An Area 51 researcher who runs a website dedicated to the secretive military base is looking for answers after federal agents kicked in the doors of two of his properties and confiscated his phones, drones, memory sticks and camera equipment.
Air Force and FBI agents raided Joerg Arnu’s homes in Las Vegas and Rachel, a small town bordering the secretive military base in the Nevada desert, on 3 November.
Mr Arnu told 8 News Now that officers held him at gunpoint as they searched his Rachel home, while his girlfriend was detained at the Las Vegas property.
Since 1999, he has operated the Dreamland Resort site, which publishes photos and videos of the base and is described as the most comprehensive source of information on Area 51.
Mr Arnu told 8 News Now he was handed a couple of pages of a 40-page search warrant, most 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,” Mr Arnu told 8 News Now.
He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
Nellis Air Force Base spokesman Lt Col Bryon McGarry confirmed in a statement to The Independent that Air Force Office of Special Investigations were involved in the raids.
“This is an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation between the Las Vegas FBI and Air Force OSI,” Lt Col McGarry said in a statement.
Mr Arnu, a naturalised US citizen, told 8 News Now he was not anti-government and respected Area 51’s need for secrecy, and refused to publish any material that could compromise its operations.
“I would never do anything to hurt this country, but I don’t understand what is going on right now,” Mr Arnu told the news site.
In 2019, when up to two million UFO enthusiasts threatened to storm the base looking for answers Mr Arnu said he actively discouraged them from doing so.
Area 51, which is officially known as Groom Lake, has long been a magnet for those that believe it houses alien life forms.
It has been the preferred location for the US military to test its most cutting edge military technology including drones and spy planes since the 1950s.
The US government only acknowledged its existence in 2013.
