Anyone keeping up with internet culture over the last few months might have noticed the viral Facebook event calling on alien enthusiasts to storm the infamous Area 51.

Area 51 is a US government base in Nevada long believed to house secrets about alien life.

The event’s creator, 21-year-old Matty Roberts, technically pulled the plug on the gathering in early September over fears of a potential “humanitarian disaster.”

Ya, Matty. Good call.

Unfortunately for Matty, once something takes hold on the internet, it becomes its own beast and some folks were not letting go of the idea.

The US Military sent out a number of pleas for people to leave it alone and stay away from the base. One, in particular, rubbed a few people the wrong way.

This, from BBC:

The [since deleted] tweet, posted on Friday on the Twitter account of the Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), stated: “The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today” alongside a photo of military men and women standing in front of a B-2 stealth bomber.

On Saturday the unit apologised, tweeting that an employee of its DVIDSHub account posted a tweet that “in NO WAY supports the stance of the Department of Defence. It was inappropriate and we apologise for this mistake.”

That escalated quickly. It was effective, though.

This past Friday a few dozen people showed up which is a far cry from the thousands that they were expecting.

Nothing like the threat of a bomb to take the shine off a gathering to infiltrate a secret military base.

[source:bbc]