The Almighty Dollar and Its Influence on the Ufotainment Industry.

Greetings. Conducting legitimate research and investigations costs money. That goes without saying. The publishing of books and the production of documentaries certainly can result in a level of financial gain, however, that can be a slippery slope to negotiate. 

When moneys acquired from the sales of books, pamphlets, and documentaries are put back into the research effort, that is only a productive course of action. The real question is, "Does that always happen?" I won't profess to know the answer to that question, but it should be thought through and carefully considered.

Today's UFO environment is inundated with merchandise; DVDs, bags, caps, mugs, books, papers, t-shirts, lanyards, stickers, and a whole slew of other such items. It can all be overwhelming to look at when browsing through the tables at a UFO themed event, with each and every table overflowing at seemingly every turn. Anyone who has attended a UFO event can testify to that reality. It seems unreasonable to think that a substantial majority of the money made during any UFO event is going towards research efforts, and to be honest, I often wonder if any of that money goes towards research. I honestly don't think it does.

Certainly there are celebrities who are simply out to gain some fame or notoriety, making substantial amounts of money along the way, but those same people are not the most harmful to the UFO environment, some so-called researchers are. Which ones? The researchers who publish multiple books in the same calendar year, every year without fail. (Nick Redfern.) The researchers who embrace hoaxes and promote nonsense. (Richard Dolan, Paola Harris, and Daniel Alan Jones.) The researchers who are not conducting research at all, but are simply celebrities in the UFO crowd, constantly appearing on shows and podcasts, using amateurish labels and nicknames, and/or interacting with others of their unaccomplished and unprofessional ilk. (Peter Robbins.) Unfortunately, these people are far, far too common in today's UFO environment, and they are becoming more and more so as the years without disclosure slowly pass by.

The proof? Just scan your social media feeds. Not much time goes by before a promotional post appears, for a book, or an appearance on a podcast, or some other sensationalized offering. Personal accounts, pages, and groups are chock full of promotional posts, in fact, they are often times the vast majority of the posts on those very same platforms. It's all about self-promotion, and not often enough, about the actual research work. With all the rampant advertising going on, how can we expect to ever resolve the UFO problem if our eyes and minds are distracted by other people's focus; fame, money, notoriety. 

Any legitimate effort to investigate any unsolved issue should be, in a word, legitimate. It too often seems that the UFO environment today is simply an exercise in capitalism, plain and simple. The selling of products, or one's self, is at the forefront of the effort, with legitimate research taking a backseat, or not having a seat at all.

Thank you for your time and consideration.