Two YouTubers are arrested for trespassing at Area 51 with cameras and drones just days before thousands were due to ‘storm’ the military zone to ‘see them aliens’
- Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, 21, and Ties Granzier, 20, of the Netherlands were arrested for trespassing at the secure government facility
- Both are YouTubers who go by Govert Sweep, who has more than 700,000 followers, and Ties, who has more than 300,000
- The YouTubers were arrested just days before millions of Facebook users said they were to attend the ‘Storm Area 51’ event to ‘see them aliens’
- Sweep complains in a jailhouse interview that he was arrested for being a YouTuber and not just because he was trespassing
- Authorities said they found cameras and a drone inside the car Sweep and Granzier drove three miles into the facility
- Both were released from the Nye County Jail after each posted $500 bail. There is no provision preventing them from leaving the country
A couple of YouTubers were arrested for trespassing on to Area 51 with cameras and a drone just days before millions of Facebook users claimed they were going to descend on the secure government facility to ‘see them aliens.’
Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, 21, and Ties Granzier, 20, who are from the Netherlands, were arrested on Wednesday and kept overnight at the Nye County Detention Center, authorities said.
DailyMail.com has learned that both were released on Thursday after each posted $500 bail.
‘The conditions of their bail did not include any provisions that they remain in the United States,’ a sheriff’s office spokesman says in a video press release about the YouTubers’ release.
Known on YouTube as Govert Sweep, who has more than 700,000 followers, and Ties, with more than 300,000, the duo were caught three miles into the Nevada dessert base, suspected by UFO watchers that it contains the remains of alien visitors and their spacecraft.
YouTubers Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, 21, and Ties Granzier, 20, (both pictured) were arrested for trespassing on Area 51 days before an event attracting 2 million Facebook followers was scheduled to bring UFO watchers out to the mysterious base
Authorities responding to the Storm Area 51 event, even though it was called a joke post on Facebook, said that no one would be allowed to enter the base, which is clearly marked by ‘no trespassing’ signs. Sweep and Granzier admitted they had seen the warnings, authorities said
Authorities found a camera and drone inside their vehicle, according to the Nye County Sheriff’s office.
Sweep speculated in a jailhouse interview with KTNV that he had not been released sooner ‘If I wasn’t a YouTuber…’
Sweep and Granzier were detained less than two weeks before a ‘Storm Area 51’ event, which has attracted 2 million Facebook followers, and is expected to possibly bring tens of thousands out to the the mysterious, remote military base.
Authorities responding to the event, even though it was called a joke post on Facebook, said that no one would be allowed to enter the base, which is clearly marked by ‘no trespassing’ signs.
Sweep and Granzier admitted they had seen the warnings, authorities said.
Sweep (above) speculated in a jailhouse interview with KTNV that he had not been released sooner ‘If I wasn’t a YouTuber…’
Sweep told KTNV that he was given directions by a gas station attendant at the Area 51 Alien Center, a tourist attraction near the site, to where he could get a good view of Area 51. He claimed also that he had no intention of crossing on to the base, which the US Air Force has warned trespassers to stay away from.
‘We didn’t have any intention to storm it because we leave one day before the actual storming dates, and we just wanted to go there,’ Sweep said.
Disaster preparation and sheriff officials have told local lawmakers they’re unsure how many – or where – people might show up for the ‘Storm Area 51’ event. Concerns range from not enough lodging in the area to a shortage of portable toilets
The potential for others security breaches and massive crowds impacting the remote desert area prompted Nye and neighboring Lincoln counties to issue emergency orders in anticipation of mayhem.
Emergency management officials are advising would-be visitors not to come.
Disaster preparation and sheriff officials have told local lawmakers they’re unsure how many – or where – people might show up for events. Concerns range from not enough lodging in the area to a shortage of portable toilets.
Local officials are taking the possibility of a large crowd seriously, worrying tens of thousands will show up on Sept. 20, a Friday, when the event is scheduled, and stay for the whole weekend.