An online call to raid #Area51 has gained a lot of traction over the past week and hilarious memes have ensued.
But kikis aside, what if the more than 1 million people who signed up on the joke #Facebook page to “see them aliens” actually show up to the U.S. Air Force base in Nevada this September? Well, the military says they’re ready.
The U.S. Air Force has been made aware of the potential impending raid and they are not with the jokes, @cnn reports. Any storming of the base will be met with force and could likely result in arrests.
“[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,” a spokeswoman told The Washington Post. “The U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”
CNN has reached out to the Air Force about the matter and is waiting to hear back.
While what goes down in Area 51 may be top secret, it’s no secret that the base has long been a source of alien conspiracy theories.
Area 51 was officially acknowledged as an Air Force base back in 2013, but has spurred conspiracy theories as an unidentified flying object and alien holding site for decades.
It’s believed that Area 51 holds all the government secrets about aliens — though the CIA has published documents confirming its official use as a test base.
But it has since been confirmed that the U.S. government has spent $22 million researching UFOs. Just last month a group of US senators were briefed on UFO encounters that the U.S. Navy has had, too.
A pinned post on the joke Facebook page reassures the government that the raid should not be taken seriously.
“Hello US government, this is a joke, and I do not actually intend to go ahead with this plan. I just thought it would be funny and get me some thumbsy uppies on the internet.”
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this one? Let us know!
TSR STAFF: Christina C! @cdelafresh
