The US Air Force has told people not to go near Area 51 after more than a a million people have replied to an event on Facebook, threatening to storm the top-secret base in Nevada, which some believe is home to aliens.
Thousands have commented on the page, which reads: “We can move faster than their bullets. Let’s see them aliens.”
A spokeswoman for the Air Force has told The Washington Post it is “ready to protect America and its assets”.
Facebook user Jackson Barnes wrote on the event page: “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. I’m not responsible if people decide to actually storm area 51.”
But the Air Force isn’t seeing the funny side and the spokeswoman warned “[Area 51] 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”.
The Area 51 Alien Center, a tourist attraction at a gas station, in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, USA
Despite the warnings, the Facebook page is picking up steam and now has more than 1.4 million confirmed attendees..
The base is officially fronted as part of the Nevada Test and Training Range, affiliated with the Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas Valley, though only recently did the government intelligence recognise Area 51’s existence.
