The Storm Area 51 Facebook page might have started out as a joke but after millions of people registered their interest it turned into a real event, and has now officially been given the go-ahead.
Just to clarify, authorities in Nevada haven’t quite given the green light for people to invade the military base – that would ever have ended well, no matter how many Naruto runners or rock throwers there might have been.
However, the creators have organised a festival in honour of the popular Facebook page, which is set to take place in Rachel, Nevada – the closest town to Area 51 – on the same weekend the invasion was planned for.
The three-day event, called Alienstock, will take place on September 19-22 and is set to involve live music, food and camping. The County Commission conditionally approved an event permit for the festival earlier this month but it has now received its final permit.
Matty Roberts, the man behind the event, shared a picture of the permit on the Storm Area 51 page, writing:
We had to jump through some hoops to make this legitimate.
Alienstock is happening- just got this bad boi approved!
The 20-year-old told the Metro the event will be free, though they will charge for camping and parking spaces. He said he and his planning partner have ‘both massive and small’ performers lined up.
The enthusiastic organiser added:
I’m so excited for this thing man, it’s the biggest thing I’ve ever done and it’s so cool.
While it sounds like there’ll be a lot of activities over the weekend, ‘seeing them aliens’ probably won’t be one of them as the US Air Force have warned people against approaching Area 51.
However, the creator isn’t discouraged as he commented:
The only word from the base so far is the Air Force spokeswoman basically saying its a live training ground for the US Air Force and trespassing is strongly discouraged.
Really though it amazes me how smoothly this has gone, I think the majority of Lincoln County is just very excited to be part of something global like this, and pieces just keep falling into place.
Authorities in the area have an emergency plan organised for the event and Varlin Higbee, the Lincoln County Commission Chairman, said the land around Area 51 ‘will probably be blocked off’, the Las Vegas Review Journal report.
It’s not yet clear how many people will actually turn up to the event, though over three million have registered their interest on Facebook.
Nothing brings people together like the internet!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.