MYSTERY WIRE — In episode 3 of the Mystery Wire podcast, George Knapp talks about continues his conversation with former news director Bob Stoldal before turning to a new topic: Bob Bigelow.
Bigelow has spent tens of millions of dollars of his own money in pursuit of the UFO topic.
He is still deeply interested in it.
But since December 2017 when the New York Times came out with a blockbuster story about the existence of a program called AATIP, and the release since of U.S. Navy videos verified as legitimate UFO sightings, Bigelow has been publicly silent.
Previously, in an interview on “60 Minutes,” Bigelow said he thinks aliens are already here.
Now, Knapp asks Bigelow for his opinion on what’s been happening recently in the chase for UFO information.
That 5-minute clip will premiere on the Mystery Wire’s YouTube channel on Friday. Watch our social channels for an announcement, and subscribe on YouTube.
Podcast host Ron Futrell and Knapp also talk about the Tonopah Test Range — informally called Area 52 — and the F-117 Nighthawk fighter. It’s been retired for 11 years, but observers still spot it in the sky frequently.
Below, some highlights from the Stoldal interview about the 1989 series, “UFOs: The Best Evidence.”
“There’s enough mythology in UFOland. And so, Area 51 is a fact.”
Bob Stoldal, former KLAS-TV news director
Stoldal: I had questions about this topic, because … as you do the research in it, you find so much garbage, so much National Enquirer crap that’s out there, but I will tell you, even amongst some of the garbage reporting, there would be one little piece of information, there may have been a nugget, there may have been something in there that you could add to the this-or-that.
Knapp: It’s daunting to separate wheat from chaff in this field. It draws profiteers and crazy people, and people with wild imaginations like nothing else.
Stoldal: Well, and it’s also … I think though that within … there were already people within the UFO research industry … cottage industry … that were credible. But they just couldn’t, they couldn’t be heard. They didn’t have the resources, and so when we came along, it helped them with their stories.
Stoldal continues, talking about the groundswell of interest in the UFO topic. He said there are plenty of regular people with stories to tell, but they are often overshadowed.
“I think that you gave voice to those people,” Stoldal tells Knapp. “You may not have interviewed them, but the fact is when somebody else would look at their research, they’d say, “Oh, wow … well, maybe …”
Stoldal suggests it may have taken more courage to cover the Area 51/UFO story than it did to cover organized crime.
