Can the aliens at Area 51 be saved?

Warning signs outside Area 51; photo: Corbis-Getty

For several decades, people have been confused and curious about what really goes on in Area 51 – at one point, the American public didn’t even know of its existence at all. In a Washington Post interview, a spokesperson for the Air Force, Laura McAndrew, explains that Area 51 in Nevada “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.” Although only disclosed as an aircraft-testing facility, the Pentagon confirmed in 2017 that there was a US$22 million programme with the purpose of analysing “anomalous aerospace threats”… aka UFOs… aka sounds suspicious. 

Today, there are millions of people who claim they’re going to raid Area 51 to find out what’s truly on the inside – and maybe save some aliens. Although this all started on a joke Facebook group called “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” (hosted by “shitposting cause im in shambles” and two others), it now has more than 1.6 million people who have said they are going and 1.2 million who are interested. The event is scheduled to take place on September 20 in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, where people will gather to coordinate their entry. Some people have even come up with elaborate strategies for the raid.

Jackson Barnes' strategy as posted on Facebook (with 116,000 likes and rising)

Although most people don’t take this raid seriously and are creating funny memes out of it, others may not be taking it as lightly – especially the US government and the US Air Force, which are always standing “ready to protect America and its assets.” If it goes anything like the raid in the Lil Nas X video, they don’t stand a chance.

If a million people showed up to Area 51, would the government be able to stop them all? While we wait to find out what actually happens (and if aliens are real), here are some of the funny memes that have come out of the whole thing so far.   

One of the many Area 51-related memes

Another of the many Area 51-related memes

Another of the many Area 51-related memes

Another of the many Area 51-related memes

In this Story: #culture / #entertainment