Oklahoma animal shelter encourages Area 51 fans to "storm our shelter"
An animal shelter in Oklahoma is encouraging people following the joke Area 51 raid in September to bring along a furry friend for protection. Dogs at the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter are even wearing tinfoil hats to "protect you from the Area 51 aliens."
"Adoption isn't that far out of this world!" the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter wrote on its Facebook page Friday. The shelter has 150 dogs, 54 cats, two pigs and one hamster available for adoption, according to its website.
Come storm our shelter... We have great animals ready to protect you from the Area 51 aliens. Adoption isn’t that far out of this world! #stormtheshelter
Posted by OKC Animal Welfare on Friday, July 19, 2019
The event organizer started the event as a joke. Now, more than 1.8 million have signed up for the September 20 event, which jokingly encourages participants to storm Area 51, long believed by conspiracy theorists to be a holding site for extraterrestrial life.
"I posted it on, like, June 27, and it was kind of a joke," Roberts told CBS affiliate KLAS. "And then it waited for like, three days, like 40 people, and then it just completely took off, out of nowhere. It's pretty wild."
Still, the Air Force told CBS News it was aware of the post and called it "dangerous." It's unclear if anyone will actually show up to the event, but they may feel safer with a tinfoil-wearing pet by their side.