Alien-hunters are arriving near Area 51 after a viral craze that saw them commit to storm the mysterious US military base.
A variety of events are taking place to mark the weekend, including music festivals in a variety of locations. But some appear to be still committed to at least getting close to the base's famous military gates, coming near enough to snap selfies alongside the warnings of how violently the base will be protected.
The parties come amid warnings from the US military to anyone who might think of actually trying to breach the base's defences. There have also been dire warnings from local, who have suggested that visitors might not be able to cope in a town in a harsh environment with no grocery store and little cellular coverage.
We’ll tell you what’s true. You can form your own view. From 15p €0.18 $0.18 USD 0.27 a day, more exclusives, analysis and extras.
Here are some dancing aliens from the Las Vegas event: Connie West, who runs the Little A'Le'Inn as well as the Rachel Alienstock event says she is feeling great. Her event had been cast into serious doubt – by local residents, who warned that the town couldn't support the visitors, as well as by Matty Roberts, who created the original event but pulled out of the Rachel event amid fears it would go badly wrong – but she says she has proven those doubters wrong. That same reporter also has some great pictures of the gathering at the gate Advertisement This gives you a great view of what it was like at the Alienstock festival last night These pictures do, however, appear to be real – and match with what was on the stream earlier. So this is probably a more accurate of how the events outside the Area 51 gate actually went. This picture is circulating widely on the internet. It looks very dramatic – but when you look closely, it's clearly not real. (The people look like they're from a video game, though I haven't yet been able to work out where exactly it has come from.) This image often accompanies it – and doesn't seem to be a real photo of any of the Storm Area 51 events, either. It does look more real, though, so might be a picture of something else rather than purely fake like the one above appears to be. And here's Matty Roberts, who created the original Facebook page, speaking to crowds at the Las Vegas event he encouraged people to go to instead. (While flanked by men in black.) Advertisement Here's one of the highlights of the Area 51 event in Nevada: a giant inflatable alien head The event is clearly fairly aimless: dozens of people stood around, while sheriffs watch on. But they seem to be having a good time, taking pictures, chatting, occasionally chanting. On the stream, you can see a variety of people speaking, as well as protestors holding placards that include slogans about locked up aliens. One man is waving a North Korean flag. Some people are wearing tin-foil hats. A live stream that claims to show events around the fence – which is very much unverified – has gone live again. Advertisement Perhaps the most famous person to come out of the event is this man, who Naruto runs past a reporter live on TV. (That said, the festivals are actually scheduled to keep happening until Sunday, so there's plenty of time for things to happen and go wrong.) We are right in the middle of the time Area 51 was due to be stormed – the original Facebook event was set for 3am to 6am local pacific time, or 11am to 2pm UK time. If you're wondering how we managed to get here – as well you should – here's how this happened and what's going on now. What is actually happening at the 'Storm Area 51' event A viral meme very quickly led to US military warnings and fears people could be in danger Advertisement About 1,500 people have headed to the two desert events, in Rachel and Hiko, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee. Late last night, more than 150 people took the difficult journey to the two gates of Area 51, Lee said, so that they could take selfies. No arrests were made and heading to the gate is allowed – so long as you go no further.
"It's public land," the sheriff said. "They're allowed to go to the gate, as long as they don't cross the boundary."
The atmosphere is similar at the rival Alienstock, being held in the town of Rachel, Nevada, at the Little A'Le'Inn: Meanwhile the one in Hiko, Nevada – a town that is much smaller and thoroughly ill-equipped for an event like this, though is closer to Area 51 – looks a little more gruelling: The Las Vegas "Alienstock" event looks largely like any other EDM festival – just with a whole lot of inflatable aliens. Advertisement 1 2 Next
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
The usual "Welcome" sign 
Friday was when, according to earlier event plans, millions of people were to storm , a classified facility within the United States Air Force's , and the world was to finally learn of its secrets. In the end, an estimated one-to-two hundred people showed up at the gates, and the classified area was not stormed.

It all began on June 27, when Matty Roberts posted a  on social media site Facebook. More than two million people replied they would attend and an additional million-and-a-half expressed interest in the event. Roberts says his event, "", was posted as a joke. Roberts is about 20 years old and from , California.
The Little A'Le'Inn in Rachel, pictured in 2014 
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. Let's see them aliens." Area 51 has for decades been rumored to be a facility for UFO and extraterrestrials research.  is a Japanese cartoon ninja character who .

As the event turned , both media and authorities took notice. The nearest settlement to Area 51 is  in . It is a remote desert town with a population of around fifty people. The  is the only business offering food and accommodations and the town has no gas stations. County sheriff Kerry Lee told the BBC even one percent of Facebook users attending "would be more overwhelming than we can handle". The Air Force issued warnings against attempts to enter the restricted zone of the base, saying it was dangerous.

The sheriff's office arranged for reinforcements from across Nevada. Fewer than two hundred showed up at the gates of the base, but no one tried to storm the military base. Sheriff Lee said they arrested one person for urinating in public, technically indecent exposure. They arrested three for "suspicion of trespassing" and another for an incident related to alcohol. Over a thousand were reported to have reached Rachel, but most did not make the final trek to the base.

Meanwhile, other events popped up seeking to capitalize on the notoriety of the Storm Area 51 event. In nearby , a "Storm Area 51 Basecamp Experience" was underway with music and other entertainment. Thursday night, "Alien Stock" was held in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada with involvement of original poster Matty Roberts.

 was reputedly responsible for creating much of the folklore surrounding Area 51 which is not an official name. A 2018 documentary film titled ''Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers'' may have spurred recent interest.



== Sources == 
*
*
*
*
*