LINCOLN COUNTY, Nev. (KLAS) — They’ve arrived: Humans that is. More than 3,000 people showed up for night two of the Alienstock Festival in Rachel, Nevada.
The thousands of curious Earthlings from around the globe traveled to the festivals in Rachel and Hiko, because they were drawn by an internet buzz and a social media craze sparked by a summertime Facebook post inviting people to “Storm Area 51.”
Musician Bryce Xavier’s visit to Rachel for the unexpected party in the desert was about as spontaneous as everyone else’s who was in attendance.
Xavier said he found out he was going to Alienstock “Two days ago, and it was the strangest call at 11 at night. Literally said, do you want to come to Alienstock?”
Visitors wearing remnants of the dust shuffled through the desert to find aliens in the sky.
“We just wanted to find out what it really was,” said Reynaldo Cantu, Alienstock attendee. “I’m already 60 years old. So it’s like, do it at least once in a lifetime,” Cantu said.
Considering how uncertain everything was around Alienstock and Storm Area 51, there’s no denying the entertainment value the festival has provided with costumes and music. The festival was filled with a random collection of people celebrating perhaps the most random weekend of their lives.
The music at Alienstock had everyone dancing, but from what 8 News NOW crews could see, no one found UFOs or space aliens. But that did not take away from some attendees experience.
“Pretty rare, anywhere, but for Lincoln County, [it’s] very rare,” said Joe Livreri, attendee visiting from nearby Caliente. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Hopefully, it’s more than a once in a lifetime thing.”
Matty Roberts, a 20-year-old from Bakersfield, California, who sparked the Area 51 phenomenon with a late-night Facebook post and then broke with Little A’Le’Inn owner Connie West over production of the Rachel event, hosted a Thursday evening event at an outdoor venue in downtown Las Vegas — also using the “Alienstock” name.
“Area 51 Basecamp” in Hiko began featuring music, speakers and movies — headlined by an electronic dance music DJ who tours the world and attracts packed clubs on the Las Vegas Strip.
Alien Research Center owner George Harris said he expected a crowd of 5,000. But Lee said the audience and nearby campers appeared to number in the hundreds.
