FBI Raids The Home Of Area 51 Sleuth
Well-known conspiracy theorist Joerg Arnu had several properties raided by the US Air Force and FBI earlier this month.
Joerg Arnu, a man who runs a popular website about Area 51, had two of his Nevada properties raided by agents from the US Air Force and the FBI (via the New York Post). The properties were raided on November 3 and potential evidence was confiscated by the agents. The warrant was mostly sealed, but Arnu says the agent took camera equipment, a drone, cellphones, drives, and memory sticks.
At this time it’s unclear what the agents are searching for in their investigation. The website that Arnu runs is called Dreamland Resort and has been in operation for over 23 years. The website mostly focuses on posting speculation about the Area 51 Air Force Base along with photos and videos of people and vehicles coming and going from the base.
Area 51 has long been a source of interest amongst conspiracy theorists, with some of the more outlandish claims stating that extraterrestrial activity and research occur at the site. Arnu would be the first to debunk these claims on his research site, as he says that it’s more likely the site is used for government black projects and other top-secret research. At this time, Arnu is meeting with his attorney and there haven’t been any criminal charges formally filed against him — though he is considering suing to get his equipment back.
As mentioned, it’s unclear why Arnu’s home was raided at this time, but this story is sure to rile up the Area 51 conspiracy community. It could be a case of Arnu having pictures or research that he’s not supposed to have, but Arnu maintained the stance that all of the photos, videos, and evidence he has on the site were obtained legally. We’ll just have to wait and see how this ends up panning out and if any more information about the reasoning behind the raid comes to light.
Although Area 51 is often a niche news subject that is covered on a fairly consistent basis, it’s not as common that the secretive Air Force base makes noteworthy national news. The last time the base got this level of news attention was probably in 2019 when the social media movement to ‘Storm Area 51’ to “see them aliens” gained global traction. The jokey Facebook post got millions of responses.
Of course, the invitation to raid Area 51 didn’t get nearly that many in-person attendees. Still, since it was public land people were able to basically get as close as the gate to the military complex and camp outside it if they chose. The event ended up drawing several thousand people to the desert site in an impromptu camping festival that was dubbed Alienstock.
Under threats of lethal force, no actual storming took place at Area 51 that weekend. Only about five arrests were made, mostly for trespassing along with one for public urination. Who knows — after all of this commotion around this Air Force and FBI raid, it’s always possible that we could see another Alienstock movement happen in Nevada in the near future.
