Nevada Towns Grow Concerned As “Storm Area 51” Fans Start Setting Up Campsites

Small towns in Nevada are bracing themselves for potentially thousands of tourists in Rachel and Hiko this weekend despite the massive “Storm Area 51” event being cancelled. In fact, both Nye and Lincoln Counties have declared states of emergency due to a couple of alien-themed events and the massive amounts of people that could possibly show up.

“If there happens to be any problem, people could be trapped out here,” Ken Sig, who is a tour guide at Las Vegas Adventure Tours, told Fox News on Wednesday. He continued on by saying, “Nobody for sure knows what’s going to happen in the next few days here,” adding, “It’s one of those things that time will tell.” He also said that in recent weeks, he has noticed an increase in security around the area.

As for the 54 residents who live in Rachel, they are less than impressed with all of the attention their small town is receiving. When someone left camera equipment behind a parked vehicle and partially blocking another car at the Little A’Le’Inn motel, the driver was heard shouting from her window, “I’m tired of all this.”

A Rachel resident named Joerg Arnu is definitely on edge. “We are preparing for the worst,” he said, adding that he installed floodlights outside of his home along with fencing and “No Trespassing” signs on his property.

Connie West, who runs the motel, said that there would be a Medevac helicopter, ambulances, extra law enforcement and security personnel, as well 130 Porta-Johns coming to the tiny town to accommodate those who wish to attend “AlienStock” which started Thursday and will continue through Sunday. She even said that volunteers from Florida, Idaho, Oklahoma, Scotland, Poland, and Australia have arrived to help out.

The 119 residents in the small town of Hiko are also concerned as there will be a “Storm Area 51 Basecamp” event taking place there on Friday and Saturday.

While local residents are bracing for the worst, people have already started setting up campsites in the small towns. Alexandra Bousson and Sasha Rodriguez, who are both from Michigan, stopped by the Little A’Le’Inn motel on Wednesday dressed up in their costumes and told Fox News that “We want to see some aliens, at least see something.”

Pennsylvania couple Bob and Helen Pio set up their camper down the Extraterrestrial Highway and near the “Black Mailbox” (hotspot for UFO hunters to meet). While Bob admitted that “Storm Area 51 was a stupid idea,” they still plan on attending the festival in Rachel.

Several other tourists have set up their campsites off Route 375 – some with American flags flying and others with alien-themed flags. A group of three campers (two from Las Vegas and one from New York) said that they are there to have a good time. 64-year-old Ken Faulhaver from Las Vegas said that he believes in aliens and wants to socialize with others who share the same beliefs. He added that he wouldn’t mind having an extraterrestrial experience. “I’m hoping they (aliens) show up,” he expressed, “Come on (aliens) and join the party.”

While nobody knows exactly how many people are going to show up, what’s clear is that visitors are already setting up campsites and it’s almost guaranteed that quite a few more will be doing the same.