Over 1 Million People Have Signed Up To Storm Area 51 And It’s A Bit Too Much
If you've ever wondered if aliens actually exist, well, it's apparently your time to find out. That's because a Facebook event inviting people to join in a group storming of Area 51 has caused a crazy amount of buzz. The Facebook group "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All Of Us" seemed like a simple joke until more than 1 million people RSVP-ed.
If you're ready to meet a new alien friend then here's everything you need to know and some hilarious jokes about it. If you think this is a ridiculous idea and just want to know some cool things about the forbidden area, then we have that covered too.
Area 51 Has Been Around Since WW2
During World War II, Area 51 was used by the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aerial gunnery range but hasn't been used as an airfield since then. In the 1950s it was selected as a testing site by the CIA for the U-2 spy plane.
The U-2 could reach higher altitudes than any other aircraft of its time and was frequently mistaken for a UFO by other pilots because it was so much higher in the sky than other planes, so surely it must've been an alien aircraft.
The Name Makes It Sound More Mysterious Than It Is
The name "Area 51" makes it sound like a mysterious military zone that's so full of the unknown that they couldn't even think up an appropriate nickname. In reality, it's just military jargon. The name dates back to the 1950s when Nevada was broken up into different zones for testing military weapons.
If you're not convinced, there's an Area 52 that is located about 70 miles northwest of Area 51 and is also a military test site.
The Group Has A Plan
According to the Facebook page, the very well thought out, fool-proof plan of attack for the September 20th event is "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. Let's see them aliens."
That's it. That's the whole plan, and there is absolutely no reason to believe that this won't be an extremely effective plan... right?
Overcoming The Obstacles
Despite the fool-proof plan, there are a number of obstacles the raiders are going to have to overcome before they even reach Area 51. The Area itself is located approximately 3 hours outside of Las Vegas, and apparently, the only way to get there is on "a narrow two-lane highway not really suited to withstand tens of thousands of cars."
Don't forget the creatures other than aliens that you may have to encounter. Have you ever seen Holes? You'll find a lot more than just lizards in the desert too.
A Wild Ride
The heavily-guarded area has been the subject of alien conspiracy theories for years, but this Facebook event has sparked a whole new wave of theories and jokes that people - much to our delight - are now sharing on social media.
Many people online, as well as news and media outlets, have acknowledged that the event is a joke, but we can't resist sharing the best thing to come from this event: the memes.
Kyles And Karens
Jackson Barnes went into a little more detail on the Facebook event page and laid out the official plan of attack, which involves the first wave of runners to be all the Kyles of the world. You know Kyle, the dude in your grade 12 math class who always drank Monster energy drinks and always wore his hat backward.
That's who Facebook has decided will be the front line of attack, and honestly, can you blame them? Some Facebook users also believe that a wave of Karens should follow cause they're fierce.
The Reason Behind It
An obvious question people want answers to is why is the government keeping these extraterrestrials in captivity? That's hopefully an answer that will come from the September 20th raid, but one Twitter user aptly pointed out maybe we don't know the whole story. What if the government is simply trying to protect the citizens of Earth?
The Twitter user who shared this meme followed it up with "All fun and games until it's 1,000 Terry Crews sized aliens chasing after us" which is another excellent point. What if they're Terry Crews-sized aliens, not E.T.-sized creatures?
On My Way
Do we think that aliens inside Area 51 have access to the internet, and to Facebook specifically? Maybe they're the ones who actually created the Facebook event in an effort to escape and now they're just sitting and waiting until September 20th.
We're actually the boy who's late to pick them up even though we said we were 'on our way' 45 minutes ago and they're just sitting there impatiently waiting for us to get our act together and break them out.
Getting The Aliens Acclimated
The aliens that will undoubtedly be taken and domesticated as house pets will need some help acclimating to our world seeing as they haven't been free since the 1950s. We'll have to explain the political climate to them, how the bees are dying at an alarming rate, how it turns out smoking while pregnant is bad (it was the 50s okay? We can't blame them) etc.
The question is will they actually care? Or will this be the end of the world as we know? Can't wait to find out!
