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WW : Thanks for the opportunity to tell your readers a little bit about myself and the Archive!
BoT : You are the creator and curator of the Project Blue Book Archive. Can you tell us what was it that began your interest in UFO’s, i.e. the first influences and why that got you interested?
WW : My father had an interest in UFOs as far back as I can remember so I developed a parallel interest at a fairly early age. Unfortunately, my father was poorly educated and therefore the quality of the literature to which I was exposed was likewise extremely poor. This led to my dismissal of the subject as basically nonsense in my teen years as I became better educated......
Fast forward about 20 years or so, I sat down one night to relax on the sofa with my wife, turned on the television, and started watching a UFO documentary that happened to be on. While I wasn’t particularly impressed with much of what I saw, the Malmstrom AFB/Robert Salas case was mentioned and piqued my interest. I think in particular I was impressed with the fact that there was some official acknowledgement that something unusual had happened and thought the primary witness seemed fairly credible.
This got me thinking about why I had, up to that point, dismissed out of hand the Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (ETH) as a possible explanation for particularly perplexing UFO sightings. As much as I hate to admit it, it turns out that my rejection of the ETH wasn’t based on sound logic but rather a rejection of my father’s fascination with the most outlandish aspects of UFO mythology. In fact, my basic assumption that life is probably prevalent throughout the universe combined with my optimism about the possibility that humans will one day travel to other star systems generally tended to support the notion that we might expect to be visited by advanced alien intelligence. At that point, I started to turn my attention to an examination of the available evidence to see where the facts led.
BoT : You work in software development, but you also write. When did you start your writing and research?
WW : I haven’t written much about the UFO phenomenon as I’m still familiarizing myself with the field. I started this research about three years ago when I first started to take UFO phenomenon seriously as an adult.
BoT : What makes you want to write or speak about these things?
WW : To the extent that I want to write or speak about UFO phenomenon it is to try to impress upon the more serious minded thinkers in academia that their rejection of the subject might be premature. Most of what one might watch or read about UFOs screams fantasy and pseudoscience and so their rejection is understandable but ultimately misguided if they haven’t bothered to look at some of the better evidence. Even there though, it can be awfully hard to get one’s hands on the original source materials that constitute much of the better evidence available which is why I decided to create the Blue Book Archive.
BoT : Do you consider your career to be writing? Or software development? How do you manage to mix the two?
WW : My career is definitely software development. Writing is something I’ve done more for pleasure since graduating with a liberal arts degree. It’s fairly easy to mix the two as I like to keep busy!
BoT : Do you find your writing/research easy or not?
WW : Writing I find a bit difficult as I’m a bit of a perfectionist. Research is fairly easy with the right tools (like Google!) which is another reason I created the Blue Book Archive.
BoT : What’s the easiest thing about your writing or research?
WW : The easiest thing about writing and research is coming up with topics that are worth the effort.
BoT : What’s the hardest?
WW : The hardest thing about writing and research is focusing on just one topic without getting distracted by other topics or ideas that are also worthy of one’s interest and effort.
BoT : You maintain the Project Blue Book Archive, so I assume you have an opinion about the phenomenon of UFO’s. Could you tell us briefly the main concepts behind your views?
WW : My opinion is that UFO phenomena are worth studying with an eye toward determining if they represent some form of contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. To reprise what I mentioned earlier, if one seriously considers the possibility that intelligent extraterrestrial life is prevalent in our galaxy AND one is optimistic about the future of human space travel, manned or unmanned, a skeptical but open minded interest in UFO phenomena seems justified.
BoT : Who are your favourite researchers/writers?
WW : I’ll list these folks in alphabetical order and mix researchers and writers together.
Jerome Clark’s UFO Encyclopedia is absolutely essential. Anyone with a serious interest in the subject of UFOs should read these two volumes cover to cover. Incidentally, Brad’s RB47 case analysis appears between the covers of these hefty tomes.
Richard Hall’s UFO Evidence and UFO Evidence II are equally important works on the subject. His impact on the field spans decades and is almost impossible to overstate. His Journal of UFO History is a must read.
Brad Sparks’ contribution has been a bit behind the scenes over the years but nevertheless he has been very influential. His analysis of the RB47 case alone qualifies him for this list. Beyond that, his knowledge of the subject is encyclopedic and factually all but unerring. We can only hope that he’ll one day publish his unfinished manuscript.
