Area 51 Website Owner Speaks Out, Says Armed Feds Raided His Home

The warning signs on the road leading into Groom Lake, aka Area 51. LPETTET/iStock

The owner of a popular Area 51 website issued a statement after he claimed federal agents raided his homes at gunpoint several weeks ago.

“I discussed the case with an attorney specialized in Federal cases,” Joerg Arnu, proprietor of Dreamlandresort.com, told Fox News over the weekend.  “What I learned is truly incredible and in my opinion a much bigger story than the raid of my homes. What was done to me and my girlfriend, two unarmed, innocent, cooperating senior citizens, is apparently totally within the law. Truly incredible!”

Arnu added that he does not know why he was targeted and does not know what the agents were investigating. The Las Vegas Review-Journal first reported on the FBI and U.S. Air Force raid of his Nevada home, while Arnu published a statement to his website late last week.

An FBI search warrant was executed and his “laptops, phones, backup drives, camera gear and my drone were seized” on Nov. 3, he said via his website.

The Epoch Times has contacted U.S. Air Force for comment. The FBI declined to comment.

“Nellis Air Force Base is aware of the joint-AFOSI (Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations), FBI investigation involving Mr. Arnu,” Lt. Col. Bryon McGarry, with the U.S. Air Force, told Business Insider in reference to the apparent raid.

Arnu told the news outlet that he had “not been charged with a crime,” adding that since the Nov. 3 search, he has “not heard from the FBI agent in charge at all, despite numerous attempts to reach him to discuss the damages and return of my items.”

A car moves along the Extraterrestrial Highway near Rachel, Nevada, the closest town to Area 51. Laura Rauch/AP photo

‘Everyone Should Know’

Dreamlandresort.com was founded in 1999 and has long hosted information about the top-secret military base. For decades, there has been speculation about Area 51—officially called Homey Airport or Groom Lake—and is a central component of theories about unidentified flying objects, or UFOs. The website includes directions to the area, photos, and links to radio frequencies.

Elaborating to news outlets, Arnu said that some 15 to 20 federal agents arrived at his home in “full riot gear.” He said the search pertained to photos that were posted on his website.

“The doors were broken open and I in [sic] Rachel and my girlfriend in our Las Vegas home were detained and treated in the most disrespectful way,” he told Insider. “My girlfriend was led out into the street barefoot and only in her underwear in full view of our neighbors; I was led outside, handcuffed and only in t-shirt and sweats in sub-freezing temperatures.”

Arnu added: “I am not sharing anything on my web site that cannot be found on dozens of other web sites and news outlet publications. Considering how this went down I have no intention of removing any more material unless ordered to do so by a federal judge.”

In his interview with Insider and Fox News, Arnu said he will now pursue legal action against the federal government.

“The federal government has the right to harass and traumatize random citizens that are not accused of any crime,” Arnu told Fox on Saturday. “Kick in their doors, manhandle them and take whatever they want from them. Said citizens have no rights whatsoever to reimbursement of their damages, return of their property or compensation for the trauma they were subjected to.”

Arnu added to Fox that “this is America ... land of the free.” But now, it’s “not so much from where I am standing right now. Everyone should know about this injustice. It could be your door that is kicked in next!”

Mystery

For decades, theories surrounding the secret military base---located in the middle of the barren Nevada desert---suggest it’s used for the testing of extraterrestrial technology that was recovered from alleged UFO crash sites. The base has been a top-secret location for years and is not accessible to the public even to this day.

The Air Force officially acknowledged the base’s existence in 2013 as the CIA previously published documents that say it was used as a test base.

“The base itself is fairly small, but the restricted area around it is over 90,000 acres— partly to prevent prying eyes and partly because they need to test classified aircraft,” Benjamin Radford, a writer on the subject, told Space.com earlier this year. “It’s mostly conspiracy theorists and media who call it Area 51. To the U.S. government, it’s simply the Nevada Test and Training Range, part of Edwards Air Force Base.”

Meanwhile, signs around the military installation declare that photography in the area is prohibited and that drones cannot be flown in its vicinity.

“The military classifies Area 51 as a ‘Military Operating Area.’ On the ground, you'll encounter stern signs and armed guards patrolling the fenced perimeters guarded by buried motion sensors, cameras, guards and so on — plus signs warning that deadly force is authorized,” Radford said. “The borders of Area 51 are not fenced but are marked with orange poles and warning signs.”