Aliens. UFOs. Spatial Secrets. These are just a few of the conspiracies people have conjured up for the mysterious Area 51. Supernatural fanatics believe the base is a type of hideaway for visitors from other planets. Hate to disappoint, but Area 51 is nothing but a highly classified United States Air Force facility. Keyword being highly classified. Although it may be funny to joke about “raiding Area 51” on the Internet, this is a very serious matter.

It all started with a simple Facebook post. The event labeled as “Storm Area 51–They Can’t Stop All of Us” garnered over 2 million attendees. What began as an intrusive joke has morphed into a much safer festival called Alien Stock. The Washington Post describes this three-day event as “a celebration of aliens that promises surprise performances, art installations and camping [that is] expected to pack a tiny town already overrun by media attention and a spike in extraterrestrial enthusiasm.” 

Just recently, the Area 51 locals voted 4-0 in favor of the preemptive state of emergency due to overwhelming crowds expected to attend the festival. Fox News states that “a second county in rural Nevada voted Wednesday to pre-sign an emergency declaration out of fear the ‘Storm Area 51’ event next month may bring alien-obsessed crowds that could overwhelm the area.” With the sudden responsibility of planning a festival and repressing any illegal invasions, it’s easy to understand why residents are fearful. 

If you do plan on going to Area 51 on September 20th, government officials encourage you to bring good-natured alien enthusiasm, not ridiculous plans to illegally invade a protected Air Force facility.