How can one earn a living within the UFOLOGY field?

All, I was a victim of corporate downsizing last week, in the telecommunications field. I have been selling wholesale telecom services for 14 years, and involved in telecom for more than 30 years in various positions. It is all that I have ever done professionally.

My passion, beyond my wife and kids, is the study of UFOs, Aliens (which I will use loosely to define non-human intelligences) and spirituality. I have been consumed by this quest for knowledge for about three years. In that time I have devoured book after book on the subject, and I have followed current events.

At this point, I think that I have the equivalent of a Masters in UFO study. I have researched and written about many topics in the UFO arena, primarily on message boards like this one.

I feel like a person should be able, ideally, to work in something they are passionate about. Is there any realistic way to make a living in this field? I am writing a book, but I know there are so many good books that are virtually ignored. I don't expect to get rich doing this, but I do need to provide food and shelter for my family.

So, for those already making a living in this field, is it big enough for one more passionate member? Is there any way to make even a modest income in this field?

Thanks for the ideas!

Buy a cheap camera, film balloons from a distance...claim they are UFO's and upload them to Youtube.

You can use this same camera to film planes flying into airports at night too, the cheepness will eliminate the flicker from the strobes just leaving a ball of light which you can claim is also a UFO. There are lots of ways to cheat the public, 1000s of people already use these methods to make money from adverts on Youtube.

Adding a bs story to the description will ensure you get some more views, and it also encourages the gullible to bicker amongst themselves, thus, giving you more views = more revenue.

If you want to make big money from UFO's you have to have little respect for people, you have to play them for all they are worth.

Method 2: View the ISS, see a reflection, edit most of this out, leaving just a couple of frames....make up a bs story about how it just appeared from nowhere then dissipated the same way. Use the claims you make in the thread, masters in UFology, people wont question it, they will assume you were on the ISS taking the footage


Many, many, id say ALL ufo channels produce hoax videos and prey on gullible, ignorant people. It just so happens the majority of people are actually pretty dumb.

Originally posted by AmberLeaf
Buy a cheap camera, film balloons from a distance...claim they are UFO's and upload them to Youtube.

You can use this same camera to film planes flying into airports at night too, the cheepness will eliminate the flicker from the strobes just leaving a ball of light which you can claim is also a UFO. There are lots of ways to cheat the public, 1000s of people already use these methods to make money from adverts on Youtube.

Adding a bs story to the description will ensure you get some more views, and it also encourages the gullible to bicker amongst themselves, thus, giving you more views = more revenue.

If you want to make big money from UFO's you have to have little respect for people, you have to play them for all they are worth.

Method 2: View the ISS, see a reflection, edit most of this out, leaving just a couple of frames....make up a bs story about how it just appeared from nowhere then dissipated the same way. Use the claims you make in the thread, masters in UFology, people wont question it, they will assume you were on the ISS taking the footage

Many, many, id say ALL ufo channels produce hoax videos and prey on gullible, ignorant people. It just so happens the majority of people are actually pretty dumb.

edit on 4-9-2013 by AmberLeaf because: (no reason given)

You are very cynical about this field, UFology. I get it. In many cases you are right, the credibility is low.

I believe there are honest people working in this fascinating field. I would want to align with that camp, and not the charlatans. I believe this is very real, and I would like to help people discover the truth. I actually feel led to help others understand this reality.

reply to post by Jchristopher5


I think writing a book is a god start. Something like "reasons to believe" or"everything you wanted to know about what our government knows". I personally don't know a lot about these so usually don't comment on these threads but I'm always interested in reading them. I say throw yourself into what your passionate about as a way to share your knowledge. After that the money will come.

reply to post by Jchristopher5


Unless you are willing to make everything a UFO you will make nothing from it.
Look at the big Youtube UFO channels, they are all hoaxers full of total crap. ADG, TPOM, xxxDonutzxxx, they make money because their claims are so ludicrous and pull people into lengthy debates about their fake UFO videos.
Young people are exceptionally gullible, i would imagine this is where most of there subscribers come from. Kids who watch sci fi movies, feel different to other people (outcasts, social rejects etc) and find a common ground where they are looked upon as "normal".

UFOlogy has gone down the toilet to the point nothing and no one can be trusted. Pretty much every UFO video i see on here is a bug, plane, balloon, reflection, toy or cgi. Can i prove it....yep, but im not paid to disprove these hoaxes, and it would be very time consuming proving it to people who cant tell their arse from their elbow.

reply to post by Jchristopher5


The question is not wether you can make money from what you love, but wether or not you can do so without selling out your ideals, and making the entire subject look shoddy and false. For instance, you cannot turn yourself into Steven Greer without sacrificing your legitimacy, your self respect, and so on.

You could go to merchandising, but that has massive pitfalls.

If you are telecoms capable, you could try to create a network of users who have telescopes attached to thier PCs, to track UFOs from region to region, although that could be tricky. You could charge a fee for network inclusion. What you could also do, is look for people who have fairly high level skills in programming and object recognition technology, and get them in on it, so that they could create programs which would allow the network to operate automatically, and return its results, no matter wether the user is actively using the service at the time or not.

Another thing you could do, with the images created by this system, is offer the user whose telescope recorded the presence of such UFOs as might appear, the oppertunity to earn a small percentage from the sale of these images.

