US Air Force concerned about plans to ‘storm Area 51’

A plan to “storm” top secret Cold War test site Area 51 has led the US Air Force to issue a stern warning to those involved.

The US Air Force has issued a stern warning to those planning to “storm” the top-secret Cold War test site in the Nevada desert known as Area 51.

A day after more than 1.5 million people registered their interest in attending the event — an event streamed live on Facebook — the prank has been met with consternation.

The Facebook event jokes “they can’t stop all of us” and “let’s see them aliens” — a reference to the long-held conspiracy held by UFO enthusiasts that alien life is being hidden there.

They plan to approach Area 51 in Amargosa Valley by meeting at the “Alien Center” tourist attraction before marching 84km through the unforgiving desert terrain towards the heavily-guarded military base.

“We’re going to live stream the ‘event’ here at #AREA15 to watch what goes down. And, of course, costumes and tin foil hats are required,” a company called Area15, which runs immersive experiences in the area, wrote on social media.

But those charged with protecting the secrets at Area 51 are far from pleased, prank or no prank.

Nellis Air Force Base says in a statement that the Air Force is aware of the Facebook posting and says “any attempt to illegally access the area is highly discouraged”.

The Air Force says it does not discuss its security measures and that the test and training range provides “flexible, realistic and multidimensional battlespace” for testing and “advanced training in support of U.S. national interests”.

Area 51 in Nevada is one of the US Government’s closest guarded secrets.

The Facebook event proclaims: ‘They can’t stop all of us.’

Yesterday, the Air Force told The Washington Post it is “ready to protect America and its assets.”

“(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,” a spokeswoman said.

“The US Air Force always stands ready to protect America and its assets.”

The 12,950sq km desert site has been in operation for more than 60 years and it is infamously secured by barbed fences and heavily-armed military personnel.

The base is officially fronted as part of the Nevada Test and Training Range, affiliated with the Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas Valley, though only recently did the government intelligence recognise Area 51’s existence.

The event would be live streamed, organisers said.

What really goes down on the grounds has yet to be revealed to the public — though many have attempted to uncover its presumed secrets.

Huge secrecy surrounds the base, located about 240km from Las Vegas, which is not open to the public and is under 24-hour surveillance. It was first used to develop U2 spy planes in the 1950s.

Since then, it has been used for testing other military aircraft, but conspiracy theorists believe it’s also home to remains of crashed UFOs.

— with AP