By Alex Dobuzinskis
Sept 21 (Reuters) - A U.S. military unit apologized onSaturday and deleted a tweet that used the specter of a stealthbomber being deployed against any young people who tried tobreak into the Area 51 base in Nevada.
The tweet, posted on Friday on the Twitter account of theDefense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS), tookaim at UFO fans and curiosity seekers who poured into the Nevadadesert this week, after an online campaign to "storm" the U.S.military base long rumored to house government secrets aboutextraterrestrial life and spaceships.
Alongside a photo of military men and women standing atattention in uniform in front of a B-2 stealth bomber, it read,"The last thing #Millennials will see if they attempt the#area51raid today."
On Saturday, DVIDS said on Twitter that an employee of itsDVIDSHub account posted a tweet that "in NO WAY supports thestance of the Department of Defense. It was inappropriate and weapologize for this mistake."
In Nevada, any fears about a serious attempt to raid Area 51appeared to have been unfounded. About 150 people, some in aliengarb, gathered near the base on Friday in a festive atmospherewith only a handful of arrests.
The U.S. military has disowned previous social media poststhat some people also criticized as threatening or insensitive.
On Dec. 31, U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees thecountry's nuclear arsenal, apologized for a Twitter message thatsaid it was ready if necessary to drop something "much, muchbigger" than the New Year's Eve ball in New York.
And last year the U.S. Air Force apologized for a tweet thatsought to find humor in killing Taliban militants in Afghanistanby invoking a viral Internet debate about whether an audio filesays the words "Laurel" or "Yanny."(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by David Gregorio)