I 'stormed' Area 51 and it was even weirder than I imagined

No one had any idea what to expect of a plan for people to meet in Rachel, Nevada, to see for themselves if the government was hiding aliens

In the middle of the Nevadan desert, outside a secretive US military airstrip, I found the world's strangest social media convention.

Dozens of young, good-looking, often costumed people were running around filming each other with semi-professional video rigs. They were YouTube and Instagram stars - or, more often, aspiring stars - here to "storm" Area 51 for the benefit of their followers and free the aliens held captive within. Or at least film themselves talking about it.