We talk about lack of young people in Ufology and what can be done to fix this problem. He tells us about his first big interview with NBC when he was just 17 and how Ufology's lack of "coolness" in the mainstream hurts the field, when it comes to drawing in younger people. He reflects on the scene at UFO conventions and how they provide a great outlet for people interested in the phenomenon.

John talks about how he tailors his UFO television work to address this problem of Ufology's public perception. He also emphasizes the need for newcomers to be more persistent in the face of potential "shunning" from those already inside the field of Ufology. John addresses binnall's theory that the 911 Truth Movement is drawing away young people from Ufology.

John observes how young people could improve Ufology, by bringing a fresh perspective to the subject. He also addresses how he is trying to change Ufology through his work. He points out that at this point there is another generation of people coming along, younger that John, that Ufology needs to appeal to. We talk about two somewhat problematic aspects to Ufology drawing young people : potential career problems with being a part of UFO studies and the potential for contributing a lifetime to the field and never getting any solid answers. This segues into a discussion on the legacy J. Allen Hynek and how the early generation of Ufologists paved the way for future generations.

From there, we find out about John's experience breaking into Ufology as a young person and some of the key people who helped him get acclimated to Ufology. He addresses one of the big challenges for anyone getting into Ufology and what he recommends for newcomers in Ufology. We talk about what sets Ufology apart from some other areas of research, both helping and hindering the field.

Moving on, we talk about blackvault.com's Project Preserve History. John talks about some of the cool historical material being collected by the Project via blackvault.com visitors. He also discusses the strange trend in UFO historical records being lost and ending up on ebay.

John tells us about the return of Black Vault Radio Network, why he decided to bring it back and what we can expect from it in the future. Wrapping it up, he tells us what's coming up in the new year for blackvault.com and the goal for the end of 2007 with the website.

On a final note, John talks about a couple of his TV projects that are re-airing amongst the schedule on the History Channel, "Alien Encounters" and "UFO Files : Hangar 18".

John Greenewald, Jr. is a research/activist who began researching government conspiracies at the age of 15, and wrote his first book Beyond UFO Secrecy at 20. Over the last ten years, he has developed his website, blackvault.com, into one of the internet's premiere resources for esoteric information in the form of declassified government documents obtained via the FOIA.

Blackvault.com is the largest online community of its kind in the world with over 440,000 declassified government documents, over 15,000 archived news articles, and over 14,000 photographs of military aircraft and UFOs. It has been called one of the largest technological achievements on the internet and has won over 60 awards.

John Greenewald is also an accomplished television producer, having helped create a variety of programs for The History Channel, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and many others. He is also the host of a twice weekly podcast series, Black Vault Radio.

His website is, of course, www.blackvault.com

topics discussed:
1 hr 6 min
2.10.07
215
John Greenewald

Part 2 of 2