Command Palette

Search for a command to run...

George Knapp

Journalist

Las Vegas investigative journalist who exposed Area 51, reports UFO phenomena, and hosts Weaponized podcast

Disclosure Rating — 5/10

George Knapp is the veteran investigative journalist for Las Vegas's KLAS-TV. His 1989 interviews with physicist Bob Lazar thrust Area 51 into global culture and opened a career devoted to uncovering secret aerospace programmes.12 Over four decades Knapp has gathered two Peabody Awards, a DuPont-Columbia citation, five national Edward R. Murrow Awards, more than twenty-five regional Emmys and nine Associated Press Mark Twain prizes for writing.3

  Current Roles

Role/TitleOrganization/ShowYears Active
Chief Investigative ReporterKLAS-TV Las Vegassince 19814
Alternate Sunday hostCoast to Coast AMsince 20075
Founder and editor, Mystery Wire archive/podcastMystery Wirelaunched 20206

Knapp co-hosts the weekly WEAPONIZED podcast with filmmaker Jeremy Corbell and anchors the 2024 Netflix series Investigation Alien, extending his newsroom's reach to streaming audiences.78

    Landmark Investigations

YearEvent
1989First shaded then on-camera interviews with Bob Lazar describing reverse-engineering of craft at "S-4," broadcast by KLAS and syndicated nationwide.29
1990United Press International names the Area 51 series "Best Individual Achievement by a Reporter."4
2005Hunt for the Skinwalker published with Colm Kelleher, chronicling scientific studies on Utah's Skinwalker Ranch.10
2017I-Team exclusives support the New York Times disclosure of the Pentagon's AATIP programme; Knapp airs cockpit footage and interviews director Luis Elizondo.11
2021Skinwalkers at the Pentagon released with James Lacatski and Kelleher, detailing DIA's AAWSAP study.12

  Reporting Network

Knapp's long-standing collaboration with Corbell, Kelleher, aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow and the late Senator Harry Reid grants access to witnesses and classified documents that continue to drive national UAP coverage.1314

The Lazar broadcasts transformed Area 51 from a classified range into a symbol of black-budget secrecy and tourism; three decades later Knapp's exclusives primed congressional hearings and executive-branch offices dedicated to UAP study.211

  AAWSAP Insider Reporting

Knapp obtained and published the leaked list of 38 DIA technical papers produced under AAWSAP and Senator Harry Reid's 2009 letter seeking a Special Access Program designation for AATIP, confirming the program's reality years before official release.6

  Skinwalker Ranch Chronicles

Co-author of Hunt for the Skinwalker and later Skinwalkers at the Pentagon, Knapp embedded with investigators on the ranch and documented claims of poltergeist activity and mysterious craft that influenced DIA interest in the site.7

  Criticism of Approach

Detractors argue Knapp blurs the line between journalist and participant, often relying on anonymous sources and sensational claims that lack corroborating data. Nevertheless, he has earned Peabody and Murrow awards for investigative reporting on non-UFO topics, lending him residual credibility.8

  References

  1. ufofest.com

  2. latimes.com 2 3

  3. coasttocoastam.com

  4. ufofest.com 2

  5. coasttocoastam.com

  6. podbay.fm 2

  7. podcasts.apple.com 2

  8. netflix.com 2

  9. youtube.com

  10. books.google.com

  11. wired.com 2

  12. knpr.org

  13. politico.com

  14. podbay.fm

Born on April 18, 1952

3 min read