We can’t say if the decades-long rumors around Area 51 are true, but a Facebook movement around the facility is absolutely real, sort of.
For some reason, a group of people have joined a Facebook call to “raid Area 51” in search of the truth about the mysterious U.S. government facility. The “raid” is set to take place on Sept. 20, and it’s only gaining steam, with 378,000 people having already signed up to meet in Nevada and storm the facility.
The Facebook page reads:
“Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us, 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. Lets see them aliens.”
In addition to the Facebook sign-up, the interest around the event has caused the term “Area 51” to trend on Twitter, hundreds of users posting memes related to aliens and UFOs.
It’s not clear if this is all a hoax (the account at the center of the movement has “shitposting” in its name, which is a hint that it’s all a joke), or a very real plan to actually meet in the Nevada desert in search of answers.
But by the time Sept. 20 rolls around, the sign-up page may have reached 1 million.
UPDATE: The number of people signed up for the Area 51 raid has now ballooned to 880,000, effectively ensuring that the number will hit 1 million long before September.
Cover image via Facebook
