“Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” event began as a satirical Facebook post by Matty Roberts in June 2019, which jokingly proposed raiding the classified military base in search of aliens and garnered over 2 million RSVPs. Roberts later stated his intentions for the event had been purely comedic, and disavowed responsibility for any casualties had there been any actual attempt to raid the military base.
On the day of the event, only about 150 people were reported to have shown up at the two entrances to Area 51, with none succeeding in entering the site. Two music festivals were planned to coincide with the event: Alienstock in Rachel, Nevada, and Storm Area 51 Basecamp in Hiko, Nevada. An estimated 1,500 people attended these festivals, according to state and local law enforcement. Air Force spokeswoman Grace Manock stated government officials were briefed on the event and discouraged people from attempting to enter military property. Nevada law enforcement also warned potential participants against trespassing.Matty Roberts was a Bakersfield resident, and a moderator of the Facebook page ‘Shitposting cause I’m in shambles.’ Shitposting is the act of posting content online with intentionally ironic or poor quality. Matty devised the idea of creating the Storm Area 51 event after watching Area 51 conspiracy theorist Bob Lazar and filmmaker Jeremy Corbell on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
The event was planned to take place in Amargosa Valley from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. PDT on September 20, 2019. The Facebook event wrote, ‘If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens [sic],’ referring to the distinctive running style of anime character Naruto Uzumaki and several other characters, who run with their arms stretched behind them, head down and torso tilted forward. Roberts stated the event had only received around 40 responses three days into the event’s listing, before it suddenly and unexpectedly went viral.
Copycat events such as plans to storm a genealogical vault of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Loch Ness, the Bermuda Triangle, the U.S. Capitol Building, and the Vatican City’s archives were also created.
The events prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to post two temporary flight restrictions, closing the airspace above two places nearby Area 51 during the days surrounding the planned raid. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), the military’s public relations office, made a Twitter post on September 20 depicting military personnel and a B-2 stealth bomber with the caption ‘The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today.’ The tweet was later deleted, and the DVIDS issued an apology.
The Lincoln County Sheriff estimated that about 1,500 people showed up at the festivals, while about 150 people made the journey over several miles of rough roads to the back gate of Area 51. Some camped overnight outside the perimeter of the base while others arrived to gather and take selfies near the front gate before leaving. One person attempted to enter the facility and received a warning, while six others were arrested for crimes including public urination, alcohol-related offenses and indecent exposure.
The Daily Omnivore 
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