# Area 51 Raid > Area 51 Raid is a 2019 participatory meme born from a satirical Facebook event by Matty Roberts, defined by the rallying cry "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" and viral Naruto-running imagery. "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" was a satirical Facebook event created in June 2019 that proposed raiding the classified U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada to "see them aliens." What started as a shitpost by a California vape shop clerk named Matty Roberts snowballed into one of the biggest memes of 2019, drawing over 2 million "going" responses and spawning countless memes about Naruto running past military guards, freeing aliens, and the absurdity of actually storming a government base[3]. ## Origin Matty Roberts, a vape kiosk retail clerk at Valley Plaza Mall in Bakersfield, California, created the event on June 27, 2019[3]. Roberts moderated the Facebook shitposting page "Shitposting cause I'm in shambles" and got the idea after watching conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar and filmmaker Jeremy Corbell on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast on June 20, 2019[3]. The event was titled "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" and was scheduled for 3 a.m. on September 20, 2019, in Amargosa Valley, Nevada[2]. Its description read: "If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens"[2]. Roberts later said the event only had about 40 responses three days in before it unexpectedly went viral[3]. - **Platform:** Facebook (event page), with viral spread across TikTok, Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter - **Creator:** Matty Roberts (event creator) - **Date:** 2019 ## Overview The Storm Area 51 meme centered on a Facebook event page inviting people to rush the gates of Area 51, a top-secret Air Force facility long tied to UFO conspiracy theories. The event description proposed that attendees meet at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction, then charge toward the base using the "Naruto run," a distinctive anime running style with arms stretched behind the body and head tilted forward[3]. The joke premise was simple: the military couldn't possibly stop millions of people at once. The meme spawned an enormous wave of content, from detailed "battle plans" listing waves of attackers (Naruto runners, Kyles, Karens, Florida Men) to wholesome posts about befriending freed aliens[4]. The absurdist humor hit a sweet spot between conspiracy culture, anime fandom, and the collective desire to do something profoundly stupid together. ## How It Spread The event exploded across the internet in early July 2019. By mid-July, when Newsweek reported on it, nearly 220,000 people had signed up[2]. The numbers kept climbing. By August 22, the event had 2 million "going" and 1.5 million "interested" responses on Facebook[3]. The meme jumped platforms fast, spreading to TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram with thousands of satirical posts about break-in strategies, alien rescue missions, and what people expected to find inside (anime cat girls, nether portals, and "your incognito browser history" among the suggestions)[4]. Rapper Lil Nas X released a music video for the Young Thug and Mason Ramsey remix of "Old Town Road" themed around the raid[3]. Copycat "storm" events popped up targeting the Bermuda Triangle, Loch Ness, the Vatican archives, and a genealogical vault belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[3]. Brands piled on too. Funyuns, DiGiorno, Burger King, Kool-Aid, and others tried to attach themselves to the meme through social media posts, drawing widespread "silence, brand" replies from users[1]. Mashable documented the brand invasion as a sign the joke had officially peaked[1]. ## How to Use Storm Area 51 memes typically fall into a few common formats: - **Battle plan memes**: Lists of "waves" of attackers with different internet stereotypes (Naruto runners as the vanguard, Kyles punching through walls, Karen demanding to speak to the base commander) - **Alien friendship memes**: Wholesome or absurdist posts imagining life with your newly freed alien buddy ("my Area 51 alien after I show him Netflix") - **What's inside memes**: Speculation about what Area 51 contains, usually escalating from aliens to increasingly ridiculous items - **Naruto run references**: Any joke about using the anime running style to dodge bullets or move faster than expected The format is flexible. Most people riffed on the core premise (storming a military base is funny because it's insane) rather than following a strict template. ## Cultural Impact The meme drew serious media coverage from outlets including Newsweek, The Washington Post, and multiple television networks[2][3]. The U.S. Air Force issued