Government Warns Against Participating in Area-51 Event

In perhaps one of the more ridiculous stories to go viral this year, more than a million people signed up to attend a Facebook event that called for storming the secretive military facility, Area-51. Known for being the location of numerous conspiracy theories revolving around aliens and UFO’s, Area-51 has long held a thick layer of mystique surrounding it. 

While the event was stated as being a joke by its author, that didn’t stop the internet from blowing up about it. Thousands took to social media talking about the planned invasion, drawing up potential plans on how it could be accomplished. The result was hundreds of memes and jokes on social media, with celebrities even pledging to join in on the raid. With so much buzz generated by what was intended to be a joke, the U.S. military responded exactly as you’d think they would. 

Speaking to the Washington Post on Friday, U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews claims that the Air Force is fully aware of the social media stunt, and is taking the necessary action to stop anyone that decides to participate. In a rather ominous warning, McAndrews stated:

“[Area 51] is an open training range for the U.S. Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces. The U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”

-U.S. Air Force spokeswoman, Laura McAndrews

This viral prank, albeit a funny one, involving the invasion of a classified military base, garnered the online enrollment of millions of people and the attention of the Department of Defense. The Facebook event still has a planned date of September 20, and while maybe there are some real UFO enthusiasts out there viewing this as a serious thing, the majority of the internet is just along for the memes.