When Matty Roberts created a Facebook event titled Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us, he thought maybe a few of his followers would laugh. Instead, millions RSVP’d. Six years later, Netflix documentary series Trainwreck is telling the full, absurd story.
As part of the latest batch of Trainwreck episodes, Storm Area 51 joins previous entries like Poop Cruise and The Real Project X, exploring real-life chaos that started with good intentions (or no plan at all) and spun completely out of control.
In this case, Roberts created an event on his Facebook sh*tposting account joking about “Naruto running” into Area 51, the highly classified United States Air Force base in Nevada that has long been suspected of housing UFOs and alien technology for decades.
Little did he realize that the post would blow up. More than two million people RSVP’d for the September 20, 2019 event, the FBI got involved, and plans for EDM festivals were made. For Roberts, the joke became all too real.
Where is Matty Roberts now?
As is revealed in Trainwreck: Storm Area 51, Matty Roberts still lives with his mother, Malinda Ortega, in Bakersfield, California, where he works on a vape kiosk in a mall. He was 20 years old when he created the Facebook event in June 2019, making him 26 today.
Roberts appears in the new documentary to share his side of the story, describing how things went from bad to worse after first posting the invite on his ‘Sh*tposting cause im in shambles’ account.
When it quickly went viral, he tried to reinforce that it was a joke by adding, “If we Naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens” – but this only spurred people on more.
One of the many shocking outcomes of the incident is that Roberts went from working at a vape kiosk to organizing a huge music festival as a result of his viral fame. It began with a DM he received, which suggested he throw an EDM music festival by Area 51.
Roberts was immediately on board (much to the dismay of locals) and began working with Las Vegas promoter Disco Donnie and Connie West, owner of the town’s only attraction, the Little A’Le’Inn restaurant and inn.
Although local law enforcement, the US Air Force, and the FBI got involved and spent millions ensuring that the event didn’t turn into a humanitarian disaster, the County Commissioner approved permits for the festival to be held in Rachel, Nevada.
Roberts, West, and Donnie agreed on the name Alienstock, with the dates set for between September 19-22, 2019, and they managed to secure a $70,000 sponsorship from PornHub.
However, it wasn’t nearly enough to build the infrastructure required for an event held in the middle of the desert, with spectators joking that it could be another Fyre Festival situation.
With just weeks to go until the fest, West ended up having to cover a $100,000 bill as Roberts had taken a backseat, so she turned to party planner Frank DiMaggio, who said he could help with investor money.
At this stage, Donnie dropped out, and when West and DiMaggio had a falling out, she exited too. This left just Roberts and DiMaggio.
Even though Roberts had his heart set on Rachel, as it fit in with the theme of his original post, he ultimately didn’t want to risk guests dying in the desert, and so agreed to hold it in Las Vegas.
Alienstock Las Vegas was a roaring success. There were 10,000 party-goers, lasers and DJs, and Roberts was welcomed to the stage by cheering crowds. But the original followers of Storm Area 51 felt it didn’t fit in with the meme – they had Alienstock Rachel for that.
Hundreds of attendants made the most of their trip to Area 51 by enjoying West’s Alienstock. Speaking in Trainwreck, Roberts says, “When I saw the videos from the Rachel event, it honestly looked kind of cool. Like, what I had pictured our event being to begin with.”
Despite the success of the Las Vegas festival, Roberts only made $1700 from selling merch. A week later, he was back at the vape shop.
At least he was in plus figures. The documentary reveals that Lincoln County spent $250,000 on protective measures to avoid disaster at Area 51, while the US Military was set back a whopping $11 million.
Roberts keeps a low profile now, with his Instagram account – which has just over 1,400 followers – set to private. The ‘Sh*tposting cause im in shambles’ page is still active, although it hasn’t posted anything new in a good few years.
Did people really storm Area 51?
In short, no. Despite millions of people RSVP’ing to the original Storm Area 51 event, only about 150 were reported to have shown up at the two entrances to the base on September 20, 2019, and none of them made it in.
There was no army of Naruto runners breaching the gates. Instead, it was a festival-like scene: dozens of people, chanting, posting TikToks, and filming vlogs. Some made it to the outskirts of the base before law enforcement turned them around.
Police did make a number of arrests, but none of them had to do with storming Area 51. According to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, one arrest was made for public urination, another for disorderly conduct, and two YouTubers were detained for trespassing on land near the base.
A few medical incidents were also reported but they were minor, including one festival-goer who sought treatment for dehydration before heading back to the party.
The outcome of Connie West’s lawsuit
After Matty Roberts and Frank DiMaggio pulled out of the original Alienstock, Connie West ended up suing them both and she won. The judge ruled in her favor, awarding her a whopping $3.4 million in damages.
The lawsuit accused Hidden Sound LLC and its backers, including Roberts, DiMaggio, Brock Daily, and John Greco, of breaching a contract with West to help organize and finance the three-day festival.
The largest chunk of the settlement, nearly $1.5 million, is cited as being for “intentional interference with contractual relationships and prospective economic advantage”. Despite the outcome of the lawsuit, it’s unclear when West will see any of that money.
As DiMaggio says in the Netflix documentary, “She can chase me to the ends of the earth. They can put me in jail. She’ll still never get the money.”
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