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In June 2019, a Facebook user created a page called Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us. There, users jokingly suggested that anyone curious about what lay within the highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility should attempt to raid the base. While this event may have started in jest, some people truly did show up outside of Area 51 on Sept. 20, 2019. How many people showed up? Well, according to a viral picture floating around social media, thousands: This is not a genuine photograph of the crowd outside of Area 51 in September 2019. This picture was taken in November 2014 in Nikomazi, South Africa, during a crusade by the religious group In His Name Ministries: At least one other miscaptioned picture was being spread as if it showed the crowd outside of Area 51 in September 2019: This image also wasn't taken at Area 51. While we have been unable to determine the source of the picture, a few red flags suggest it's fake. For one, the government facility in Nevada is not actually named Area 51. Area 51 is a colloquial name for a facility officially called Homey Airport (KXTA). In other words, it's highly unlikely that this facility has an Area 51 sign on its fence. On closer inspection, the people in this photograph don't appear to be real humans — or aliens, for that matter. This picture seemingly shows a group of characters in a video game. While these photographs don't document the raid on Area 51, some people truly did show up outside of the government facility on Sept. 20. As far as we can tell, no earnest effort exists to storm the gates, and this raid has been non-violent. Mick Akers, a journalist for the Las Vegas Review Journal, reported that about 100 people showed up: Akers also shared several authentic photographs and videos of the crowd that gathered outside of Area 51 on that date:
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