By Katelyn Newberg Special to the Pahrump Valley Times
Connie West at the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The Alien Research Center is open and and still sells Alienstock merchandise a year following the event on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The Alien Research Center is open and and still sells Alienstock merchandise a year following the event on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Alienstock merchandise can still be purchased at the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Rachel webmaster Joerg Arnu at his home work station where he creates websites including the one adverse to Alienstock on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Web page from Rachel webmaster Joerg Arnu on his home work station adverse to Alienstock on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The Alien Research Center is open and and still sells Alienstock merchandise a year following the event on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Connie West is her window service area at the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The famed Òblack mailboxÓ sits on S.R. 375 between Hiko and Rachel on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Rachel webmaster Joerg Arnu at his home work station where he creates websites including the one adverse to Alienstock on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
One of the Extraterrestrial Highway signs hangs about graffiti in the Alien Research Center which still sells Alienstock merchandise a year following the event on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Connie West is her window service area at the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
A painted rock with alien motif marks a spot on S.R. 375 between Hiko and Rachel on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Connie West, right, and her son Cody Theising, fold bedding for their rooms at the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The Alien Research Center is open and and still sells Storm Area 51 merchandise a year following the modified event on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The Little A’Le’Inn is open for business but a bit quieter than during Alienstock a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Rachel webmaster Joerg Arnu on his property where he creates websites including the one adverse to Alienstock on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Connie West at the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The main stage during Alienstock still stands but in a bit of disrepair near the Little A’Le’Inn which is open for business but a bit quieter than during the festival a year ago on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
One of the Extraterrestrial Highway signs along S.R. 375 on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Hiko. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Aliens are about the Extraterrestrial Highway on a mural near the E-T- Fresh Jerky store on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Hiko. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
The mock gates of Area 51 are still erected at the Alien Research Center a year following Alienstock events on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Rachel. (L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images
Little A’Le’Inn owner Connie West organized the Alienstock festival in September 2019, when a few thousand UFO-seekers and meme-lovers descending on the tiny desert down of Rachel, which boasts of a population of about 50 and is located near Area 51 in the Nevada Test and Training Range. But the weeks leading up to the 2019 event ended in bad blood between West and the creator of the internet joke — then-20-year-old Matthew (Matty) Roberts — who backed out of the festival and instead organized a competing event in downtown Las Vegas.
Shortly after the event, West filed a lawsuit against Hidden Sound LLC and its backers — Roberts, Brock Daily, Frank DiMaggio and John Grego. The lawsuit alleged the defendants breached an agreement with West to help organize and finance Alienstock, as well as intentionally published false and defamatory statements about West.
During a Wednesday hearing in District Court, West’s lawyer said the parties had reached a tentative settlement agreement that should be finalized within 30 days, according to court documents.
Court records also indicate the settlement is “to be kept confidential.”
The lawsuit originally sought relief in excess of $50,000.
West has said she was contacted by Roberts and Daily to work together to organize Alienstock, which spawned from a viral Facebook joke. Court documents show that the Little A’Le’Inn ended up spending or incurring expenses exceeding $109,000, while West spent up to $6,000 of her personal money.
A year after Alienstock, West told the Review-Journal that she believes the event cost her $200,000, plus the ongoing legal fees involving the lawsuit and a countersuit.
Hidden Sound said it organized an event in Las Vegas because of safety concerns, while West alleges it was a money grab for the group.
The group’s attorney has previously disputed the claims in the lawsuit.
