an influence these forces have at ratio to one another. So look at forces inside of a proton as a whole - each subatomic force must comprise of a percentage of a protons mass together equaling 100%. If the missing element weighs 15 then scientists have found what appears to be logic inside of every particle. Finding logic on this level indicates the universe was designed - that it was created by an intelligent being, or a god. (hence god particle) On the other hand, if the missing element weighs 37 then the weight allocation is more whimsical and doesnt appear to be a design. This could potentially disprove a lot of theories, such as the big-bang theory, the cyclic universe theory and more dramatically it could indicate that the multiverse theory is actually possible.
A lot of humanities view of the universe can be completely changed by the findings of the LHC.
In my opinion that's why people are scared. Many don't understand. Many don't have the imaginative capacity. Many can't grasp these concepts and when you throw around buzzwords like "god particle" and "exploding protons at light-speed" it sounds like a doomsday creation. These misconceptions started almost 50 years ago when one of the first hedrons colliders were created. News paper outlets, TV media, and people started and shared rumors that the colliding of these particles could create a black hole and suck our planet into it. You'd think after 50 years we'd know better but people love hype so the news keeps saying the same things that have been disproved over and over again.
tl;dr: if this is too long, you should retire from reading about physics expirments