We kick things off with some discussion on how John got interested in the UFO phenomenon and how blackvault.com started. From there, we talk about blackvault.com's goal of "bringing organization to an unorganized world" of government secrecy and the inherent problems when you receive documents from FOIA requests. John reveals the stunning percentage of documents that came from his own FOIA requests and he explains the fee structure for FOIA requests and how blackvault.com pays for the fees acrued by those requests.

Moving on, we talk about the latest news regarding retroactive reclassification of previously released documents and if this has affected the blackvault.com's archive. John tells us how he determines which documents to request and how the nature of the process ends up causing more requests. John talks about his relationship with the government over the years and if there is much backlash because of his numerous FOIA requests.

After a lengthy discussion on the UFO material at blackvault.com, we find out what other areas John finds to be particularly interesting amongst the documents, notably the infamous MK Ultra. We also cover FBI files on Ufologists and debunkers and John's attempt to get his FBI file.

Wrapping up this week's installment, we discuss the evolution of the internet, getting John's perspective on ten years of working in the medium. From there, we get John's thoughts on Ufology and the internet and why blackvault.com has stayed so viable all these years. He also talks about the plusses and minuses of Ufology on the Internet, how it helps the researchers but may hinder the field as a whole.

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 4 min
2.3.07
214
John Greenewald

Part 1 of 2