Interview: Karyn Dolan.

Q: Having been a guest on your program Through the Keyhole, I’ve noticed that your guests and their topics run the gamut of paranormal interests and involvement. Yet, you personally are more involved in the UFO aspect of paranormal research and interests. That said, is there a reason you choose to have a broad diversity of paranormal related guests and topics?

A: I'm interested in a wide range of paranormal topics, not only UFOs. Because my husband is a well-known author on UFOs, I've gotten to know more people in the UFO research field than in any other; but I'm interested in meeting more people and learning more about other fields as well. Through the Keyhole gives me a great way to do that.

A: Anything out of the ordinary, particularly anything that defies laws of science as we currently understand them. What are those lights in the sky? What are those sounds that come up on tape when no one heard anything in the room? Where did the Starchild Skull come from? How can someone sit in their living room and see what's happening on the other side of the world? There's an unending list of these questions, and I never tire of exploring the answers.

A: Through a friend of mine, Guy Malone of Roswell NM. Guy hosts a show called "Live from Roswell," and he invited me to come on his show as a guest, to talk about what it's like to live with a UFO researcher and author when everyone else was interviewing the researchers themselves. I was skeptical at first that anyone would be interested, but the show went well. We had a great time, and ratings were good. He invited me on again, and even asked me to guest-host for him once when he was at a conference; each time, it was a lot of fun and listeners seemed to enjoy it as well. Finally, Joe Montaldo (our producer at Paranormal Radio Network) offered me a time slot of my own.

I hesitated a little, because I've always been a bit shy and I wasn't sure I could handle a weekly two-hour show on my own. But I realized what a great opportunity this was, and decided that the worst that could happen if I wasn't good at it would be that maybe I'd be embarrassed and I might lose my time slot. That's nothing I can't live through, so I went for it. It's been over two years now, my ratings are still climbing, and I have loyal listeners around the world. I'm so grateful to be able to do this, and to talk with such wonderful people every week. It's a unique chance to discuss paranormal research with the people who are doing it, and to help publicize their work.

A: It came from Keyhole Publishing, which is the name of the company my husband and I established to self-publish his first UFO book (UFOs and the National Security State, Volume 1.) That in turn was an homage to Donald Keyhoe, a U.S. Marine Corps officer who worked hard to promote UFO research in the military. I also like it because it evokes an image of sneaking a peek at something that's being kept hidden.

A: I was sort of pulled into UFO research when Rich wrote his first book. I had never really thought about the topic until then, but I read chapters of his book as he was writing them, and I read some of the books that he was using for research. It didn't take long to realize that there really is something to this field, and the amount of effort put into keeping it all quiet just piqued my interest even more. By the way, for anyone who's new to this field and wants to know why it's worth looking into, I highly recommend Rich's books (shameless plug, I know.) They concern the history of UFO encounters and official military responses to them, and really prove that while our government and military were telling us that UFOs are nothing to be concerned about, they themselves were VERY concerned with the subject. Many documents relating to this topic are classified Top Secret or higher, which makes me wonder what they're hiding from us. That alone makes me want to know more.

A: I've attended many excellent UFO conferences over the years, including the X-Conference in the Washington DC area, the Bay Area UFO Conference in California, the McMinnville UFO Festival in Oregon, and several state MUFON events as well as their International Symposium. I've spoken at the Roswell UFO Festival, the UFO Crash Retrieval Conference in Las Vegas, and the UFO Congress in Bordentown, NJ; and I'm on the Board of Directors of the International UFO Congress, which just held its 19th annual conference in Laughlin, NV.

Last year I did a live broadcast of my show from the New Moon Psychic Fair here in Rochester NY. Rich and I also belong to our local UFO Meetup group, where we have great monthly meetings with others in our city, and get a chance to hear about sightings and experiences here in our own back yard.

A: How I got involved in this field is always a popular question, and it's one that I usually ask my guests as well. It's a great way to get to know someone as a person, to find out what makes them tick. We also talk about my presentations at various UFO conferences, which have to do with mainstream media and how it presents images of aliens and UFOs, especially to children. I believe there's a purpose behind it that dates back to the Robertson Panel report in 1953, in which the CIA recommended using the media to influence public perception of UFOs and even suggests working with Walt Disney. I'm often asked about the 9/11 terrorist attacks as well. Many people know now that I feel there are too many discrepancies between the official story of the events of that day, and what evidence we have. I feel that we owe it to the victims and their families to find out what really happened.

A: When I look around at a UFO conference, it's true that there usually aren't as many female speakers. But when I look at the audience, there are plenty of women, and they're not all there with their husbands and boyfriends. They're just as knowledgeable and inquiring as the men. One thing I have noticed is that there seem to be more women involved in counseling people who are dealing with trauma resulting from UFO contact experiences. So maybe it's just that more men are concerned with new research and with presenting their findings, and more women are interested in helping others work through their trauma. Both are very important, so I think it's great that people are working in both areas. I would like to point out, though, that there are many excellent female researchers. Paola Harris, Linda Moulton Howe, Ann Druffel, Barbara Lamb, Farah Yurdozu -- these are just a few names that come to mind, of people I know personally, and I know there are many more out there. I almost think we should stop worrying about the gender of researchers, though. It's a little like saying, "we have all these dark-haired UFO researchers, where are the blondes?" Unless there's a real effort to exclude a particular group, which would need to be dealt with, I think we should just focus on the research itself and not worry so much about whether it's being done by a man or a woman.

A: Just last week, I interviewed Dan Green about his work in tracing the final resting place of Mary Magdalene. During the course of his research, he found what he believes are indications that she was not only married to Jesus, but was carrying his child...and that she was murdered to prevent the continuation of the bloodline. I didn't realize when I scheduled this interview that it would fall on Good Friday, of all days, and one person did write in to complain. Among other things, she wrote, "What's next, a show on the 9/11 conspiracy on September 11?" I didn't want to tell her that I had already done that. On 9/11/09, I did a show on the discrepancies in the official story, with a plea for the truth of what happened to those people to be revealed. I felt it was a tribute to the families and to the victims themselves.

A: To be honest, I don't know! I don't have any formal training in broadcasting or interviewing, I just chat with people about their work and try to ask questions I think my listeners would ask if they were there. I do encourage listeners to contact me, by phone, e-mail or instant messaging, during the show and I always try to relay pertinent questions and comments to my guests. But I think people just like the down-to-earth feel of my shows. Listeners have told me that they often feel like they're in the room with my guest and me, discussing topics we're all interested in. I don't think of them as my audience, but as participants in the conversation, who happen to need me to relay their comments.

I also try to schedule guests whom I think my listeners would like to talk with. When someone's on a TV program, for example, their story is often edited due to time constraints and other reasons. I like to get these people on my show so we can talk about what was edited out. Since many of my listeners watch such TV programs, this is always interesting and informative.