Investigators seized 9 different firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition and other items. (Source: Coffee County Sheriff) 
 
 Officials said suspects planned to penetrate a research facility in Alaska that has been the subject of several conspiracy theories. (Source: WALB) 
 
 Two south Georgia men are accused of plotting domestic terrorism based on bizarre conspiracy theories. 
 
 Coffee County Sheriff's investigators arrested Michael Mancil, 30, and James Dryden Jr., 22, on Thursday. 
 
 Officials said the suspects planned to penetrate a research facility in Alaska that has been the subject of several conspiracy theories. 
 
 Investigators said the massive amount of arsenal seized looked like something out of a movie, one where a small army was headed to war. 
 
 But Coffee County investigators said the two Douglas men collected dozens of weapons as part of a plan to attack the High Frequency Active Aural Research Facility or HAARP. 
 
 The former U.S. Air Force lab is now owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 
 
 "We were really, really concerned about all the arsenal that they were piling up," said Coffee County Sheriff Doyle Wooten. 
 
 Four AR-15 rifles, four Glock hand guns, a Remington rifle and two to three thousand rounds of ammunition were found on the 200 block of Jim Road in Coffee County. 
 
 Investigators also seized radios, two flak jackets, $5,500 and a small amount of marijuana. 
 
 Investigators discovered the plot after starting to investigate Mancil for possible drug sales. 
 
 A local gun shop also alerted investigators to the fact that Mancil was trying to buy a large amount of weapons. 
 
 "He's never known to be violent. This past four to six weeks he just snapped and just changed. His whole personality changed," said Wooten. 
 
 Wooten said Mancil plotted with Dryden to destroy HAARP because they believe conspiracy theories claiming the facility manipulates the weather, controls minds and even traps the souls of people. 
 
 Officials at HAARP told us they actually study the Earth's atmosphere. 
 
 They said they've had threats before but nothing of this magnitude. 
 
 "Also are really grateful to the law enforcement agencies there in Georgia for following up on this tip and their work in making these arrests," said University of Alaska Fairbanks spokesperson Marmian Grimes. 
 
 HAARP officials have security in place to prevent such attacks. 
 
 Mancil and Dryden are charged with selling Methamphetamine, possession of marijuana, possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime. 
 
 Mancil is also charged with use of a telecommunication device in committing or facilitating a felony. 
 
 More charges are pending. 
 
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 Close ||||| Two men arrested last week in southern Georgia were planning to attack an aurora research facility owned by the University of Alaska Fairbanks around which conspiracy theories of mind control have long swirled, investigators said. 
 
 Television station WALB in Georgia first reported Monday that investigators with the Coffee County Sheriff's Office arrested Michael Mancil, 30, and James Dryden Jr., 22, on Thursday and said "the massive amount of arsenal seized looked like something out of a movie, one where a small army was headed to war." 
 
 Michael Vickers, a detective with the sheriff's office, told Alaska Dispatch News that both men confessed "that God told them to go and blow this machine up that kept souls, so souls could be released." 
 
 "All I can tell you is they were planning on blowing up the machine," Vickers said. "Going to try to find a scientist, to steal his car and ID badge to gain access. Any scientist." 
 
 Vickers could not say what else the men might be charged with. 
 
 "It is being investigated and there … could be more charges pending, but as of right now, there's nothing I can tell you," he said. 
 
 Once a U.S. Air Force facility, High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program ownership last year was transferred to UAF. For many years, conspiracy theories about HAARP's capabilities for mind and weather control have persisted, to the point where the center hosted an open house in August in an effort to dispel such theories. 
 
 The program studies the properties and behavior of the Earth's ionosphere, a part of the atmosphere that can affect communication and navigation systems. 
 
 Marmian Grimes, a spokeswoman at UAF, said that while HAARP has been the target of threats before, "in the recent past there hasn't been anything quite this extreme planned." She didn't have specific details about other threats. 
 
 "We're just very glad and thankful to the law enforcement agency in Georgia for following up on that and being able to apprehend those individuals," she said. "There's lots and lots of conspiracy theories and … it's important to remember that actually this is a scientific research facility." 
 
 Among the weapons seized were AR-15 rifles, Glock handguns, a Remington rifle and thousands of rounds of ammunition, WALB reported. Authorities discovered the plot to attack HAARP after initially investigating Mancil "for possible drug sales."
– Some men want to save our souls through religion. Two Georgia men arrested last week allegedly wanted to save them by shooting up an Alaska research facility that has been at the center of multiple conspiracy theories. Det. Michael Vickers tells the Alaska Dispatch News the men—30-year-old Michael Mancil and 22-year-old James Dryden Jr.—claim "that God told them to go and blow this machine up that kept souls, so souls could be released." Some conspiracy theorists believe the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program, or HAARP, can control people's minds and the weather. Vickers tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Mancil believes it keeps people's souls from getting to heaven. Last week's arrest of Mancil and Dryden started with an investigation into Mancil for allegedly dealing drugs, WALB reports. Georgia authorities believe the men were bound for Alaska when they were arrested last Thursday in South Georgia. Sheriff Doyle Wooten says the men had an "arsenal": four AR-15 rifles, four handguns, another rifle, thousands of rounds of ammo, and two flak jackets. Vickers tells the Dispatch News the men planned "to try to find a scientist, to steal his car and ID badge to gain access." A spokesperson for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, which took over HAARP from the government in 2014, says they've had threats before but nothing "quite this extreme." HAARP researches Earth's ionosphere, which has an impact on communication and navigation systems.