On the show, Lazar recounted what he claims is the extraterrestrial history of the base.

The inspiration for RobertsвЂ™s event was a Joe Rogan Experience interview that Roberts watched this summer, featuring Area 51 obsessive and self-proclaimed whistleblower Bob Lazar, a supposed ex-government engineer who has dubiously claimed to have worked on alien technology near the Air Force site.

вЂњI think it created the perfect storm.вЂќ Storm Area 51 exploded. вЂњIt plays perfectly into the shitposting culture, and it also plays perfectly into the genuine conspiracy theorists,вЂќ Roberts says. (Alienstock may not be this yearвЂ™s Fyre Festival, but rampant opportunism is threatening to bring it close.)ДЄnd Storm Area 51 has become emblematic of the cycle of fame in 2019: It was born of the internet, turned a random college kid from Bakersfield into a national figure overnight, and is so meta that it can barely be understood by those outside of it and the world it was born of. It is now, as Roberts says, a вЂњbrand.вЂќ Not to mention a potential crisis. Storm Area 51 was an obvious joke - one that tapped into the internetвЂ™s love for memes and easily repeatable humor and coalesced into something much bigger: competing festivals for UFO conspiracy theorists, fans of shitposting, and small-town Nevada locals.Д«y boosting RobertsвЂ™s profile, the event has become more than a gag. This weekend, real people are showing up for it. In the two months since he posted his open invitation, Roberts has become the self-proclaimed face of a live festival dubbed Alienstock. вЂњThere is a little bit of pressure, but at the same time, itвЂ™s an exciting kind of pressure. As interest swelled, he took it upon himself to put on a legitimate Area 51 event - 148 miles away from Rachel, back in Las Vegas. вЂњItвЂ™s not daunting at all,вЂќ Roberts says, with no small amount of hubris. Most of all, the meme has thrust Roberts, a long-haired, laid-back bro, into a national spotlight he probably didnвЂ™t deserve - or into the center of a debacle involving a rural town, the federal government, a business partner, a cease-and-desist order, and frequent evocations of Fyre Festival.

It has also triggered preparations for a state of emergency in two Nevada counties and generated more alien merch than anyone could ever want. Media outlets fought to interview Roberts and reported on his meme as if it were an impending catastrophe. A spokesperson for the Air Force ominously warned people against approaching the baseвЂ™s borders. But as online jokes spread about bringing home aliens from a locked-down military base, вЂњStorm Area 51вЂќ bled into real life. To date, 3 million Facebook users have showered RobertsвЂ™s prank event page with international attention, playing into its tongue-in-cheek recognition of the government secrecy and extraterrestrial ties that Area 51 represents in popular culture. RobertsвЂ™s shitpost had quickly, surprisingly, caused a stir that was at once hilarious and very serious. Not long after that, the military got involved. Within days, nearly a million people had signed on - either in jest or in earnest. вЂњLetвЂ™s see them aliens,вЂќ the event description implored. He called it вЂњ Storm Area 51, They CanвЂ™t Stop All of Us.вЂќ Inspired by the covert Nevada military base that many have long believed to be some kind of alien testing ground or site where the government is investigating unidentified aerial phenomena, he proposed gathering as many people as possible on September 20 to cross the fenced-off land. He decided to create a Facebook event as the stage for his joke it went on to strike a chord with millions. And that June night, he posted something different than just an image macro-referencing a cartoon or existing online goof. He not only shares posts he sees and likes he creates his own. Roberts runs a small Facebook page called вЂњShitposting cause IвЂ™m in shambles,вЂќ which scratches his meme-seeking itch. The posts can range from a SpongeBob screenshot that makes a joke about the cartoon character getting stoned, to a fart noise-laden remix of Billie EilishвЂ™s вЂњBad GuyвЂќ video. And most of all, Roberts is into shitposting, trading in a genre of particularly silly memes thatвЂ™s especially popular on Facebook. That is his wont a 21-year-old college kid who lives with his parents in Bakersfield, California, he spends a lot of time online in anime and video gaming communities. One night in late June, Roberts was up late scrolling on Facebook. RACHEL, Nevada - For the mess heвЂ™s found himself in, Matty Roberts is surprisingly calm.

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