Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 - A podcast may have unknowingly set off one of the Internet’s wildest stunts

Trainwreck: Storm Area 51, the latest Netflix documentary, looks back at one of the pre-pandemic era's biggest phenomena, the storming of Area 51, located in Nevada. For those who don't know, Area 51 is one of the most secretive bases in the world, as it is under the US Air Force's control.

Countless people across the US stormed the US Air Force's base in September 2019 after signing up for a Facebook Event.

However, here is the joke, though: the then 21-year-old Matty Roberts created the Facebook event sardonically. A popular Joe Rogan Experience episode from June 2019 served as the source of the entire event. Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 revealed this as Matty Roberts was interviewed for this documentary. The synopsis for Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 reads:

"This is the story of the greatest sh*tpost ever made. When 20-year old Matty Roberts creates a Facebook event inviting people to storm the heavily secured Air Force facility Area 51 in the Nevada desert, the post quickly goes viral, with hundreds and then thousands saying they’ll join the event whose announcement stated, “They can’t stop all of us.” This prompts the US Air Force, FBI, and Federal Aviation Administration to strongly advise against anyone illegally trying to access the base. Despite official warnings, the post continues to go viral, and soon millions have signed up to attend: meme lords, military commanders, UFO hunters, sexy aliens, and YouTubers, all part of the ultimate story of the internet bursting into the real world."

Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 goes into the history of the "Storm Area 51" event:

As mentioned before, it was Matty Roberts who started the event on Facebook in June 2019. A college student at that time, the 21-year-old Roberts was working in a vape shop when he watched an episode of the JRE, i.e., Joe Rogan Experience, that had Conspiracy theorist and a legend in the UFO community, Bob Lazar, along with Jeremy Corbell, who were there to discuss UFOs in the episode.

Matty created the event on Facebook titled "Storm Area 51, they can’t stop all of us", in jest rather than in sincerity. Matty, now in his mid-20s, told the Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 crew that he did not expect the event to take off as it did. Thus, on the surface, it looks like the Storm Area 51 event serves as the perfect baseline for the Trainwreck anthology series.

Storm Area 51 is not the first time Trainwreck has covered a disastrous event:

While it may look like Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 is the first time you have heard of them, Trainwreck has been around for a while. The cast and crew of the anthology series started in 2022, which covered the Woodstock '99 festival. Tudum described the Trainwreck as:

"Told from their perspective, the Trainwreck series and films will explore everything from disastrous festivals, political scandals, and media hoaxes to cult-like corporations and reality TV disasters. The first installment, released in 2022, explored the infamous Woodstock ’99 festival, and starting June 10, Trainwreck will examine eight more moments in recent history — from the devastating Astroworld tragedy to the cult of American Apparel — every week. The next chapter, told in two parts from director Jack MacInnes (Surviving Black Hawk Down), revisits the viral “Storm Area 51” movement that captured the world’s imagination and drew thousands to the Nevada desert in 2019."

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Trainwreck: Storm Area 51 is currently available to stream on Netflix.

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