‘Storm Area 51’ begins on a smaller-than-anticipated scale

“Storm Area 51,” the Facebook event that went viral, happened early Friday morning — albeit on a much smaller scale than originally anticipated.

The Associated Press reported that approximately 75 people showed up to the gate of the Area 51 military base in Nevada around 3 a.m.

{mosads}The crowd followed Thursday festivities that took place in Rachel and Hiko, two small towns that are close to the military site.

Rachel and Hiko are more than two hours away from Las Vegas, yet 1,500 people made the trek. Of the 1,500, about 150 traveled several additional miles to see the Area 51 gate Thursday evening.

Musical group Wily Savage erected a stage near the Little A’Le’Inn in Rachel and played in the dark and cold for several hundred of the attendees.

“Alienstock,” as the gathering has now been dubbed, also produced more internet meme content, with one person caught “Naruto running” during a local newscast. Naruto is a Japanese manga series.

#LiveFromTheArea51Raid the kid that runs behind the reporter is going down in history

pic.twitter.com/im6QGMqIlR

— (@MunaNawabit1) September 20, 2019

The only criminal incident that has been reported was the arrest of two Dutch YouTube personalities, who traveled three miles into the nearby Nevada National Security Site before being detained, according to CNN.