The guy who whipped up a frenzy over Area 51 has finally revealed himself, and he’s a little freaked out that his alien-inspired joke has spun insanely out of control. Matty Roberts told a Las Vegas TV station (KLAS) that he’s the one who started the Facebook page “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” which grew into one of the biggest meme magnets ever. But it only started as a joke, not actually intended to rally conspiracy theorists to storm the “secret” government facility in southern Nevada on September 20.
… Area 51 is a 5,000-square-mile detachment of Edwards Air Force base, officially part of the Nevada Test and Training Range. It’s long been the intrigue of conspiracy theorists who contend it’s where the U.S. government has carried out tests on aliens.
… Roberts, from California, never imagined a Facebook page joking about a conspiracy theory would go viral: over a million people have responded on the page saying they plan to join the storming battalion. The page currently has 1.6 million users who say they’re going and 1.2 million interested.
… He says he got the idea after listening to an interview with a conspiracy theorist (Bob Lazar).
Earlier this week the Air Force joined the conversation — and by conversation I mean the military branch has said it will not allow anyone to “storm” the area around Area 51.