‘Storm Area 51’ creator pulls out of own event ‘Alienstock’

Organizers compare it to disastrous Fyre Festival in the Bahamas in 2017

When the college student behind the online sensation “Storm Area 51” announced plans for an alien festival out in the Nevada desert, organizers tried to fend off worries that thousands of people would overwhelm the resources of a tiny town without a store or gas station.

Or, as they put it to the Washington Post: This is not Fyre Festival 2.0.

But that was before a public falling-out between organizers made the weird story of the Area 51 craze even weirder, months after the meteoric rise of a joke Facebook event that got more than two million to say they’d raid a secretive U.S. air force base for rumoured extraterrestrials. Duelling accusations of dishonesty and sabotage have derailed “Alienstock” — a Woodstock for alien watchers — which creator Matty Roberts promoted as alternative programming to any plans to storm the base Sept. 20, despite officials’ warnings.

With just over a week to go until the event, Roberts and the host town’s website are both comparing Alienstock to the Fyre Festival, which was supposed to be held in April and May of 2017 in the Bahamas, but became synonymous with “epic failure” and led to a fraud conviction. Roberts has pulled his name and support from the three-day gathering in Rachel, Nev., but the owner of a motel in the town who had signed up as a partner plans to go ahead.

“There’s no safety or security that can really be promised,” Roberts said. “I didn’t feel comfortable with inviting even my friends and family out to this event, let alone these thousands of strangers.”

For Roberts, it all fell apart unexpectedly. But the town of Rachel — where residents were reportedly less than pleased with the “Storm Area 51” media swarm — has expressed less surprise.

The outcome was “just as we had predicted,” the town’s website declares. Officials in two counties prepared to declare emergencies, unsure how many people might descend on rural Nevada.

“If any event still happens, it is going to be a pretty sad affair with no bands, very little infrastructure and a lot of unhappy campers,” the statement continues.

Roberts and fellow organizer Frank DiMaggio blame their ex-partner on the ground in Rachel: the inn owner who they say was handling most of the logistics and became increasingly evasive about her preparations as the big date approached.

Little A’Le’Inn proprietor Connie West accuses them of betrayal, saying she’s lined up the necessary infrastructure and support staff, confirmed performers and sold 2,400 campsites. Two documents shown on a news program as evidence of her efforts were apparently completed the day Roberts said he’d pulled out. A $17,500 (U.S.) cheque for security services is dated Sept. 8; so is West’s signature on an agreement for medical services.