For all the hullabaloo, when the time came, only a few hundred people (of the 2+ million who RSVP) showed up for some music and camping.
Stormers were instructed to run like Naruto – and at least one man did – towards the base, because “they can’t stop all of us” was the mantra.
Andrew Griffin was there and “live blogged” the events for British newspaper The Independent:
If you’re just joining us, here’s a rough summary of the nights events, which happened at four main locations:
- In Las Vegas, people gathered for Alienstock, which was run like a traditional EDM festival, with lots inflatable aliens.
- In Hiko, there was another alien festival, with themed displays out in the desert.
- And in Rachel, there was another Alienstock, with live rock music played out across the Nevada sand, and themed events. Despite the warnings from locals, this appears to have gone largely without major incident.
But perhaps most interestingly of all…
- At the gate to Area 51 itself, some people did gather. They gathered round, chatted, took some photos and joked. While there are reports of at least one arrest, there was no attempt to storm Area 51.