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The raid on Area 51 actually took place last night, but sadly, no aliens were spotted

By Josh Weiss
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

To quote Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm from Jurassic Park, "You did it. You crazy son of a b****, you did it." Those words apply to the fact that the infamous "raid" on Area 51 actually took place in the Nevada desert last night.

More than that, the participants — who held a party right outside of the Air Force base's front gate — lived to tell the tale and post about it on Twitter. It was like the millennial equivalent of that scene in 1996's Independence Day where Tiffany (Kiersten Warren) and her alien believer friends get vaporized by one of the invading ships stationed over Los Angeles.

Luckily, no one was vaporized at the Area 51 event. In fact, no authentic E.T.s were spotted (as far as we know) beyond Halloween masks and hand-drawn signs. Speaking of which, the placards carried by the attendees are a paragon of what the First Amendment is all about. Who could hate a piece of poster board that reads, "Clap alien cheeks" or "Save E.T. from the government"? That's art right there, folks, and if you think otherwise, you're probably a narc who doesn't want us to know the truth!

One individual even took the Facebook event's description quite literally by “Naruto Running” in the background of a live report in the desert from Joe Bartels of KTNV in Las Vegas.

Whether or not the runner is able to outpace the government's bullets, we have no idea. Nevertheless, the video has since gone viral, and SYFY WIRE got the full story from Bartels.

“I was preparing for my live shot, and he came up to me and asked if I needed an interview. He asked if I wanted to see his Naruto Run and that he had been practicing. I told him to give me just a few minutes, I was about to go live on TV and I would interview him as soon as I was done,” he says. “I saw him standing nearby as I was delivering my live report about Alienstock, but I lost track as I was reporting. When the report was finishing up, I stepped back in front of the camera and I only saw a flash of a shadow behind me. I actually didn’t see the live shot or what it looked like until hours later. I had no idea that it was gaining so much attention until my friends started to text me and said it was going viral on Twitter and then on Reddit. I woke up this morning and my notifications were insane. I think the memes are hilarious!”

Sadly, not everyone is enjoying the fun and games of the "raid," which some assumed would yield little to no turnout. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Lincoln County (in which Area 51 is located) is looking to bring legal action against the event's organizers, Matty Roberts and Brock Daily, as well as Facebook itself. Since its creation, the social media event has racked up nearly 4 million RSVPs. 

In addition to possible compensation the county is seeking, the crime for disrupting the local peace can be worth a year in jail and a fine of $2,000. Roberts had also planned a musical festival called "Alienstock," which he later canceled due to a number of mitigating Fyre Festival-esque factors (i.e. no infrastructure, resources). Yesterday, The Hill reported on how dozens of people were setting up camp in the Nevada desert, mainly near the small town of Rachel (pop. 54), which is located within Lincoln County.

“This money is no joke,” said Cory Lytle, director of planning and building. "We’re on a shoestring budget."

“Anybody who is promoting any illegal activity, we will be seeking to possibly prosecute,” added Dylan Frehner, Lincoln County district attorney.

Most folks are still referring to the general gathering as “Alienstock,” given its similarities to the famous counterculture concert of the late 1960s, Woodstock.

Now it's time to take a break from trying to parallel-park that UFO and peruse some of the best tweets from the event below ...

If you stormed Area 51 and want to talk to us about it or simply share pictures of your new alien friend, sound off in the comments below!