George Knapp
Knapp at the 68th Annual Peabody Awards
Born
Woodbury, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of the Pacific (M.A.)
University of West Georgia (B.A.)
Occupation(s)Journalist and talk radio host
Known forAward-winning journalism
UFO journalism
Coast to Coast AM
TelevisionKLAS-TV

George T. Knapp is an American television investigative journalist, news anchor and talk radio host in Las Vegas, NV. Beginning in the late 1980s,[1] Knapp became one of the first main stream investigative journalists to report extensively about UFO/UAP and high strangeness cases,[2][3] alternatively known as UFO conspiracy theories.[4] Knapp's investigative work as a journalist has been recognized with five regional and two national Edward R. Murrow Awards, two Peabody Awards, and twenty-four Pacific Southwest Regional Emmy Awards,[5][6] nine-time winner of the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for best Newswriting and selected by United Press International as best in the nation for Individual Achievement by a Journalist.[7]  

A longtime fixture in Las Vegas media Knapp began work at KLVX-TV Channel 10 as a part-time studio cameraman and production assistant. In 1981, KLAS-TV hired him as a general assignment reporter and co-anchor. Since 1995, Knapp has been the chief reporter on Channel 8's I-Team investigative unit.[7]

Knapp is also a weekend host (3rd and 4rth Sundays of the month) on Coast to Coast AM,[8] a syndicated paranormal radio show.[9] He is known for his work investigating UFO claims, which are a frequent topic of Coast to Coast.[10][11]

Early life

Born in Woodbury, New Jersey, Knapp grew up in Northern California and graduated from Franklin High School in Stockton, where he was the senior class president.[12] He earned a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of West Georgia and a master's degree in the same field from the University of the Pacific.[12] He taught debate and forensics at both the University of the Pacific and University of California, Berkeley.[12]

He moved to Las Vegas in 1979, working first as a cab driver before being hired as an intern at KLVX-TV Channel 10.[12] From there, Knapp was hired as a reporter and news anchor for KLAS-TV in 1981.[12]

Career

In 1981, Knapp joined KLAS-TV in Las Vegas as a reporter, news anchor and investigative journalist. In 1989, Knapp’s career gained national and international attention after airing an interview with Robert "Bob" Lazar[13] regarding his work at the secretive Area 51 out in the Nevada desert. Lazar alleges UFO/UAP alien technology had been acquired by our military and Lazar was working to determine how it functioned, to take it apart and duplicate the unknown technology.[14][13][15]

Then, because of the Lazar series and their interest in the UFO topic Knapp met with two people who would become the most important people in the UFO/UAP history of the subject, billionaire Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow and Senator Harry Reid (NV).[14] Bigelow and Reid later got together and created the biggest UFO study program ever launched by the US Government. Bigelow has subsequently spent more money investigating UFO’s and related mysteries than any person in the history of the world.[14]

In 1990, Knapp's stories on UFOs earned him an "Individual Achievement by a Journalist" award from the United Press International.[16]

In 1991, Knapp left KLAS to work for Altamira Communications, a public relations firm whose clients included advocates of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository 90 miles (140 km) north of Las Vegas.[17] Knapp was rehired by KLAS-TV in the mid-1990s when he left the public relations firm.

In 1993, Knapp traveled to the former USSR to investigate UFO/UAP cases, which had its own 10-year UFO program and detailed alarming technological capabilities which the government hoped to study and reproduce.[2]

Knapp directed the documentary film UFO's the Best Evidence (1994)[18] Winner of 2 EBE Awards including Best Film and Best Historical Documentary at the International UFO Congress Film Festival.[19]

He wrote a regular "Knappster" column for the now-defunct alternative newsweeklies Las Vegas Mercury and Las Vegas CityLife.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Knapp was given long-term access to the work of the now-defunct group National Institute of Discovery Science (NIDS). Founded by Las Vegas businessman Robert Bigelow, NIDS was charged with studying the unusual phenomena at the Skinwalker ranch using main stream science and scientists.[2] In 2005, based on his work with NIDS and biochemist Colm Kelleher, Knapp published The Hunt for Skinwalker Ranch: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah about the Skinwalker Ranch in northeast Utah, where events of high strangeness are alleged to have occurred.[20][21]

KLAS-TV created Mysterywire[3] to host many of Knapp's original news stories and other items not found in mainstream news.

