A Facebook event, titled “Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us” and scheduled for 20 September, has garnered hundreds of thousands of possible participants in less than a week despite warnings from US military officials. So far, 807,000 users have reported themselves “going” while 717K more posted they are interested.
How serious the self-proclaimed truth hunters’ intentions remain unclear. So far, the group dedicated to storming Area 51 has turned into a troll parade with users posting all kinds of alien-related memes and jokes.
The very description of the cause and at least, one of the hosts’ names, “S***posting cause im [sic] in shambles”, might raise suspicions that it was set for the purpose of pure fun.
“We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry. If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets [sic] see them aliens,” the description of the event says.
Numerous posts imply that it might be a big joke and nobody will be showing up at the backdoors of the Edwards Air Force Base.
One of the community’s members even chose to note at once (especially for the US government) that the attack he proposed in the comments was a joke and that he is not responsible in any way if someone decides to go through with the plan. Media also suggest that some of these 1.5 million people would be tempted to attend.
However, the US Air Force has already warned “faster than bullets” truth hunters strongly against their plans. Its spokeswoman Laura McAndrews told The Washington Post on Friday that the territory “is an open training range for the US Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces,” noting that the military wowed to “protect America and its assets.”
The secret military site, dubbed Area 51, in the state of Nevada has been a magnet for all kinds of conspiracy theorists and alien hunters since the US began testing a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the U-2, in the 1950s. The government admitted that it is a secret intelligence-related hub in 2013 following a 2005 Freedom of Information request, and enthusiasts continue to claim that the place is where UFOs are or will be taken, should they land on Earth.
According to warning signs found at Area 51, the base management permits the use of weapons to fend off unwelcome guests. They didn’t specify, though, if those unwelcome are extra-terrestrials or humans. It stands to reason, though, that trespassers will at least be fined.
Just this January, the local sheriff’s office and Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) officers shot a man who attempted to drive there in an unidentified cylindrical object, the Metro reports.
