--- title: "Air Force “Stands Ready” to Defend Area 51 From Facebook Event" description: "The Air Force is prepared to defend Area 51 from the volunteer army of over 1 million people that have joined the \"Storm Area 51\" Facebook event." date: "2019-07-15" modified: "2019-07-22" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/air-force-defend-area-51" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Meta" tags: - "air force" - "alien" - "facebook" - "the digest" --- # Air Force “Stands Ready” to Defend Area 51 From Facebook Event ![]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* ## An Unlikely Meeting A tongue-in-cheek [Facebook event]() called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" is planning to amass a volunteer army to [storm the highly secretive Air Force base]() in the Nevada desert. But there's bad news: the Air Force is willing to stand its ground if it were to actually ever come to, you know, a bunch of rowdy teens ignoring their curfew and trying to infiltrate a military base in the middle of nowhere. "\[Area 51\] is an open training range for the U.S. Air Force, and we would discourage anyone from trying to come into the area where we train American armed forces," a spokeswoman [told *The Washington Post*](). "The U.S. Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets." Guards are authorized to "use deadly force," according to a [sign]() that warns would-be trespassers at the outskirts of the base. ## Outpacing Bullets The event has garnered [major news coverage]() since its inception. Over 1.1 million Facebook users have clicked "Going," while just a shy of a million users are "interested." “We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry,” reads the event description. “If we \[N\]aruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets see them aliens.” “I just thought it would be funny and get me some thumbsy uppies on the Internet,” Facebook user and meme lord Jackson Barnes wrote after posting a game plan on the event's page. "I’m not responsible if people decide to actually storm \[A\]rea 51." **READ MORE:** [Half a million people signed up to storm Area 51. What happens if they actually show?]() \[*The Washington Post*\] **More on the event:** *[Almost 300000 People Say They're Gonna Storm Area 51]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()