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What started off as a flippant joke has taken on a life of its own as people began to sign up to “Storm Area 51” in their hundreds of thousands, sharing memes and vowing to “check out those alien cheeks.”

The Facebook event now has 1.2 million people 'attending' the showdown, scheduled for September 20th, and even the U.S. military has come out to warn against it. “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,” Air Force spokeswoman Laura McAndrews said to The Washington Post. “The US Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”

Sounds ominous, doesn't it? The warning prompted one poster to reassure the government that they aren't serious, although they would say that, wouldn't they? “Hello US government, this is a joke, and I do not actually intend to go ahead with this plan,” they wrote. “I just thought it would be funny and get me some thumbsy uppies on the internet.”

Well, as you can see yourself from the list below, it has already succeeded in that respect! Scroll down to check some of the best memes and reactions, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility located within the Nevada Test and Training Range. Officially, the facility is called Homey Airport or Groom Lake, named after the salt flat situated next to its airfield.

Although details of the facility's operations are not publicly known, based on historical evidence, it is most likely a training range that supports the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. The USAF acquired the site in 1955, primarily for flight testing the Lockheed U-2 aircraft.

The intense secrecy surrounding the base has made it the frequent subject of conspiracy theories and a central component to unidentified flying object (UFO) folklore.

The base has never been declared a secret base, but all research and occurrences in Area 51 are Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information.

The CIA publicly acknowledged the existence of the base for the first time on 25 June 2013, following a Freedom of Information Act request filed in 2005, and they declassified documents detailing the history and purpose of Area 51.

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Area 51 is located in the southern portion of Nevada in the western United States, 83 miles (134 km) north-northwest of Las Vegas. The surrounding area is a popular tourist destination, including the small town of Rachel, Nevada on the "Extraterrestrial Highway".

The perimeter of the base is marked out by orange posts and patrolled by guards in white pickup trucks and camouflage fatigues. The guards are popularly referred to as “camo dudes” by enthusiasts. Signage around the base perimeter advises that deadly force is authorized against trespassers.

Technology is also heavily used to maintain the border of the base; this includes surveillance cameras and motion detectors. Some of these motion detectors are placed some distance away from the base on public land to notify guards of people approaching.

Source: Wikipedia

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athornedrose
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i think about that sometimes. wouldn't it be better to build the hype in one place and storing everything on the opposite end of the country

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logical fallacy
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I shall call him Venom and he shall be mine and he shall be my Venom" -famous last words

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Xavier Wescott
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

what if they created it as a smokescreen to actually seem like an airforce base?

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Gary
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What if the U.S. government keeps tight lipped to make other governments wonder if they really have super hi-tech alien technology?

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Tarryn Louise
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Out of 8 billion people on Earth.... this is a blow fly in a baseball stadium.

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Steven Tamuz
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's definitely 1 way to get rid of overpopulation and not to mention the ppl who died are all idiots.

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Dorothy Parker
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Um, no. The current government WANTS to keep all the stupid people around to keep voting them in. Who else living at the poverty level would vote in this crony-heavy regime?

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Zenozenobee
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

why anyone would actually leave home or hair dresser while dying her/his hair?

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earringnut
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

PSA for newly freed aliens: do not trust the humans with facial tattoos. Do not engage with them. Slowly and calmly run away from them as quickly as possible.

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Scott
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The rest of the world also doesn't deny the existence of UFO's like America does, though all of the information has been released to the public for a number of years.

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Gary
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That made me laugh too much...They be watching your Google searches!

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FABULOUS1
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well mom appears to be a cowboy fan so i wouldnt trust her opinion anyways.

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Hard 2 Guess
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

More like rest of the world since only USA is cool enough for UFOs to visit and get captured at.

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Link
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Me and the boys after we sacrifice ourselves to protect the others.

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Henry Cheves
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

AUGH TOO MUCH IT IT TOO MU- Henry.exe has overloaded. Please check back later.

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Link
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And when the Naruto Runners finally arrive, the beat starts to drop HARD.

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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For a quick second, I thought the bottom panel was another post.

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Nikki D
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4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is he wearing himself on his shirt? Also, he has aged really well.

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