As a researcher, Francis Ridge has really taken the bull by the horns and assembled a great team to provide content for his web-site at http://www.nicap.org. He works tirelessly and without publicity and responds to criticism without emotion. If something is incorrect or needs massaging he sees that it is done.
There are many others who deserve to be mentioned like Wendy Connors, Dr. Mark Rodeghier, Dr. Michael Swords, and of course J. Allen Hynek, Donald Keyhoe, and Edward Ruppelt.
BoT : The Book of THoTH is about bringing a greater resource of wisdom for those who want to explore further, what would be your message to those who are just beginning in their quest?
WW : Be skeptical, use the scientific method, and don’t fall prey to the will to believe: stay objective!
BoT : There are many skeptics of UFO’s. What would you say to them?
WW : If a skeptic has seriously examined the evidence and concluded that the evidence supporting any particular theory to explain UFOs is lacking then I certainly wouldn’t criticize them. If their rejection of the ETH or of the existence of UFO phenomena in general is simply a knee-jerk reaction then I would say they should take a hard look at the evidence before coming to any firm conclusion. If they refuse to do any significant amount of research and yet vociferously attack those with an interest in the subject then I think they are being intellectually dishonest and need to seriously reflect on their values.
BoT : Where do you see yourself in say 5 years time, and what will you have achieved?
WW : Hopefully I’ll be back in college working to complete a doctoral degree in Psychology. (And, for the record, this work will have no relationship to my interest in the subject of UFOs. I am not a fan of hypnotherapy and won’t be performing any regressions or working with abductees in any way.)
BoT : Have you any advice for people wanting to follow in your footsteps?
WW : Realize that since there is no Ph.D. program in Ufology you’ll need to spend years educating yourself using the best available sources. As a result, getting a good education in Ufology is more difficult than getting an equivalent degree in some other field of study. If you can, find a way to contribute your work back to the community but save your analysis and reflection on the subject for the years that follow your necessarily lengthy period of study.
BoT : What are the best resources that people can use to learn more about your area of interest/research?
WW : With all humility, I’d submit that The Project Blue Book Archive itself is a great resource and continues to expand. I’ve already mentioned Jerome Clark’s two-volume UFO Encyclopedia and Richard Halls UFO Evidence and UFO Evidence II. These three books along with Edward Ruppelt’s Report on Unidentified Flying Saucers will get you off to a good start. Errol Bruce-Knapp’s UFOUpdates mailing list is a great place to search for answers to specific questions once you know who is worth listening to and who to avoid like the plague.
Beyond the realm of Ufology proper, you should familiarize yourself with a general knowledge of cosmology, astrobiology, and SETI research as these people are your peers whether they accept you as such or not. Convincing the masses is far less important than convincing intellectual and political leaders so make sure you can hold you own in a conversation with them.
BoT : How’d you come to be involved with the New Frontiers Symposium?
WW : Paul has supported the Project Blue Book Archive almost since its inception and is keen to promote young(ish) Ufologers so I think the invitation derived from those two facts. What’s more, Paul seems like a great guy with a level-headed, skeptical, and yet serious interest in UFO phenomena. Frankly, I can’t think of another UFO conference I’d consider speaking at.
BoT : What’s your talk at the symposium going to be about?
WW : Basically it will be about Project Blue Book and the Project Blue Book Archive. I’ll start off with a brief history of Project Blue Book, provide an inside look at the Archive itself and explain its mission, and finally end with an examination of select UFO cases that highlight the contribution the Archive has already made to recent research and analysis.
BoT : Are there any projects that you’re currently working on?
WW : My only project at the moment is to improve the archive in terms of functionality and content. Maybe when I retire I’ll have time to do more.
BoT : Any final message for the members of The Book of THoTH and the rest of the world?
WW : Avoid all of the pseudo-scientific and pseudo-religious topics that tend to latch themselves on to the core UFO phenomenon. While this core, in my opinion, represents a true mystery worthy of scientific attention, lumping in abductions, crop circles, and Bigfoot sightings only serves to sabotage efforts at serious research.
BoT : Thank you for the interview Will. I really appreciate the time you took out for this, and I hope you have a great time at the symposium. I look forward to talking to you afterward and finding out how it all went.
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