Stage set in Nevada as Earthlings arrive for Area 51 events

A person walks into the Little A'Le'Inn, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Rachel, Nev. No one knows what to expect, but lots of people are preparing for "Storm Area 51" in the Nevada desert. Neighbors, elected officials and experts say the craze sparked by an internet joke inviting people to ""see them aliens" might become a cultural marker, a dud or something in-between. (AP Photo/John Locher) A person walks into the Little A'Le'Inn, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, in Rachel, Nev. No one knows what to expect, but lots of people are preparing for "Storm Area 51" in the Nevada desert. Neighbors, elected officials and experts say the craze sparked by an internet joke inviting people to ""see them aliens" might become a cultural marker, a dud or something in-between. (AP Photo/John Locher)

By Associated Press September 20, 2019 5 min read

HIKO, Nev. (AP) – The stage was set Thursday for music and other space-themed entertainment as Earthlings descended on the Nevada desert for events inspired by an internet hoax known as “Storm Area 51.”

“It started as a joke, but it’s not a joke for us,” Alon Burton, guitarist and member of the group Wily Savage, said as he and several other men wrestled a tarp over a makeshift stage near the Little A’Le’Inn motel and cafe in Rachel.

Gusts of wind billowed the white canopy like a sailboat spinnaker as they tied it down.

“We know people will come out. We just don’t know how many,” Burton said.

By early afternoon, several hundred people had made their way to the site where secrecy surrounding Area 51 has long fueled speculation that it’s where the government studies space aliens.