Armed FBI Agents Raid Homes of Area 51 Investigator - Seize Computers, Files, Phones and More

This is the kind of story everyone in the field of UFO investigations fears could happen to them – federal agents or agents with no visible identification showing up to confiscate years of evidence and files on reports of unidentified flying objects, extraterrestrials, secret bases and data collected in both legal and possibly illegal ways in order to expose these secrets to the public. It is being reported today that both the home and the office of Joerg Arnu, the founder of the Dreamland Resort website in Rachel, Nevada, were raided by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jeorg's one home and headquarters of the Dreamland Resort website is located just outside of Area 51 and has been a comprehensive source of information on the highly classified U.S. Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. This story comes from George Knapp, the famous Las Vegas investigative reporter who himself researches UFOs, aliens and Area 51. Here is what George Knapp had to say in his news-breaking tweet on November 10, 2022:

“FBI agents came down hard on the operator of a popular website devoted to all things Area 51--its programs, lore, and legacy. More than a dozen agents served a no-knock warrant on the Rachel, NV home of Joerg Arnu, owner of http://dreamlandresort.com...(more)”

With that alert from George Knapp, we went to the Dreamland Resort (DLR) website where Joerg Arnu gave details on his forum page in a post dated November 7, 2022.

“Ok, I have regained control over my assets and the DLR web site. So here goes, in case anyone is curious: Last Thursday very early in the morning my homes in Rachel and in Vegas were searched by a combined team of FBI and AF OSI. I will spare you the details but it got quite tense and humiliating for me in Rachel and for my girlfriend in Vegas. All my laptops, phones, memory sticks, cameras, drone and other items were seized. When it was all over I was left in Rachel with two broken doors, broken furniture inside the house and zero means to communicate. Our Vegas home fared a little better, with only a broken front door and torn down blinds. Each location saw at least 15-20 agents rummaging through our homes and about 8 vehicles. Needless to say it was a spectacle for curious neighbors, both in Rachel and in Vegas. In the process I lost ALL my data, medical files, financial and tax records, passwords, everything.

On top of that I am stuck with thousands in cost for repairs and replacement of the most essential electronics and expected legal fees. I will speak with an attorney tomorrow about how to proceed. To the best of my knowledge I have not broken the law. The search warrants are not very specific but aerial photos of Area 51 and other installations came up repeatedly. So I have taken those down for now to defuse the situation.”

Why would the FBI and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations be interested in the paper and digital records of Joerg Arnu? Anyone who has done any reporting on Area 51 – anything from the sightings of mysterious aircraft to the infamous attempted storming of the facility a few years ago – knows that the Dreamland Resort website is an excellent and up-to-the-minute repository of information on Area 51, Black Projects, the Nellis Ranges, Tonopah Test Range (TTR – home of the F-117 Stealth fighters) and the Extraterrestrial Highway. As the website states, Arnu is a 25-year Area 51 Research veteran and a resident of Rachel, NV. The site is currently supported by donations and has no outside advertisers. Until the raid, the site contained high-resolution aerial photos and panoramas of Area 51, satellite photos, schedules of Nellis Air Force Base exercises (a testing area), pertinent news reports, and much more – including a forum for public posts of questions, answers and more findings. As Arnu noted on the forum, he has taken down aerial photos of Area 51 and other information just to be safe. It is obvious he is concerned … wouldn’t you be if your homes were raided by 15-20 FBI agents?

“Why am I sharing this? First, I want to avoid any more speculation. And secondly I am concerned that overzealous government agents may use bogus charges against me to "send a message." Putting the truth out there can not hurt. Thanks for listening. I will not respond to personal emails or posts in this matter.”

In his tweet, George Knapp noted that the dozen or more agents who stormed into Arnu's Las Vegas home held his girlfriend at gunpoint. Knapp says “We are gathering more info.” Should he be concerned? Should other Area 51 and UFO investigators be worried?

“In 2020 we are all aware of the intense secrecy surrounding Area 51 in the desert northwest of Las Vegas. But 17 years ago many of us were just learning about the far reaching measures the government would take to keep its secrets secret.”

If anyone should know about these kinds of raids, it is George Knapp. In 2020, the Peabody Award winner (twice) updated his 2003 story about Chuck Clark, a self-described military watchdog who had used his own sensors to locate where the government had buried sensors on public land around Area 51. He also wrote a visitor’s guide to the base. According to Knapp, Clark’s mistake was talking about what he found to journalists.

“Just three days after revealing to the public he had found more than 30 devices, he said the F.B.I. and other law men from the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) raided his home. The raid was photographed by his neighbors. The agents took computers and personal files. At the time, Clark thought this was all an intimidation tactic meant to scare him away from keeping an eye on Area 51.”

The government eventually charged Clark with one count of malicious interference with a communications system used for the national defense because one of its buried sensors was missing. While he said he never removed a sensor, Clark agreed to enter a one-year term of “pretrial diversion” similar to probation and either turn over or p[ay for the missing sensor. Clark served his diversion time, paid for the sensor and had the case dismissed.

Could what happened to Joerg Arnu also be a case of government intimidation? If it is, what did he do to warrant the raids? It would not be a surprise if Arnu has files, photos and data not listed on the Dreamland Resort website. The comments on the Dreamland forum and on George Knapp’s twitter feed run the gamut of speculation as to what was behind the raid and what Arnu may or may not have had at either raid site. George Knapp does not have any additional information on Twitter at this time. We extend our thanks to George for breaking this story.

We will continue to monitor the story of the raids on the homes of Dreamland Resort owner Joerg Arnu and report on news updates as they comes in.

In the meantime, close your blinds, screen your calls, back up your files and memorize your lawyer’s phone number.