My Interview With Stanton Friedman

Stanton Friedman has become one of the most well-known and respected Ufologists to date. With a BSc and MSc degree in physics, he has worked as a Nuclear Physicist for 14 years on advanced technologies with a number of leading industrial companies. In 1967, he began lecturing on the topic of flying saucers and has done so at more than 600 colleges and over 100 professional groups in 50 states, 9 provinces and 16 countries. He has published more than 80 UFO papers and appeared on hundreds of radio and TV programs such as Larry King Live. He is the original civilian investigator into the Roswell Incident and co-author of "Crash at Corona: The Definitive Study of the Roswell Incident." He has been referred to by some as "The Godfather of Ufology" and coined the phrase "Cosmic Watergate" to describe the government's lack of disclosure and probable deception.

Recently I contacted Mr. Friedman with 10 questions and he was kind enough to reply.

Aura: What led to your interest and study into the UFO phenomenon?

SF: As a young nuclear physicist working at the General Electric Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Department in 1958 I read Ed Ruppelt’s “The Report on UFOs.” It intrigued me. I read about 15 more books and then discovered “Project Blue Book Special Report No. 14” at the U. of California, Berkeley, Library. It hadn’t been mentioned in the other books. Provided a massive amount of data. The Press release which was included proved the Sec. of the Air Force was lying. The data made an excellent case for some UFOs as alien spacecraft.

Aura: What has been the most challenging aspect to your research.

SF: Hard to compare watermelons and oranges. Lack of funding is a major problem though I have managed to get to 20 Archives. Lies from the government and from ancient academics, fossilized physicists, and a collection of debunkers. Resistance on the part of arrogant ignorant journalists to doing the required homework and admitting their ignorance is another.

Aura: What one incident, in your opinion, has brought forth the best evidence that we have been visited by a craft originating from beyond earth?

SF: Again hard to compare kumquats and papayas. The Betty and Barney Hill case with the very important star map research of Marjorie Fish is at or near the top of the list as described in “Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience” by myself and Kathleen Marden, Betty’s niece. Obviously I am also convinced about the Roswell Incident despite all the false garbage dumped on it by the Piled Higher and Deeper Brigade (PhDs). I discuss this and others in “Flying Saucers and Science“ to be published by June.

Aura: There are many theories regarding the origin of UFOs, what is yours?

SF: I am an experimentalist not a theoretician. The data in the Hill case indicate those aliens came from just down the street from a planet around Zeta 1 or Zeta 2 Reticuli,(the closest to each other pair of sun-like stars in the local neighborhood) 39.2 light years away and a billion years older than the sun and only 1/8th of light year apart from each other. Ours is a very very young “civilization” and I suspect there are loads of others not very far away. There are at least 45 sun-like stars within 55 light years. Because interstellar travel is indeed feasible I expect there has been plenty of colonization and migration.

Aura: A lot of people say that if aliens existed they would have already made themselves known What is your response to this belief?

SF: Why would they? Nobody has provided any evidence to support this belief. They certainly know we know they are here from all the radar tracking we have done. Clearly we are a primitive society whose major activity is tribal warfare. We “only” killed 50 million of our own kind and destroyed 1700 cities in WW 2. Obviously, for all we known, aliens may have had contacts with many governments.. and they are not here to have tea with Earthlings. I deal with others of the “why” questions in an article on my website www.stantonfriedman.com especially in “The UFO Why Questions”. Governments have been very skillful at keeping multi billion dollar programs secret such as the Corona and Poppy Satellites, the stealth fighter, and many other black programs.

Aura: What do you feel has done the most harm to Ufology over the years?

SF: The failure of the press and scientific communities to search for truth.

Aura: What direction do you see Ufology heading in and what are your hopes for its future?

SF: I hope the lid will be blown off the “Cosmic Watergate”;that there will be more college courses taught, and more PhD theses done on UFOs, and there will be international conferences about the implications of our not being alone for religion, economics, science. We need to wake up and smell the universe. Science journals need to be ready to publish good material. Max Plank, a great physicist, once said that “new ideas come to be accepted, not because their opponents come to believe in them, but because a new generation grows up that is accustomed to them”. The old dinosaurs are fading and younger people like John Greenewald and James Carrion and others are moving in.

Aura: What do you suspect are the reasons behind, what some would call, the deliberate suppression of information by governments surrounding UFOs and extraterrestrials?

SF: I give a bunch of reasons in my “UFO Why Questions”. Most important are desire to duplicate the flight characteristics for military purposes, the worry about others beating us to the punch, a desire to remain in power as a nationalistic entity and to keep us from thinking of ourselves as Earthlings. Worry about impact on religion.Wish to avoid admitting that UFOs have apparently destroyed some of our aircraft trying to destroy the UFOs. Orders were given in 1952 to “shoot them down, if they don’t land when instructed to do so”. See Frank Feschino Jr’s book “Shoot Them Down”.

Aura: Many have made claims that they have been abducted by extraterrestrials/alien beings. What is your opinion on abductions and what evidence have you seen that lends credibility to them or detracts from them?

SF: I am convinced that some Earthlings have been abducted by some aliens. Each case must be taken on its own merits. There has been some fine work done by Budd Hopkins, David Jacobs, Ray Fowler, John Mack, Yvonne Smith, John Carpenter, etc. Again I would refer to “Captured!”. There is a general consistency to many accounts that is impressive.

Aura: What advice can you give to amateur Ufologists?

SF: Do your homework. Have facts in hand before putting mouth in gear. There is a lot to learn.

I want to personally thank Mr. Friedman, on behalf of myself and my readers, for taking time to answer my questions.

Go to www.stantonfriedman.com for more information and materials such as books and films about this topic.