¡®Storm Area 51¡¯ movement might just be one the classic examples of?a prank gone wrong, or is it?
What started as a Facebook prank to get people to Storm the mysterious Area 51 in Nevada has snowballed into a massive event with nearly 1.5 million people willing to be a part of it.
And now, the man behind the satirical Facebook event has come out and expressed his worries about the joke getting completely out of hand.
According to the event's page, the plan is to "naruto run" toward the facility so the group can "move faster than their bullets," the event says. "Lets see them aliens." The sprinting style is a reference to Naruto Uzumaki, a Japanese anime character
California resident Matty Roberts revealed his identity on Wednesday.
According to reports, Roberts revealed his identity to George Knapp at KLSA TV in his first ever video interview since Area 51 went viral.
"I posted it on like June 27th and it was kind of a joke," Roberts said. "And then it waited for like three days, like 40 people, and then it just completely took off, out of nowhere. It's pretty wild."
The event called for a public invasion of the secret US Air Force-run facility on September 20 at 3 am. The mysterious Area 51 has been the subject of conspiracy theories for decades. Conspiracy theorists have obsessed over Area 51 for decades, claiming the U.S. government is hiding aliens and crashed UFOs at the site.
Robert even expressed his fears after the number of people willing to participate in the farcical event kept increasing by the second, he¡¯s actually petrified that the FBI will soon come knocking at his doors.
He was quoted as saying, "the FBI is going to show up at my house and it got a little spooky from there.¡±
"I just thought it would be a funny idea for the meme page. And it just took off like wildfire. It¡¯s entirely satirical though, and most people seem to understand that," he told NPR in an interview where he changed his named to Val out of fear of being harassed.
Connie West, the owner of Little A¡¯Le¡¯Inn, which sells alien-themed food and novelty items, told Fox News that her rooms are fully booked on the date of the event. "I¡¯m just a little scared, but bring it," she said. "We'll do our best. I don't believe they should be doing this and breaking the law. Just don¡¯t believe that."