John Lear – renowned test-pilot son of Learjet inventor Bill Lear – became a prominent ufologist in the 1980s after flying CIA contract missions around the world. In March 1989 Lear introduced an anonymous scientist he called "Dennis" (later revealed as Bob Lazar) to KLAS-TV reporter George Knapp.
When Lear walked into the Las Vegas newsroom he was carrying what Knapp would later describe as "a thick dossier" on Lazar.12
That packet convinced Knapp to spend months vetting the story and eventually air the now-famous Area 51 interviews.
How we know Lear supplied the file
What was in the "dossier"?
Knapp has said those verifiable breadcrumbs – especially the phone-book page and newspaper clipping – persuaded him to keep digging until he felt comfortable broadcasting the first masked "Dennis" interview in May 1989 and the un-masked follow-up that November.
Legacy
Without Lear's bundle of papers the Lazar saga – and much of modern Area 51 folklore – might never have entered the mainstream. Although later researchers have challenged both Lazar's credentials and Lear's more sensational claims, the dossier episode remains a pivotal moment in UFO history.