Five Chinese nationals were charged by U.S. authorities with attempting to hide their tracks and lying, after being confronted more than a month ago in the darkness near a Michigan military base where thousands had gathered during summer drills.

Five University of Michigan students were not charged with what occurred at Camp Grayling, in August 2023. According to a criminal charge filed in federal courts, they are accused instead of lying to investigators about their trip and conspiring with others to delete photos from their phones.

In a court document filed on Tuesday, the FBI stated that college students from China have taken photos of important defense sites in the United States.

The file did not reveal the location of the five men.

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The defendants are not under custody. If they are in contact with U.S. Authorities, they will face these charges and be arrested,” Gina Balaya said, a spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Detroit.

A sergeant-major with the Utah National Guard confronted the five in summer 2023 after midnight, near a nearby lake. The FBI reported that one of the five said “We are the media” before collecting their belongings and agreeing to leave the area.

The FBI discovered that the men booked a motel room a week prior to being spotted near Camp Grayling in Detroit, which is 200 miles north.

Four months after the incident, an individual was interviewed at the Detroit Airport by border agents before he left for South Korea and China. The FBI reported that he told investigators he had traveled with others to northern Michigan in order “to see shooting star.”

The FBI reported that a check of the external hard drive of the suspect revealed two photos of military vehicles taken the same evening as the encounter with the National Guard Officer.

The four other men were interviewed in March last year after they arrived from Iceland on a Chicago flight. The FBI reported that they acknowledged their presence in northern Michigan, in August 2023. However, they claimed to have been there for a meteor show.

According to the criminal complaint, they referred to the National Guard officer as “the camper,” “the soldier,” or just “the nice guy.”

Investigators say that in December last year, the men communicated via WeChat to clear photos from their phones and cameras.

The FBI reported that all five men were graduates of the University of Michigan last spring. The men were part of an international program that was run by the University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in Shanghai.

Two Chinese students pursuing masters degrees at University of Michigan in 2020 were sentenced for taking illegal photos of a Naval Air Station in Key West, Florida.