Storm Area 51

On the evening of June 27, 2019, Matty Roberts was scrolling Facebook after watching an episode of *The Joe Rogan Experience* featuring Bob Lazar, a self-proclaimed Area 51 whistleblower who claimed to have reverse-engineered alien spacecraft at the base1. Roberts, a Bakersfield College student who worked at a vape kiosk in the Valley Plaza Mall, ran a small Facebook shitposting page called "Shitposting cause I'm in shambles"3. That night, he created a Facebook event rather than a typical image post, setting it for September 20, 2019, from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. PDT at Amargosa Valley near the base6.

The event description read: "We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry. If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens"4. Roberts later described the idea as "the ultimate shitpost," expecting it to get a few laughs from his page's roughly 40 followers3. For the first three days, it picked up only about 40 responses6. Then it exploded.

Storm Area 51 crossed from internet joke to mainstream news within days. Every major U.S. outlet covered it, from CNN to Fox News5. The Air Force issued official statements2, the FBI visited the creator's home3, and the FAA enacted flight restrictions6. An Oklahoma animal shelter repurposed the trend, asking people to "storm" their facility and adopt pets instead of raiding a military base2.

Bud Light produced a limited "Alien Brew" with an alien on the label8. A wave of other brands jumped on, though Mashable documented how most of these corporate attempts fell flat with audiences9. Lil Nas X's *Old Town Road* remix video, released during peak Storm Area 51 fever, folded the meme into what was already the biggest song in the country2. Kevin Jonas suggested the Jonas Brothers' Happiness Begins Tour could play the "post-raid rave"12.

The event cost the U.S. military an estimated $11 million in preparation, a figure Colonel Craddock defended by citing the range of worst-case scenarios including a potential mass casualty event3. The meme's real-world impact on Rachel, Nevada was significant: a town of 54 people had to prepare for thousands of visitors, straining local infrastructure and prompting emergency declarations from two Nevada counties1.

Netflix later featured the saga in its *Trainwreck* docuseries, released July 29, 2025, treating it as a case study in how internet jokes can spiral into costly real-world events3.

The viral momentum of Storm Area 51 created a problem Roberts hadn't anticipated: people might actually show up. The FBI visited his home, grilling him about his social life, religious beliefs, and whether he was genuinely planning an assault on a military installation3. Roberts reassured them it was a joke but was told it was his "ass" if anyone tried to breach the base3.

Seeing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Roberts partnered with Connie West, owner of the Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, Nevada, the closest town to Area 51 with a population of just 54 people1. They planned "Alienstock," a Burning Man-style EDM music festival to coincide with the September 20 date. Projections suggested as many as 30,000 attendees might descend on the tiny desert town1. Roberts recruited promoter "Disco Donnie" Estopinal to help organize6.

But the partnership fell apart days before the event. Roberts pulled out over disputes about security, sanitation, medical personnel, and insurance permits3. He pivoted to hosting an "Area 51 Celebration" at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center, sponsored by Bud Light, who released a limited-edition alien-themed beer called "Bud Light Alien Brew" for the occasion8. West went ahead with her own version in Rachel, renaming it due to a legal dispute with Roberts over the "Alienstock" name1. A third event, Storm Area 51 Basecamp, was planned in nearby Hiko6.

Lincoln and Nye counties in Nevada drafted emergency declarations in preparation1. The FAA posted temporary flight restrictions over areas near the base6. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), the military's public relations office, posted a since-deleted tweet on September 20 showing a B-2 stealth bomber with the caption "The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today," then issued an apology after backlash10.

On the morning of September 20, roughly 150 people showed up at the two entrances to Area 51 around 3 a.m.6. The scene was equal parts anticlimax and spectacle: costumed attention seekers, Pepe the Frog heads, YouTubers, and reporters outnumbered genuine alien hunters7. The crowd chanted "Clap them cheeks!" while journalists filmed7. One woman in her 20s was detained after attempting to cross the gate8. Laura Prater, 65, became the only person to actually duck under the gate and walk toward the facility. She was arrested and her husband paid $1,000 bail7. About 1,500 people attended the competing festivals in Rachel and Hiko combined6.

The U.S. military had taken no chances, recruiting additional manpower, vehicles, and weapons for what Colonel Cavan Craddock later called "by far the largest defense of the base that has ever happened on the installation"3. The total cost of military preparation was an estimated $11 million3. Roberts, for his part, made $1,700 selling T-shirts at the Las Vegas event. About 10,000 people attended the Las Vegas celebration3. The following week, he was back working at his vape kiosk in Bakersfield3.

The meme's afterlife proved durable. British oddmaker BookMaker.eu had set the over/under on event sign-ups at 2.3 million and placed the odds of aliens actually being discovered at -40,000 (meaning a $40 bet would win $1)5. Pornhub reported searches for "Area 51" surging from zero to 160,000 in just four days during mid-July15. In July 2025, Netflix released *Trainwreck: Storm Area 51*, a two-part documentary exploring how Roberts' joke spiraled into a near-military incident, featuring interviews with Colonel Craddock, Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee, and Roberts himself3.