YouTubers Arrested for Trespassing Near Area 51

They told cops they were in Nevada for alien-themed events
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 13, 2019 2:17 AM CDT
2 Dutch YouTubers Arrested Near Area 51
This April 6, 2018 photo shows the Area 51 Alien Center in Amargosa Valley, Nevada, about 90 miles north of Las Vegas.   (Richard Brian/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)

At least two of the approximately 2 million people who signed up for the spoof Facebook event "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us" were apparently serious about it. Two YouTubers from the Netherlands were arrested Tuesday on a secure US government reservation around 20 miles from the Area 51 military site, the Daily Dot reports. Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Savage, 21, and Ties Granzier, 20, were booked into the Nye County Detention Center on suspicion of trespassing and later released on $500 bail, the AP reports. Police say the pair, who were found in a car around three miles into the facility, admitted disregarding "Do Not Enter" signs.

Police say Savage and Granzier—who have more than a million YouTube subscribers between them—had a drone, a computer, and camera equipment in their vehicle. They told police they were in Nevada for alien-themed events next week near Area 51, which has long been rumored to hold aliens captured by the military. "That's why they said they were here," Nye County Sheriff's Capt. David Boruchowitz says. The creator of the original Sept. 20 event, meanwhile, has pulled out of the "Alienstock" festival set up after the huge response to the spoof event, the BBC reports. Matty Roberts, 21, says he didn't want to ignore red flags and "have it turn into a Fyre Festival 2.0." (The Air Force says it would be a very bad idea to actually try and storm Area 51.)

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