A Headliner For The Event
Twitter user Jake Capano (who is a U.S. Marine himself) decided to participate in the jokes by tweeting to rapper Lil Nas X 'are u down?' after Capano made a Go Fund Me page to raise funds for Lil Nas X to perform at Area 51 during the raid.
Every event needs some background music right? Just picture storming Area 51 to the sweet sweet sounds of Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' Old Town Road.
He Said Yes!
The best part about the Go Fund Me page is that it actually worked! Lil Nas X tweeted back to Capano that same day just two minutes later saying 'i got y'all for free! let's do this" along with a picture of what appears to be his younger self in army fatigues.
According to the poster, the plan is for Lil Nas X to then perform with the aliens at other government-run locations following the raid. Definitely a must-see event.
Predicting The Future
One Twitterer took this opportunity to get in on the humor, but also go for a more realistic approach. This event is basically that Would You Rather question "would you rather know the exact day you die or how you die?" The Area 51 raid gives you the answer to both questions.
If this event were to actually happen it would definitely be defined as a cautionary tale. One Facebook user even described the event as 'natural selection.'
We Had Better At Least Get Some Super Powers Out Of This
For years, the U.S. denied the existence of Area 51 altogether, which left a lot of room for theorizing about what lies inside the heavily-guarded area.
Some believe it to be the site of crashed UFOs and aliens, while others believe the government keeps radioactive substances locked up that could turn humans into a real-life Marvel cast. Don't you think that if the government had the ability to make Captain America into a literal mascot for the country they would've done that by now? Seems like flawed logic.
Best Of Both Worlds
You don't need to study for your exam if you're planning on going to Area 51 and getting taken down anyways right? Teachers always say prioritizing is important, well here you go.
One clever Twitter user suggested you could try to convince one of your teachers (history, political science, biology - you could spin it for any class) to let you do an independent study about Area 51, then you could see them aliens and get those good grades.
Mother Knows Best
We all have that one friend who is always saying "my mom won't let me go" or "I can't go out my mom said no" but this may be one of those cases that you actually want to be the friend whose mom is stopping them from going out.
You can live vicariously through your friends afterward. If they, you know, live through the experience and aren't imprisoned somewhere in the state of Nevada.
Stranger Things Connection
One popular theory about Area 51 is that there is some serious Stranger Things-type activity happening inside and that the government is basically living out Eleven's backstory. The creators of the popular Netflix show have said that the conspiracy theories about Area 51 influenced the show's storylines, so the question is, what came first?
Either way, if they're creating an army of Elevens, the government must be psyched about this raid where 1 million people are going to show up for free without them having to kidnap anyone.
Plot Twist
What will happen if the aliens actually want to stay? Plot twist, right? Everyone gets there to find out the aliens are living their best lives inside Area 51 and don't want to leave. The secret the government has been protecting is that it's actually the Happiest Place on Earth (sorry Disney World).
The government has just been denying its existence all along because they don't want to have to support the entire U.S. population so only a select few get to live happily ever after inside Area 51. Bam.
The Government Response
Turns out creating a public event is not the most private way to successfully storm Area 51, and the U.S. Government is prepared for the event in case some people decide to turn the joke into a reality.
U.S. Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said in an interview that they're aware of the Facebook event and "we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train America armed forces."
Please Don't Do It
McAndrews also said in the interview that "[Area 51] is an open training range for the U.S. Air Force [and] the U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets."
... Seems like all those people who think it would be funny to actually put this plan to action should just, you know, not do it unless they're looking to be taken down by the U.S. Air Force. To each his own, we'll see on September 20th if the Kyles of the world follow through!
Jackson Quickly Backtracked
Facebook user Jackson Barnes who posted the detailed plan of attack on the event's social media page has since added an additional post explaining he does not intend to actually storm Area 51, writing "P.S. Hello U.S. government, this is a joke, and i do not actually intend to go ahead with this plan. I'm not responsible if people decide to actually storm area 51."
Way to cover all your bases Jackson. Better safe than sorry, or shot down by the U.S. Air Force...