On January 10, 2023, George Knapp premiered the podcast Weaponized along with American Ufologist and filmmaker Jeremy Corbell discussing a wide range of topics including events of high strangeness and current state of ufology.[22]

On July 26, 2023, Knapp attended and provided a 4-page statement [2] to the National Security Subcommittee hearing on UAP’s. Knapp's letter was entered into the congressional record by Representative Tim Burchett.[23] In his statement Knapp wrote “Since 1969, the position of our military has been that UFOs pose no threat to national security and are not worthy of further study. This dismissive attitude is directly at odds with what was revealed in documents, reports, and internal memos.” Knapp provided key details from several different US government studies and agencies relating to UFO/UAP's, information which has public and congressional interest but not been widely disseminated.[2]

Knapp has been credited for introducing Nevada senator Harry Reid to Robert Bigelow because of their shared interest in unidentified aerial phenomena.[24][2]

Controversies

However, to Knapp's "eternal shame," during the era of Bob Lazar Knapp publicized the claims of conspiracy theorist Bill Cooper, whom Knapp came to regard as far less credible than Lazar.[12] According to skeptical writer Mick West, "George Knapp was (and still is) very much a believer in aliens, having built a considerable segment of his career in promoting the claims of Area 51 confabulator Bob Lazar as factual".[4]

Awards and Honors

Knapp's work has been recognized with five regional and two national Edward R. Murrow Awards, twenty-four Pacific Southwest Regional Emmy Awards, nine-time winner of the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for best Newswriting and selected by United Press International as best in the nation for Individual Achievement by a Journalist. He has also won a DuPont Award from Columbia University.[16] In 1990 his series about UFOs was  selected by United Press International as best in the nation for Individual Achievement by a Journalist.[5]

Knapp and photojournalist Matt Adams were recognized for their work on the investigative series Crossfire: Water, Power, and Politics that received a 2008 Peabody Award.[25][26]

Knapp, photojournalist Matt Adams, and journalist Colleen McCarty were recognized for their work on the investigative documentary series Desert Underwater that received a 2011 Peabody Award.[27]

Animal welfare

Knapp has been concerned with animal welfare since the beginning of his journalism career. Since hosting occasionally with Coast to Coast AM, he hosts an annual animal welfare broadcast concerning issues, the development of law, animal cruelty and remediation efforts. The 2016 broadcast covered various issues including horses and trophy hunting, noting the almost one year anniversary since the killing of Cecil the lion and the effect the incident was still causing at the date of the show.[28]

References

  1. ↑ "I-Team: A look at how Bob Lazar interviews match up with Pentagon's admission of studying UFOs". KLAS. 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Georg Knapp Congressional Record" (PDF). George Knapp Congressional Record. July 2023.
  3. 1 2 Mysterwire.com (2019-09-03). "About Mystery Wire". Mystery Wire. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  4. 1 2 West, Mick (26 August 2021). "UFOs: Beliefs, Conspiracies, and Aliens". Skeptical Inquirer. Center For Inquiry, Inc. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
  5. 1 2 "George Knapp" – 8NewsNow.com
  6. ↑ "EMMY® Awards - NATAS PSW - National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Pacific Southwest Chapter". nataspsw.org. Pacific Southwest Chapter of the National Television Academy. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  7. 1 2 "George Knapp". KLAS. 2019-06-14. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  8. ↑ "George Knapp". Coast to Coast AM. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  9. ↑ George Knapp, I-Team Reporter
  10. ↑ "George Knapp". LasVegasNow.com. KLAS-TV LasVegasNow.com. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  11. ↑ "Coast to Coast AM - Coast Insider". Coast to Coast AM. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2008 Interview with George Knapp.
  13. 1 2 Bob Lazar describes alien technology housed at secret S-4 base in Nevada -- Part 5, retrieved 2024-01-11
  14. 1 2 3 George Knapp reveals the secrets of Area 51, Element 115, Skinwalker Ranch, and much more..., retrieved 2024-01-11
  15. ↑ I-Team: A look back at 1989 Bob Lazar interview; it started new UFO conversations, retrieved 2024-01-11
  16. 1 2 "George Knapp". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  17. ↑ Scope Magazine Article on George Knapp, SCOPE Magazine Volume 4, Issue 11, February 1996 Pg. 6-8
  18. ↑ Knapp, George (2017-08-01). "UFOs: Best Evidence". Apple TV. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  19. ↑ Knapp, George (2005-07-26), UFOs: The Best Evidence, Ufo Video, retrieved 2023-12-30
  20. ↑ Kelleher, Colm & Knapp, George: Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah (Paraview Pocket Books, 2005 ISBN 1-4165-0521-0)
  21. ↑ Path of the Skinwalker, George Knapp, 28 November 2002
  22. ↑ "WEAPONIZED with Jeremy Corbell & George Knapp on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. 2023-12-19. Retrieved 2023-12-25.
  23. ↑ "National Security Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena". United States House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. 2023-12-27. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  24. ↑ How Harry Reid, a Terrorist Interrogator and the Singer From Blink-182 Took UFOs Mainstream , Politico, Bryan Bender, 2021-05-28
  25. ↑ "Eyewitness News I-Team Wins Peabody Award". KLAS-TV. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2 April 2009.
  26. ↑ "Crossfire: Water, Power and Politics". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  27. ↑ "Desert Underwater". The Peabody Awards. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  28. ↑ Coast to Coast AM evening broadcast, 18 June 2016.

Mystery Wire

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