Rural town hunkers down for viral Area 51 event though most bands will be in Vegas and town says 'stay away'

Rachel, Nevada
(Wikipedia map)

A Nevada town of about 50 people is battening down for an influx of tourists this weekend, drawn to a viral campaign to storm Area 51.

The whole thing began when Arkansas college student Matty Roberts created a Facebook event inviting people to storm the area, famed for rumors of government coverups of alien vists. It soon went viral and garnered more than 2 million RSVPs (most aparently tongue in cheek). Roberts decided capitalize on the fun and hold a music festival called Alienstock from Sept. 20-22 in Rachel, the closest town to Area 51, Elinor Aspergren reports for the Reno Gazette Journal.

However, most townspeople weren't happy about the event, and the town's home page warns people not to come to Rachel this weekend. The music festival was poorly organized, it says, and says most of the bands slated for the festival will instead play at an alien-themed bash in Las Vegas. The town website elaborates: "The organizers are suing each other, and in the meantime nothing is being done to prepare for the event. We expect riots when those visitors that may show up and paid good money find out that the reality looks nothing like what they were promised. People will get hurt. STAY AWAY FROM RACHEL NEXT WEEKEND!" The event page is still up for Alienstock and accepting money for paid parking and camping spots.

Despite the official warnings, townspeople are trying to prepare for the partiers. Connie West, who co-owns the Little A'Le'Inn motel in Rachel, said ambulances, an air ambulance, and 130 portable toilets will be on site, along with law enforcement and a security team. West had originally worked with Roberts to put on the festival, but Roberts backed out last week and moved the event to Las Vegas over safety concerns, Benjamin Brown reports for Fox News.

Lincoln County Sheriff Kerry Lee said he and other law enforcement are trying to prepare for up to 15,000 people, but isn't sure how many will actually show up. He said the visitors could cause traffic, parking and congestion problems in Rachel. "I think this started out as a joke but there may be enough people taking it seriously and it could be a problem," Lee told The Associated Press. "Someone is going to get hurt and people may go to jail. It’s not anything to joke about.”