--- title: And Now We Have an Area 51 Arrest. Here's What to KNow description: Two YouTubers came from the Netherlands to "Storm Area 51" for the viral Facebook event. canonical: https://time.com/5675782/area-51-arrest/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-09-12T16:29:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:00:15.728Z og:title: Two Arrested Near Area 51 After Traveling to 'Storm Area 51' and Yeah, They Saw Some No Trespassing Signs og:description: The two YouTubers came from the Netherlands for the viral Facebook event og:url: https://time.com/5675782/area-51-arrest/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdeaf77edcf815680/698a02c8db298777cc26426b/area51arrest.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Facebook Page Created As Joke To "Storm Area 51" Becomes Viral Sensation og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Two Arrested Near Area 51 After Traveling to 'Storm Area 51' and Yeah, They Saw Some No Trespassing Signs twitter:description: The two YouTubers came from the Netherlands for the viral Facebook event twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdeaf77edcf815680/698a02c8db298777cc26426b/area51arrest.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Men Who Got Arrested Hoping to 'Storm Area 51' Say They Did Notice Those No Trespassing Signs > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=13221bbd-d68a-4ad7-85bb-d9e486f2cdf3&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 12, 2019 4:29 PM UTC  A warning sign is posted at the back gate at the top-secret military installation at the Nevada Test and Training Range known as Area 51 on July 22, 2019 near Rachel, Nevada. A Facebook event entitled, "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," which the author stated was meant as a joke, calls for people to storm the highly classified U.S. Air Force facility on September 20, 2019, to address a conspiracy theory that the U.S. government is conducting tests with space aliens. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) A warning sign is posted at the back gate at the top-secret military installation at the Nevada Test and Training Range known as Area 51 on July 22, 2019 near Rachel, Nevada. A Facebook event entitled, "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," which the author stated was meant as a joke, calls for people to storm the highly classified U.S. Air Force facility on September 20, 2019, to address a conspiracy theory that the U.S. government is conducting tests with space aliens. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images) David Becker&Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Sep 12, 2019 4:29 PM UTC Out of the two million people who said they were going to “[Storm Area 51](https://time.com/5625420/area-51-petition/)” on September 20 and finally “see them aliens.”, it’s safe to say that most people RSVP’d as a lark, taking part in a viral Facebook joke with a click of a button. Two YouTubers, though, really made the trip, reportedly traveling from the Netherlands to Nevada to visit the site and were arrested for trespassing. Police officers were called to the Nevada National Security Site — a government nuclear facility 10 miles from Area 51 — on Tuesday after two men were spotted inside the perimeter, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office [said in a video statement.](https://www.facebook.com/nyecountysheriff/videos/1321148951391880/?v=1321148951391880) After arriving at the military site, the police found a parked car belonging to the pair three miles inside the perimeter. Inside the car was a laptop, a drone, and a camera that upon inspection revealed footage shot inside the facility. The two men, later identified by deputies as Ties Granzier, 20, and Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, 21, were subsequently arrested on trespassing charges. [_Business Insider_ reports](https://www.insider.com/youtubers-storm-area-51-event-arrested-alleged-trespass-2019-9) that both men are YouTubers from the Netherlands. Police said that Granzier and Sweep told them that they “speak, write, and read” English and saw the “No Trespassing” signs at the government facility, but decided to ignore the warning, because they wanted to see the facility, which is near [Area 51](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871%5F1860876%5F1861006,00.html), the military site long believed to be a secret alien holding site. Matty Roberts, the man who started the [Area 51 Facebook group](https://time.com/5628182/area-51-training-video/) said he thinks the event he started as a joke [has gotten out of hand](https://time.com/5626450/storm-area-51-alien-memes/) and this may be more evidence of that. The U.S. Air Force has [issued a warning](https://time.com/5629756/area-51-invasion/) about the so-called Area 51 raid, saying that “any attempt to illegally access military installations or military training areas is dangerous.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5675782/area-51-arrest/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5675782/area-51-arrest/"},"headline":"The Men Who Got Arrested Hoping to 'Storm Area 51' Say They Did Notice Those No Trespassing Signs","datePublished":"2019-09-12T16:29:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:00:15.728Z","description":"The two YouTubers came from the Netherlands for the viral Facebook event","url":"https://time.com/5675782/area-51-arrest/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Crime","Viral News","AREA 51"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdeaf77edcf815680/698a02c8db298777cc26426b/area51arrest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdeaf77edcf815680/698a02c8db298777cc26426b/area51arrest.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Facebook Page Created As Joke To \"Storm Area 51\" Becomes Viral Sensation","caption":"Facebook Page Created As Joke To \"Storm Area 51\" Becomes Viral Sensation","creditText":"David Becker&Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5675782/area-51-arrest/","name":"The Men Who Got Arrested Hoping to 'Storm Area 51' Say They Did Notice Those No Trespassing Signs"}}]}] ```