A Surprising Amount of Community Found During the Area 51 Raid

Pop Culture Meme Leaves a Mark on 2019

 I’m happy to announce that one of the year’s most anticipated events has come and gone without a hitch. The internet proved that a single post has the power to bring people together even under the weirdest of circumstances.

The infamous Area 51 Raid was first proposed by Matty Roberts on Facebook back in June 2019. Millions of people online confirmed they would be attending the raid, while an extra 1.5 million people showed interest. Not knowing whether to take these numbers seriously, anyone would be concerned to know if it was going to happen or not.

After months of anticipation, and official mainstream coverage, the military can rest assured that 3.6 million people will not be attempting to storm Area 51 this year.

As for my take on this cultural phenomena, I’m glad that it turned out as uplifting as it did! I thought that no one would show up, or that only a few people would appear intending to “storm the base.” The whole idea is ludicrous to begin with, but I felt that the internet needed to prove something after going viral. 

Attendees dance to music during Alienstock festival on the “Extraterrestrial Highway in Rachel, Nevada on September. 20, 2019. (Photo by BRIDGET BENNETT/AFP/Getty Images)

Even the official coverage of “the raid” has not been all that cruel or demeaning. The nearby towns of Rachel, Hiko and even Las Vegas went all in and proved to be gracious hosts for visitors hoping to be a part of the Area 51 Raid. There’s definitely nothing wrong with capitalizing on new tourism dollars and alien merchandise.

Extra Mainstream Coverage Earns the “Area 51 Raid” a Special Place in Media History

In the coming weeks, we can look forward to how the online community reacts to the way things turned out. No deaths to report, albeit there were a handful of arrests made unrelated to Area 51 itself. While there were no aliens to discover, it was great to see everyone come together for fun and laughs. Maybe we’ll “see them aliens” next year.

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