I would most definitley be cautious of any attempt to make money which collapses your legitimacy as a commentator and researcher however.

I really hope you find a way to balance your interests with your ability to make money. Best of luck !

Write books about the subject. That's how many earn their keep in this field.

Of course there are many less honest ways of also earning money in Ufology:

Getting monetary clicks off of YouTube videos.

Creating hoaxes, and then selling the information (or trying to).

Convince people you are in contact with aliens, then get paid to go on talk shows, etc.

I hope you, instead, try to make a honest trade from it.

reply to post by AmberLeaf
i couldnt do that i couldnt make money by false info i once tried selling perfume on ebay i was doing really well untill i found out it was fake i just cant do that to others my conscious wont let me lol

reply to post by Jchristopher5


If you are going to or are already writing a book on ufology, DON'T fill it with weak material, if you are really serious about writing and not doing it with the intentions of supporting your family, then you may get published and manage to sell a few copies... it's not an easy field to farm, and it should only be tackled if you are serious about your subject... I think you may well have to go and find new employment and give your free time to your family and your book, of course if it becomes a best seller you may get to stay at home and go insane/or take up a hobby outside of ufology (recommended, if you get this far) and write more books.. anyway good luck with it.

reply to post by AmberLeaf


My problem with your opinion is, it seems you're waiting for proof of Extraterrestrials by sitting in front of a computer screen. You won't find it that way. No-one will.

Ask Steven Greer, he's made thousands from ufology

reply to post by Jchristopher5

Check into Jaime Maussan, seems make a living on the UFO subject.
He has a BA in Radio and Television from Miami University.
The secret seems to be a willingness to lie and fake evidence.

Nobody has mentioned the talk show circuit.
I think this is where the real money is made. The books are effectively promotion tools, so the speaker can be advertised as "......, author of....". But then charging $100 for saying the same thing as what's written in your books is the real earner.
Even better if you've EVER been employed (even for one day) at a job you can use as marketing leverage. "Area-51 worker", "Nuclear physicist" etc...

If you can give lectures, just come up with something and repeat it for the next 40 years or so like Stanton Friedman

I think its a little negative of some posters in this thread, to point out examples of people who have made money via falsehood, without trying to help the OP come up with ways of making money in the field they love while avoiding sacrificing thier ideals and the legitimacy (what ever may remain of it anyway) of the field of UFOlogy.

Whats the point of jeering if you have nothing constructive to say on the subject? It shows a deep lack of imagination and understanding to do such a thing, and I find it difficult to accept from the otherwise intelligent and thoughtful membership of this site.

Be wary of the old statement "Follow you bliss."
Your family obligations dictate that you not do that to the extent of living (economically) dangerously in the attempt. Is there even initial support there for such a move?
Write a book? Sure! Whip one out about UFOs/ETs etc. The focus of it needs to be new and topical to get any attention. You have some special niche you can expand into an outline? Be sure not to starve, need medical coverage or miss a mortgage payment while you type away. Got time to wait for weeks waiting for publisher to get back to you with rejection slips?
Are you organized, a good speaker? you must be able to get out there and sell yourself as credible and sell your unique twist on the topic 24/7. One fellow makes gigi-bucks with his spiel but to capture the audience, you gotta almost make it a religion and not be squeamish about the I.Q. level of those you attract.
The government may be hiring some new debunkers. Some of the oldies are dying out and some of these remaining are getting very tiresome.
You may want to turncoat. It worked for Sagan when he found it was professional suicide to be pro-UFO.
Lastly, you may get hired by the government to seemingly be pro-UFO, but secretly be working to retell the history of the UFO in a more favorable light. Some folks appear to do that.

Making a living off of the UFO topic is a great way to experience failure first-hand.
(Of course, part of this is written with caustic sarcasm and attempts at dark humor. Those come naturally with the territory.)

reply to post by Jchristopher5

I don't expect to get rich doing this, but I do need to provide food and shelter for my family.

You probably won't even earn a living doing this , if you want to provide for your family you will need to get a regular job .

Is there any way to make even a modest income in this field?

Youtube ! , but honesty doesn't pay so as already mentioned you would need to become the next Thirdphase or ANW and judging by your OP I don't think you'd want to do that .

Ufology is dying , write fiction and self publish

Media in general is your best bet start a blog about it + get a couple of adverts in there, write a book (it's reeeaaally easy to self publish Kindle books) and maybe if you get well known enough you could start doing TV programs

I would say find some well known UFOlogists, find what they do and copy it. If it worked for them, it should work for you

Popular Name: Erich von Daniken

Full Name: Erich Anton Paul von Daniken

Born Birth Date: 14 April 1935

Age in Years: 75 years old

Place of Birth: Zofingen, Aargau, Switzerland in Europe

Profession: Author primarily on the subject of extraterrestrials aliens

Artistic Talents: Master of the pan flute

Claim to Fame: Wrote the best selling book about aliens extraterrestrials of all time in history ever called Chariots of the gods? on the topic of extraterrestrials aliens in particular ancient alien extraterrestrial astronauts visiting early Humans during the dawn of the recorded history of Mankind many, many thousands of years ago.

Writing Achievements: Sold over 60 million books concentrating on theories about extraterrestrials aliens visiting Earth in the distant past.

Financial Net Worth: $ 75 million U.S. dollars

sour ce

A more important question is can someone make living from the ufology field without making up lies?