The Area 51 raid, as most people know, is a widespread event that originated as a joke. It was supposed to start today and last through the weekend.

According to Insider, “In June, Matty Roberts, a 21-year-old college student from Bakersfield, California, created the Facebook event.”  In a September interview with the LA Times, Roberts said it began as a joke. And at first, the group was just a place where people shared memes.

But soon things changed.

“I sparked a movement while I was bored at 2 a.m.,” as he puts it. 

After Roberts made that joke, it became viral and people posted memes and there are currently about 2.1 million people who decided to raid Area 51. However, there’s a lot of risks involved in raiding Area 51.

People may get in a lot of trouble fighting off the government and may possibly die from the high security. Because of those issues, the city of Los Angeles planned on throwing an Area 51 celebration. The “Alienstock Festival,” created by Roberts, Frank Dimaggio, and Connie West, was billed as live music, arts and camping under the stars.

According to West, 10,000 people were expected to attend the event. The purpose for making this party is to stop people from fighting the government. Alienstock, however, was cancelled due to a lack of infrastructure, poor planning, risk management, and a blatant disregard for the safety of the Alienstock attendees. 

There’s now currently a free event held in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 19 called the “Area 51 Celebration.” Parties aren’t the only thing Area 51 is famous for. On September 10, two youtubers were arrested outside of Area 51 due to trespassing at a military base. Ties Granzier and Govert Sweep travelled to Area 51 to raid it among other people. They both got arrested and fined $500 each.

So pay attention to the western part of the United States this weekend to see if anything strange happens.