Star Knowledge UFO Conference
Interview with Jim Greenan
( with "Illinois" Shapiro, June 1996 )
Star Knowledge
UFO Conference
June 14th, 1996
Wagner, South Dakota( JS: - Joshua Shapiro; JG: Jim Greenan,
transcribed by Michael Furfey & Joshua Shapiro, July, 1996)
(Editor's Note: Jim and his wife had a booth at the Star Knowledge Conference, next to our booth for sharing crystal skull information and a chance to visit with "ET", the smoky quartz skull present -- so he was not a speaker. He and his wife started the International UFO Center in Florida and had all kinds of UFO related products and books ... so here is the interview with this very likable and interesting ufologist ....)
JS: Today is June 14th (1996) and we are with Jim Greenan of the International UFO Center from Florida. Jim has talked to everyone under the sun that's been involved with UFO's. He's agreed to kind of share some of his own experiences or just some information that he knows that he thinks might be important for others. Jim, how did you get involved with UFO's originally?
JG: I had a very dramatic sighting in 1957 when I was in the Air Force. Daylight, up very close, to the point you could throw a rock off the side of it. It gets your attention very fast.
JS: What did the ship look like?
JG: It was what we call a typical cigar-shape, approximately 60 to 70 feet long, 10 to 15 feet high.
JS: When you came back did you report what you saw?
JG: I did not report my sighting.
JS: So, they didn't interrogate you or anything like that?
JG: No. I was very fortunate of that. This happened in 1957, they were called at that time 'flying saucers', and I assumed if there were such a thing they were all saucer- shaped. This was not saucer-shaped, so not until about 5 years later did I find out "My gosh, they're not all saucer-shaped". I picked up a book by Major Keyhole, and in that book they had the craft that I saw.
JS: Prior to your first sighting did you believe in UFO's or not?
JG: I never thought about it one way or the other.
JS: So then after you saw it you knew without a shadow of a doubt that there are such things?
JG: Oh, absolutely, yes.
JS: Did you start to do any personal research to find out more about what you saw?
JG: I started reading books, I would occasionally read some books but I didn't get really heavily involved with UFOs until about the last 15 years.
JS: You also mentioned to me that you have a UFO museum in Orlando?
JG: That's correct. We opened a museum in August of '92. We had an international drive for our museum for 15 months and unfortunately, due to circumstances we had to close it up.
JS: What kind of response did you have to the museum from the people who visited you while it was open?
JG: We had almost a 100% positive response from it. Because the people who didn't believe in this stuff or were scared of it wouldn't come in. It was quite interesting to observe the personalities of these people. Maybe a husband and wife would walk up, the wife was still outside and the husband would walk in, and vice versa. In some cases both would walk in. But for some of the people who passed by, it was against their religious beliefs and they'd stay outside. People with no intention of coming in that walked by, as soon as they saw the posters we had on the outside windows, they would actually shy like a horse, they bolted away from the store. It was interesting sitting there and observing the reaction of people as they walked by.
JS: What kinds of things did you have in your museum?
JG: Well, mainly there were photographs from around the world, various documents and things like this. I did have some physical evidence, earth samples and charred parts of trees that they (the craft purportedly) sat under, stuff like that.
JS: Here at the conference you're selling various (UFO) products. Has this been something you've been doing for a while?
JG: I started the International UFO Center in 1991 because I felt there was a need for hats, T-shirts, bumper stickers, UFO paraphernalia, and nobody was selling it. I started up recently selling MUFON products. I got permission from Walt Andress (the president) to use his registered logo -- Normally one is not allowed to use it right now. Then from there I branched up to other things, because not every Ufologist is a MUFON member. And (now) we started basically to go the road to the (UFO) conventions in our spare time.
JS: So this is not a full time job for you?
JG: Absolutely is a full time job.
JS: And you are able to make enough income to survive?
JG: I am surviving, that's all. No, you're not going to get rich in this field. You ask any Ufologist who has tried.
JS: I've been watching you, you seem to know almost everyone (all the UFO speakers and researchers) here. How did you know all these UFO researchers and people?
JG: Last year, 1995, I put in 15 months, I put 75,000 miles on my vehicle. So I attended a lot of conventions. I will probably be attending somewhere around 12-14 conferences this year. So you get to know all the speakers, all the ufologists. Some of these people who don't go to the conventions like Lee and Brett Elders and Wendell Stevens goes to ones, once in a while. Yes, we get to meet them all.
