Unexplained actions involving Area 51?
It’s enough to spark even more conspiracy theories.
The morning after Mathew Roberts talked to CNET about Facebook removing the “Storm Area 51” event he created, the page had been restored.
The original post, “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us,” started as a joke and quickly went viral with more than 2 million people pledging to “see them aliens.”
On Saturday, Aug. 3, Roberts posted a screenshot of the message he received saying the event “has been taken down by Facebook because content posted to this event went against our Community Standards.”
“I never got any reason behind the event being removed,” he told CNET.
But by Tuesday morning, Aug. 6, the page was back.
“This was a mistake, and the event page is now available again,” a Facebook representative said in an email.
The existing event page, though, includes a few changes from the initial post.
The meeting spot, originally the Area 51 Alien Center in Amargosa Valley, is now Rachel, and the event’s hours are listed as noon Sept. 20 to noon Sept. 22.
A link on the page leads to stormarea51.us, which promises, “Something big is coming.”
“We’re meeting in the town of Rachel, NV — the closest town to Area 51!” the page states. “We traveled out into the desert to speak directly with landowners about creating an event for people to celebrate the unnatural … they’re totally on board! ‘They’ can’t stop us all from meeting out there … let’s have fun! Music, Camping, &Arts will occur over the weekend until Sunday — we hope to see you there!”
The city of Rachel’s website, though, is warning any potential visitors about what to expect that weekend.
“If you plan on attending the event, you must be experienced in camping, hiking and surviving in a harsh desert environment and have a vehicle in good shape. You must be prepared to be completely on your own for food, water, gas etc. We expect cell service and the internet to be offline. Credit card processing will not work, so bring enough cash.”
Contact Christopher Lawrence at clawrence@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4567. Follow @life_onthecouch on Twitter.