The guy who started the Area 51 Facebook group has spoken, and he thinks things have gotten out of hand.
Matty Roberts of California, the person who says he’s behind the meme finally gave an interview with KLAS-TV on Wednesday. Not only is he afraid of the FBI, Roberts said, but he thinks things “got a little spooky” ever since his joke became such an internet-swallowing sensation.
The proposed Sept. 20 event, “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” calls for people to storm the top-secret military base as part of an ongoing conspiracy theory that the U.S. government is conducting tests with space aliens.
Roberts never intended for the page to be taken literally. “It’s entirely satirical,” he told NPR under a pseudonym in a previous interview, “and most people seem to understand that.”
The U.S. Air Force certainly hopes that’s true, at least, and issued a warning in the wake of the so-called Area 51 raid. A spokesperson told the New York Times and various outlets in a statement that “any attempt to illegally access military installations or military training areas is dangerous.”
As of Thursday afternoon, the page has 1.6 million people “going” to the event, and 1.2 million are “interested.”
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