It started as a joke months ago by a guy on Facebook when he created an event called "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us." People turned up at the gates anyway - watch live!
Since 2007, astronomers at the SETI Institute in Northern California have been scanning the great beyond for signs of alien life.
However, due to a decrease in the funding the institute receives from NASA and other government sources, the institute will have to shut down the powerful bank of 42 radio dishes that it uses to target unexplored planets.