An Area 51 enthusiast who runs a website about the mysterious military base wants answers after two of his properties were raided by Air Force and FBI agents and his property was confiscated, according to 8 News Now.
Joerg Arnu's homes in Las Vegas and Rachel, Nevada, a small town near Area 51, were reportedly raided on Nov. 3 and his camera equipment, drones, memory sticks and phones were seized.
Arnu told 8 News Now that agents held him at gunpoint while they searched his Rachel home and detained his girlfriend at his Las Vegas property.
According to Arnu, he was given a few pages of a 40-page search warrant, the majority of which remained sealed.
"As it is right now, I have no clear understanding of what I'm being charged with or why my property was seized," he told 8 News Now.
For 23 years, Arnu has run the Dreamland Resort website — described as the most comprehensive source of information on Area 51 — which publishes photos and videos of the Air Force base.
Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry, a spokesman for Nellis Air Force Base, confirmed to The Independent that Air Force Office of Special Investigations was involved in the raids on Arnu's homes.
"This is an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation between the Las Vegas FBI and Air Force OSI," McGarry said in a statement.
Arnu told 8 News Now that he is not anti-government and respects the covert nature of Area 51. He also said he would not publish anything that could compromise the base's operations.
"I would never do anything to hurt this country, but I don't understand what is going on right now," Arnu, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, said.
As an example, Arnu pointed to 2019, when he says he discouraged up to two million UFO enthusiasts from storming the base in a search for answers.
Sometimes called the Nevada Test and Training Range, Area 51 has been a perennial public curiosity for more than 50 years, representing extraterrestrial space ships and alien life forms in the minds of many.
According to CBS News, since the 1950s, the base has been the preferred location for the U.S. military to test its most cutting edge technology, including spy planes.
The federal government only acknowledged Area 51's existence in 2013.
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