JS: So out of all these people that you are meeting, who are your favorite researchers or speakers that you think have the most significant message they are sharing with the public?
JG: Well I think that one of the greatest ufologists that ever lived is Colonel Wendell Stevens. Probably one of the greatest speakers is Bob Dean. Bob I feel is probably one of the very very few ufologists that really knows what is going on. And I admire the guy.
JS: Have you ever done any speaking about UFOs yourself?
JG: Occasionally, I don't like to do it. I have talked to Rotary Clubs, I have been on radio, TV ... its something that I don't search out or seek to do. I consider myself like a sergeant in this field, not an officer. I gather information, I have gathered a lot of information. I have talked to people all over the world. I receive the information and I turn it over to the officers. I do not seek to have my name in the highlights, I prefer to be in the background.
JS: When you said the officers in your last statement, could you expand upon which officers you are referring to?
JG: We're talking about the top researchers, the Wendell Stevens, the Bob Deans, the Lee & Brett Elders, you know, I could go on, the Stanton Friedmans, etc ....
JS: What cases can you discuss that you think are highly relevant or significant in absolutely showing that we are having UFO contact or visitation.
JG: All right, let me answer this way, I am going to side- step the question a little bit. In my travels including the museum that we had open for 15 months, where we had somewhere close to 15,000 people come through our museum. I have got stories from all over the world, no mind me, these are only stories, they can not be proven. We had three Russian scientist come in, on three different occasions. Probably 35-40% of the people that came into our museum were from out of this country (U.S.). I consider myself a man of ten thousand stories. Also in our travels last year, we usually haul a trailer, an 14 foot enclosed trailer which has a huge UFO on the side including our UFO International Center name. There is hardly a time that we stopped for gas or to eat, or anyplace, that people were waiting for us at the trailer wanting to know what it is we are doing or what the sign on the trailer was all about.Just coming up here to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, I got a couple good stories. I am not bashful, I wear my T-shirts I sell that say that UFOs are Real or whatever on it. I get a tremendous amount of stories. Stories that I have not told to anybody about this. And you get to know all these people who have stories. After talking with so many people over so many years, you get to know who is creditable and who is not creditable. And we have had people who work for the government intelligence come in to the museum and give me some information that I prefer not to say. Again, stories, a lot of stories.
JS: Is there any of these stories you can share that are memorable or that you think are very significant or relevant to things that are happening right now related to acknowledging the existence of UFOs?
JG: I will share one with you. This occurred in the museum. A gentleman from Mexico came in. He is a full bird colonel in the Mexican Army. He brought his interpreter with him and a pretty young lady. He told me a story which was translated to me since he did not speak English. He told me he stood guard over a crashed UFO in Mexico, I won't give you the year but it was in the 70's. I will not give you his name because he is still in the Mexican Army, he is still on active duty. I have relayed this story to one individual, who went down to Mexico and has confirmed what this colonel told me. That there was a crash in Mexico in the 70's in this particular area. Again, I am a sergeant in ufology, I get the information, I turn it over to one of the other people. Right now, there is another person (at this conference) that I turn some information over to, which if its true is some very good information and will have a big impact.
JS: Based on all your personal experiences or stories that you have heard, what do you believe is happening right now ... why are we having all these UFO sightings, where are we headed.
JG: My thoughts is that nobody, whether they are a human or alien, does anything without a reason. Everything is done for reason including the aliens doing the abductions. They are doing it for a reason. I believe that the aliens are down here for a particular reason. I don't think that all the alien races are down here for a one (the same) particular reason or purpose but each one has their own agenda. (Editor's Note: At this point the tape speed up so fast it was impossible to transcribe what was said ... I will summarize in the next section a few bits of pieces that were understandable .....)
Jim said that after reviewing all the activities of the UFOs, it is up to the ufologists (since the Governments are refusing to share their information with the public) to figure what the aliens reasons are for what they are doing. And when you find the reason then we will find out what the aliens intentions are. So some of the aliens are here to help us and others are here with their own agenda which have nothing to do with us, maybe including some of the abductions. Jim is sure that the aliens who are doing the abductions have what they consider to be a good reason to them.
JS: Thanks Jim for sharing.
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