'Come storm our shelter': Oklahoma City Animal Welfare capitalizes on Area 51 furor

An animal shelter in Oklahoma City has masterfully piggy-backed on the recent attention surrounding a satirical Facebook event about storming Area 51, using pictures of tin-foil-hat-wearing animals to beg: "Come storm our shelter."

What are the details?

In recent weeks, 1.9 million people have signed on to an event planned for September, where alien hunters are encouraged to raid Area 51 in order to "see them aliens." The joke has garnered international media attention, to the extent that even the U.S. Air Force felt the need to warn folks against taking it seriously.

Oklahoma City Animal Welfare used the furor as a way to show off the pets available for adoption at its shelter, dressing the animals up in tin-foil hats and other costumes and posting pictures of them on Facebook with the message:

"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!"

Fox News reported that the response to the shelter's plea has been "huge." Several of the animals featured in the posts have since been adopted, and thousands of dollars were raised for the Patrons of the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter in reaction to the Facebook posts.

Anything else?

OKC Animal Welfare isn't the only entity looking for a boost from the recent attention to Area 51, which has been a source of speculation and conspiracy theories for decades due to UFO sightings and government secrecy.

Businesses located near the military installation in southern Nevada have promised to clear out areas for camping and provide entertainment for those who do show up for the "storming" of the base, KLAS-TV reported. While visitors are welcome, attendees are being warned not to break the law by attempting to actually trespass on government property — as they will be met with force.

I-Team Exclusive: 'Storm Area 51' joke explodes, little Nevada town prepareswww.youtube.com