In the build-up to September 20, more than two million people threatened to “storm” Area 51 – the US’ most secretive military base – in a bid to “see them aliens”. However, as the day came, many people had seemingly lost enthusiasm for the event which originally began as a Facebook meme, with only 100 turning up, mostly young people. The US military obviously saw this as a major threat and warned anyone trying to raid Area 51 that a B-2 bomber would be the “last thing” the “millennials” would see.
One threat was sent out in a now deleted tweet on the official Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) account which said: “The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today.”
The tweet was accompanied by a picture of a B-2 Stealth Bomber and around 200 military personnel.
B-2 Stealth Bombers can fly over 1,000 kilometres per hour and carry 16 GPS-guided bombs.
Its flagship feature is the stealth characteristics that allow the B-2 to remain undetected by anti-aircraft defences and attack heavily defended targets.
After the event, DVIDS backtracked on the threat, claiming it was one employee and not the views of the military.
A tweet from the account read: “Last night a DVIDSHUB employee posted a Tweet that in NO WAY supports the stance of the Department of Defense.
“It was inappropriate and we apologise for this mistake.”
The original “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” event was cancelled and moved to Las Vegas but the move did not deter small groups of people from visiting the US Air Force base.
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What goes on inside is extremely secret, with the public kept away by warning signs and armed guards.
The secrecy surrounding Area 51 has helped fuel many conspiracy theories.
Most famous is the claim the site hosts an alien spacecraft and the bodies of its pilots, after they crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947.
Area 51 has been used by American aviation authorities since 1955 and is closed off to those without top-level security clearance.
However, the US Government did not even admit the base existed until 2013, in a series of documents released as part of a Freedom of Information request, and it is heavily protected by armed guards.