official warnings, the FBI monitored the situation, and the FAA closed airspace near the base[3]. It was one of the few internet jokes to prompt a direct military response. Lil Nas X tying his "Old Town Road" remix video to the raid blurred the line between meme culture and mainstream music[3]. Local businesses in Nevada prepared products for visitors, and the event had measurable economic effects in the region[3]. The brand pile-on documented by Mashable became its own case study in how corporate social media teams try (and usually fail) to participate in organic internet humor[1]. The overwhelming "silence, brand" backlash showed that audiences can tell when a joke is being co-opted for marketing[1]. ## Fun Facts - Area 51 got its name from its designation on Atomic Energy Commission maps. It was also nicknamed "Paradise Ranch" by Lockheed engineer Clarence "Kelly" Johnson[2]. - The Urban Dictionary entry for the raid includes a mock declaration of war written in the style of FDR's Pearl Harbor speech[4]. - The Pentagon had been running its own UFO investigation program, the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, which Politico revealed in 2018, adding real-world fuel to the conspiracy humor[2]. - Roberts said the event sat at about 40 responses for three days before suddenly going viral[3]. - Only about 150 people actually showed up at the base gates on September 20, out of 2 million who clicked "going"[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is the Area 51 Raid meme? The Area 51 Raid refers to a viral Facebook event called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," created in June 2019, proposing that people rush the classified military base to find aliens. Over 2 million people marked "going," and the event generated massive meme activity across social media[3]. ### Where did the Area 51 Raid meme come from? Matty Roberts, a vape shop employee in Bakersfield, California, created the Facebook event on June 27, 2019, after watching Bob Lazar discuss Area 51 conspiracies on The Joe Rogan Experience[3]. ### What does the Area 51 Raid meme mean? The meme plays on the absurd premise that millions of people could overwhelm military security through sheer numbers and anime-inspired running techniques. It blends conspiracy culture, anime fandom, and collective internet humor[2][3]. ### How do you use the Area 51 Raid meme? Common formats include battle plan lists ranking different internet stereotypes as waves of attackers, wholesome posts imagining life with freed aliens, and jokes about what's supposedly stored inside the facility[4]. ### Is the Area 51 Raid meme still popular? The meme peaked in the summer of 2019 and the cultural moment has passed, though references to Naruto running at Area 51 still pop up during anniversaries and whenever UFO topics trend[3]. ### Who created the Storm Area 51 event? Matty Roberts, who moderated the Facebook shitposting page "Shitposting cause I'm in shambles," created the event on June 27, 2019[3]. ### Did anyone actually storm Area 51? About 150 people showed up at the two entrances to Area 51 on September 20, 2019, but none made it inside the facility. Around 1,500 attended nearby music festivals organized around the event[3]. ### What did the U.S. military say about the Area 51 Raid? The Air Force issued warnings discouraging entry, the FBI monitored the situation, and the FAA closed airspace nearby. The military's DVIDS office posted and then deleted a tweet threatening millennials with a B-2 bomber image[3]. ### What is Naruto running and why is it connected to Area 51? Naruto running is a distinctive anime running style with arms stretched behind the body, popularized by the character Naruto Uzumaki. The Storm Area 51 event description proposed it as a way to "move faster than their bullets"[2]. ### Did brands try to join the Area 51 meme? Yes. Companies including Funyuns, DiGiorno, Burger King, and Kool-Aid posted Area 51-themed tweets, which were widely criticized and met with "silence, brand" replies[1]. ### What was Alienstock? Alienstock was a music festival in Rachel, Nevada, organized by Matty Roberts and promoter James "Disco Donnie" Estopinal to channel the Facebook event's energy into a real gathering[3]. ### Were there copycat storm events? Yes. Spinoff Facebook events proposed storming Loch Ness, the Bermuda Triangle, the Vatican archives, and a Latter-day Saints genealogical vault, among others[3]. ## References 1. [We regret to inform you that brands are storming Area 51 memes | Mashable]() 2. [‘Storm Area 51’: Alien Hunters Planning Summer Raid on Top-secret Nevada Air Force Base. Seriously - Newsweek]() 3. [Storm Area 51]() 4. [Area 51 Raid - Urban Dictionary]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/area-51-raid Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library