The raid of Area 51 that sounded very fake and jokey, but nevertheless elicited an official response from the Air Force, has been called off. So if the implied threat of being gunned down didn't originally dissuade you from attending, then perhaps this will be enough to get you to finally reconsider.
Organizers for the event, which hadbeen scheduled for September 19-22, expressed their concern that it could become a "humanitarian disaster," while also fearing that it could also become "Fyre Fest 2.0." Your call on which sounds worse.
As you probably figured, the event had been highly modified from its original eye-catching stated intent, and instead appeared to be trying for a combo music festival/camping experience held outside of a tiny desert town (Rachel, Nevada) that couldn't possibly accommodate even a small fraction of the throngs that proclaimed their intent to attend.
A statement posted to the AlienStock website stated that:
Due to the lack of infrastructure, poor planning, risk management and blatant disregard for the safety of the expected 10,000+ AlienStock attendees, we decided to pull the plug on the festival.
They went on to pin the blame on the land's permit holder (Connie West), whom they said failed to provide paper proof of anything that showed that the festival would or could operate smoothly.
Originally, AlienStock captured media attention thanks to a viral Facebook group called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop Us All." At the time more than two million people clicked to indicate that they'd be going.
In what appears to be an attempt to turn that joke into an actual event, organizer Matty Roberts at least made some sort of attempt to transition it into something legit. As The Fader notes, AlienStock's website refused to provide specifics as recently as earlier this month. Instead, the site opted to say that they were "aiming to establish something unique here, a meeting place for all the believers. A place to freely discuss Aliens & the Unknown! When you arrive, you can expect Live Music, Great Food, and a Camping Experience!"
There was also reportedly a plan to Naruto run en masse:
Also, back in August, Roberts made it clear to CNN that he didn't want people actually running towards the (in)famous Air Force base that has been the source of oh so many conspiracy theories.
"I'm trying to advocate against the storming as much as I can," he told them. "I just want a gathering of all these weirdos in the desert."
As stated above, Rachel, Nevada isn't exactly equipped to provide comfort for a massive volume of visitors. CNN reports that the current population stands around 90, while their town website says 54. Additionally, their sole business, the Little A'Le'Inn, has a restaurant that can hold about 40 people, in addition to having bedrooms for 10.
Connie West, who owns the Little A'Le'Inn and also appears to be the scapegoat on the AlienStock website, had decided to also be an organizer for the festival.
However she too revealed to CNN that the task of getting food, security, and free water for up to 20,000 attendees was a "terrifying" task. Anybody who watched the Fyre Fest documentary on Hulu, or the other one on Netflix, is probably aware of what a fuckin' shit show that could be, and that was an infamous event that could've been even worse because (miraculously?) nobody died.
As an alternative to what sounds like a poorly planned out attempt to capitalize on virality, Roberts and his team have segued to promoting a free Area 51 Celebration party at the Downtown Las Vegas Event Center with performances from EDM artists that had been on the AlienStock bill. That will be held on Friday, September 19.
Though it seems highly doubtful that a whole lot of people reading this had plans to go to Rachel next weekend, West told CNN that the Little A'Le'Inn (that actually went over my head the first time) will have 20 acts and two comedians booked.
As for the town of Rachel, Nevada, they've clearly been made aware of the cancellation of the festival which they had previously made clear they did not want. As they wrote on their town website "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."
