A US military unit was forced to apologize to UFO fans and alien enthusiasts for a tweet that suggested the government is ready to use B-2 nuclear-capable bombers to protect the secrets held inside the classified Area 51 facility.

Jumping on the hype train headed for the secretive air force base in Nevada desert, the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) flexed its meme muscles on Friday by tweeting a photo of a B-2 stealth bomber, accompanied by a chilling warning:

The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the #area51raid today.

In case anyone wanted to see the tweet in question pic.twitter.com/nGGd8qXD2C — fightthepower (@heathencandor) September 21, 2019

However, someone higher-ranking apparently got worried that the bomber joke could fly over the heads of UFO hunters, or offend millennials, and rushed to delete the meme, issuing an apology and distancing the unit from the actions of the employee in charge of the DVIDSHub account.

You need to more than merely apologize via tweet. It’s extremely irresponsible for an account representing the US military to make credible threats against anyone, let alone its own citizenry. — fightthepower (@heathencandor) September 21, 2019

The original tweet did trigger some controversy and criticism, but went largely unnoticed amid an avalanche of memes posted under the viral hashtag – while some even found it amusing and said the author deserves a promotion.

No biggie. We've all aware that A-10s are the best antipersonnel platforms anyways. — ParatrooperJJ (@ParatrooperJJ) September 21, 2019

It was entirely appropriate and hilarious. The person who thinks otherwise should be shit canned. — Ambiturner (@DerelictMy) September 21, 2019

Sorry to hear that. It's the only reason I followed this account.Whoever it was should be in charge of the Twitter account. — Kenny the Weasel (@cparr941) September 21, 2019

Meanwhile, the viral prank that promised to see up to two million alien hunters breach the gates of Area 51 ended with a whimper instead of a bang, drawing only a few dozen enthusiasts. A couple of people got themselves arrested for disorderly conduct, but the US government did not have to deploy strategic bombers or use any of the alien-designed crowd control technology it might be hiding.

Also on rt.com SHOCKER! Area 51 raid FLOPS as bunch of YouTubers chat up guards instead of running to ‘see them aliens’ (PHOTOS)

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