When Matty Roberts initiated the plans to storm Area 51, he couldn’t have been more clear that he was joking. The fundamental characteristics of the idea were beyond ludicrous: gather near the famed top-secret grounds, and “Naruto run” (yes, Naruto run) through the gates and past the bullets to discover the extra-terrestrial truth.
But there are a great deal of people who’ve taken the invitation seriously. At the time of writing, over 3 million individuals have interacted with the Facebook page, with 1.7 million saying they’re going, and another 1.3 claiming to be “interested.”
Yes, we know that 1.7 million people aren’t going to show up in Nevada on September 20th. But according to The Washington Post, at least some people are actually going to be there, as all the local hotels have been booked for that Friday.
It never should’ve gone this far, though. Millions of people shouldn’t have known about this, and the Air Force shouldn’t have had to warn folks against doing it. But they did, and now Roberts has appeared to inform the masses that it was all a big joke.
“I posted it on like June 27th and it was kind of a joke,” Roberts told Nevada’s KLAS-TV via a video call on Wednesday. “And then it waited for like three days and like 40 people, and then it just completely took off, out of nowhere. It’s pretty wild.”
I’d think calling the craze a wild fire would be more appropriate, given that Roberts has lost all control of the situation. He’s quickly trying to extinguish the flames before things get too serious, a thought he’s apparently considered a lot.
“I was like, the FBI is going to show up at my house? And it got a little spooky from there,” he said.
It’s not like you can be mad at Roberts. It was all a joke and it had all the ramifications of a joke. So it’s not his fault that as many people took it seriously as there were. Maybe after this Area 51 thing’s blown over, he should stay away from comedy for a while. You know, just in case.