William J. "Bill" Birnes (born November 7, 1944) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, the incoming auditor for Solebury Township, Pennsylvania, the chairman of the board at Sunrise Community Counseling Center, and

ufologist Ufology ( ) is the investigation of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by people who believe that they may be of extraordinary origins (most frequently of extraterrestrial alien visitors). While there are instances of government, private, and f ...

Education

Birnes earned a degree from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. In 1974, Birnes earned a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...

from

with a dissertation on ''

Piers Plowman ''Piers Plowman'' (written 1370–86; possibly ) or ''Visio Willelmi de Petro Ploughman'' (''William's Vision of Piers Plowman'') is a Middle English allegorical narrative poem by William Langland. It is written in un-rhymed, alliterative v ...

''. Birnes earned a J.D. degree from

Concord Law School Concord Law School (formerly Concord University School of Law), is an online law school based in Los Angeles, California. It is currently known as Concord Law School at Purdue University Global and is one of several schools within Purdue Univers ...

, a private online law school.Keppel, Robert D., Birnes, William

Academic Press, 2003, p. xii.

Career

Birnes served as a Lily Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and taught literature and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

Trenton State College The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, or ...

UFOlogy

Birnes believes that Earth has been visited by many different types of

extraterrestrials Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside Earth and which did not originate on Earth. No extraterrestrial life has yet been conclusively detected, although efforts are underway. Such life might ...

, and that pictures taken by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

have been airbrushed to remove any evidence of alien activity. Birnes speculates that NASA may have taken missions to the Moon after

Apollo 17 Apollo 17 (December 7–19, 1972) was the final mission of NASA's Apollo program, the most recent time humans have set foot on the Moon or traveled beyond low Earth orbit. Commander Gene Cernan and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt walked on ...

, but these missions were kept secret from the public due to alien interference and new-found extraterrestrial artifacts. Birnes claims that NASA made three additional trips to the Moon; Apollo 18, Apollo 19, and Apollo 20. Additionally, he claims that the

Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (April 1117, 1970) was the seventh crewed mission in the Apollo space program and the third meant to land on the Moon. The craft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 1970, but the lunar landing was aborted aft ...

incident was actually an extraterrestrial attack meant to scare humans away from landing on the Moon. Birnes's credibility was questioned when a UFO sighting over Morris County, New Jersey, on January 5, 2009, was later revealed to be the result of a hoax. The sighting was featured on an episode of '' UFO Hunters'', and Birnes dismissed reports that witnesses saw flares attached to balloons, claiming instead that the movement of lights ruled out the possibility of flares, "a theory "UFO Hunters" has already tested and proven implausible". But on

April Fool's Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

2009, two college students, Joe Rudy and Chris Russo, admitted that they had deliberately launched balloons tied to flares near the local airport on January 5 as a "social experiment on how to create your own media event surrounding UFO sightings...to show everyone how unreliable eyewitness accounts are, along with investigators of UFOs."

Media

As a writer of popular nonfiction, he co-authored ''The Riverman'' with detective/academic

Robert D. Keppel Robert David Keppel (June 15, 1944 – June 14, 2021) was an American law enforcement officer and detective. He was also an associate professor at the University of New Haven and Sam Houston State University. Keppel was known for his contributi ...

(1995), an account of serial killer

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy ( born Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more than a decade ...

's involvement in the apprehension of

Green River Killer Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), also known as the Green River Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, brin ...

Gary Ridgway Gary Leon Ridgway (born February 18, 1949), also known as the Green River Killer, is an American serial killer and sex offender. He was initially convicted of 48 separate murders. As part of his plea bargain, another conviction was added, brin ...

. The book was adapted into a

made-for-TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

(2004) on A&E. As a UFOlogist, Birnes collaborated with

Philip J. Corso Philip James Corso (May 22, 1915 – July 16, 1998) was an American Army officer. He served in the United States Army from February 23, 1942, to March 1, 1963, and earned the rank of lieutenant colonel. Corso published ''The Day After Roswell' ...

, on ''

The Day After Roswell ''The Day After Roswell'' is an American book about extraterrestrial spacecraft and the Roswell UFO incident. It was written by United States Army Colonel Philip J. Corso, with help from William J. Birnes, and was published as a tell-all memoir ...

'' (1998), appeared on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

television documentary Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

series: ''

UFO Files ''UFO Files'' is an American television series that was produced from 2004 to 2007 for History (American TV network), The History Channel. The program covers the phenomena of Unidentified flying object, unidentified flying and Unidentified submer ...

'' (2004–2007), ''

Ancient Aliens ''Ancient Aliens'' is an American television series that explores the pseudohistorical and pseudoarchaeological ancient astronauts hypothesis, past human- extraterrestrial contact, UFOs, government conspiracies and related pseudoscientific top ...

'' (2009–2013), NASA's Unexplained Files and ''I Know What I Saw''. He starred in '' UFO Hunters'' (2008–2009) as leader of an investigative team of fellow ufologists, and later wrote a book by the same name documenting his experiences on the show. Birnes has repeatedly appeared as a guest on the late night

radio talk-show Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 19 ...

'' to discuss

UFOs An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

. Birnes most recent nonfiction works are Dr. Feelgood with Richard Lertzman, Wounded Minds and Hearts of Darkness with Dr. John Liebert, The Life and Times of Mickey Rooney with Richard Lertzman, Beyond Columbo, The Life and Times of Peter Falk with Richard Lertzman, Edison v. Tesla, The Battle Over Their Last Invention with Joel Martin, Psychiatric Criminology with Dr. John Liebert, and UFO Hunters Book 2. Birnes will be appearing again in the third season of ''

NASA's Unexplained Files This is a list of programs broadcast by Science Channel. Science Channel broadcasts a number of science-related television series originally produced by or aired on Discovery Channel, such as ''Beyond Tomorrow'', among others. Discovery Communica ...

'' and in early 2016 on Reelz TV's Dr. Feelgood.

Bibliography

* ''

'' (1998) with Philip J. Corso * ''Star Trek Cookbook'' (1999) with

Ethan Phillips Ethan Phillips (born John Ethan Phillips February 8, 1955) is an American actor and playwright. He is best known for his television roles as Neelix on '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and PR man Pete Downey on ''Benson''. Personal life Phillips was raised ...

* ''Unsolved UFO Mysteries'' (2000) with Harold Burt * ''The UFO Magazine UFO Encyclopedia'' (2004) * ''Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III'' (2007) with William B. Scott, Michael J. Coumatos * ''Worker in the Light: Unlock Your Five Senses And Liberate Your Limitless Potential'' (2008) with George Noory * ''Serial Violence: Analysis of Modus Operandi and Signature Characteristics of Killers'' (2008) with Robert D. Keppel * ''The Haunting of America: From the Salem Witch Trials to Harry Houdini'' (2009) with Joel Martin & George Noory * ''Journey to the Light: Find Your Spiritual Self and Enter Into a World of Infinite Opportunity'' (2009) with George Noory * ''Counterspace: The Next Hours of World War III'' (2009) with William B. Scott & Michael J. Coumatos * ''UFO Hunters'' (2009) * ''George Noory's Late-Night Snacks: Winning Recipes for Late-Night Radio Listening'' (2013) with George Noory * ''The Haunting of Twenty-First-Century America'' (2013) with Joel Martin

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birnes, William J. American UFO writers New York University alumni 1944 births Living people Ufologists American male novelists Concord University alumni University of Pennsylvania fellows The College of New Jersey faculty 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from New Jersey 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers