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(CNN) - Two Dutch friends said they just wanted to see the mysterious Area 51 well before leaving the United States, but ended up in a Nevada jail.
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Ties Granzier, 20, and Govert Charles Wilhelmus Jacob Sweep, 21, were arrested about five miles inside the Nevada National Security Site, said the Nye County Sheriff's Office.
The site is near Area 51, which has been the focus of conspiracy theories for decades claiming that the US government. Save evidence about aliens and UFOs there. Recently, someone created an event page on Facebook looking for people to enter the site this Friday.
But the two men say they never planned to participate in that.
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"We had no intention of assaulting him because we left the day before the actual dates of the event, and we just wanted to ... go there," Sweep told KTNV, a CNN affiliate. They just wanted to have a good view of that, they said.
When they were arrested on September 10, both men told agents that they could read, write and speak English and that they had seen the “Forbidden Pass” signs at the entrance of the site. But they said they wanted to take a look at the facilities, police said.
Granzier told the authorities that he is a youtuber. Agents found cameras, a telephone, a laptop and an unmanned aircraft in the men's vehicle.
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The two pleaded guilty to intrusion and illegal parking, both misdemeanors, said Nye County District Attorney Chris Arabia. They were sentenced to one year in jail. But that sentence was suspended and the two will spend a total of three days in the county jail if they pay a fine of 2,280 each Thursday, when they are scheduled to be released.
They have also given up the electronic equipment found at the time of their arrest, Arabia said.
"It was important for us that these men serve time in prison and pay a substantial financial penalty," he said. “We take this crime seriously. And people need to understand that we are not going to endure this kind of nonsense. ”
Granzier said he and his friend "didn't want to cause any problems" in a police video. "We learned from our mistakes."
Area 51 UFOs
