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Kenny Young

Kenny Young, 2004

Kenny Young (1966 - January 31, 2005), webmaster of UFO Research: Cincinnati!, was a multi-award winning television producer, director and writer and a State Section Director for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) and a public relations director of Tri-State Advocates for Scientific Knowledge (TASK).¹

Biography

He was an independent UFO researcher and often lectured to large audiences about the UFO mystery. He served as a host, panelist and debater on several Northern Kentucky / Cincinnati based TV programs including the award-winning “UFO Update: LIVE!”² and the award-winning documentary “UFO Report”³. He and his cases were featured on “UFOs: The Field Guide” (Sci-Fi 2003), “Confirmation: The Hard Evidence of Aliens Among Us?” (NBC 1999), and Sightings (Sci-Fi 1997).

In addition to evaluating UFO and related claims, conducting field investigations and interviewing eyewitnesses and public officials, Young worked successfully to obtain secret UFO video recordings held by the Department of Energy and has also obtained numerous 911 audiotapes of police UFO incidents. In addition, he employed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to petition the U.S. government for the release of UFO-related documents.

His articles have appeared in the “MUFON UFO Journal”, “UFO Magazine”, “FATE Magazine” and “Equinox Magazine” and his research efforts were referenced in The Associated Press, The Cincinnati Post and The Cincinnati Enquirer. He was the host and organizer of the 39th Annual National UFO Conference (2002) held in Cincinnati, OH.

He appeared on numerous radio programs including “Strange Days Indeed with Errol Bruce Knapp, “The Jeff Rense Show”, “Coast to Coast A.M. with Art Bell”, “Late Night with George Noory, “Coast to Coast A.M. with George Noory”, “The SciZone with Bill Boshears”, “The XZone with Rob McConnell”, “The Jim Hickman Report” and many others. He was interviewed on television news programs in Cincinnati, Dayton, and Columbus, Ohio.

Kenny Young lived in Florence, Kentucky. Outside of Ufology he was a musician and artist and he was employed as Infochannel Coordinator for the Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky (TBNK) in Covington, Kentucky. He was also a freelance videographer and editor, specializing in graphic design.

Young remained skeptical and objective concerning UFOs, but felt “that a sober evaluation of the data suggests the phenomena warrants further scrutiny.”⁸

Background

Young studied under the direction of Leonard Stringfield in the early 1990s. His longtime friend Bob Leibold influenced his decision to break into the field by bringing Kenny with him to “UFO Group” meetings in Ohio. His involvement with the television program “UFO Update: Live!” led him to begin investigating UFO sightings in 1994. His first case involved examining an alleged UFO caught on videotape in Clermont County, Ohio in November of that year (The Clermont County Recording)⁵

In 1998 he and fellow Ufologist Chris Coffey interviewed Larry Rogers and Curt Robinson, the authors of “Ice Man Down”, a still unpublished revelation on the Roswell UFO incident. This interview provides the only published insights into the book.⁶

Famous quotes

The UFO research and investigation business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps of corrupt ideology run free, agenda dictates, delusion is rampant and ignorance prevails. The infestation of wrongful motivation and the beggarly depths of belief reign supreme amidst a universal disregard for truth and factual actuality… where good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side…⁴

-His most famous quote, written on 12/26/2001 in an email to fellow Ufologists Sean Feeney and Paul Koch.

. . . you would be well advised to practice extreme discrimination on what filters through to that area of the brain that requires belief. Some or the more lucid, literate and better-educated folks will tell you that they have conquered that base, primal nature of humanity and will inform that their brains do not require the gullible mechanism of blind acceptance called belief and their brains function far more clearly and with greater cogence. Just remember, Santa Claus is waiting.

-In reference to the subject of Alien Abductions in an e-mail from Young to Feeney on Wed, 1/1/2003.

. . . a sober evaluation of the data suggests the phenomena warrants further scrutiny.”⁸

-In reference to UFOs on Young’s autobiography on his website, “About This Website”.

Famous cases

Associated organizations

Publications

  • Report on the UFO Incident at the Lebanon Correctional Institute, April 8, 1993.
  • Report on the 1994 Fernald UFO Disturbance (Self-published, 1997)
  • Trumbull County, Ohio UFO Police Incident, Summer 1994
  • A Report on the March 26, 1997 UFO Sightings from Southern Ohio and the March 13th Arizona Connection (Self-published, 1997)
  • Report on the Saucer Crash at Cape Girardeau, 1941. (Self published, 1999)
  • The Truth about TWA Flight 800 – The UFO Controversy.
  • TriState Advocates for Scientific Knowledge – The Clermont County Recording.
  • UFO Newspaper Articles (Self-published, Date Unknown)

UFO Update

UFO Update was a public-access television series in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area that examined issues surrounding UFOs. It began in the early 1990s.

UFO Report, produced by Kenny Young was a regular segment on the show, highlighting recent UFO sightings in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. UFO Report was also aired separately on Telecommunications Board of Northern Kentucky (TBNK)’s CPC21 in Northern Kentucky.

UFO Update: Live! was a segment taped live offering a panel of UFO researchers and investigators discussing the topic. Cincinnati movie theater lobbies have been used for some of these tapings. The series was produced by Bob Leibold’s Natural Light Productions and was born out of a newsletter by the same name authored by Ohio Ufologists Terry Endres and Pat Packard⁹.

Key guests:

  • Terry Endres
  • Ron Schaffner
  • Kenny Young

Clips:

Television clip of a commercial promoting UFO Update

Obituary

Kenny died due to leukemia on January 31, 2005. His UFO-related materials were left to fellow ufologists: the website was left to Sean Feeney, his digital files to Bob Leibold, and his paper files to Donnie Blessing. His paper files were then passed to the Ohio MUFON State Director William E. Jones, who donated them as follows:

“These were, for the most part, what I will call raw files, i.e. emails, letters, notes, drawings and so forth about specific cases or issues with regard to UFOs that had gotten Kenny’s attention. There were many news clippings scattered through out the collection, some connected to cases and specific issues, but most not. Some of these carried the name and date of the newspaper from which they came, but others unfortunately did not. Going through these files was a daunting task, but as it turned out, the effort was well worth while. I want to document for you what I have done with these files.

“A small number of items were stand alone documents that were unrelated or not closely related to the rest of Kenny’s files. Each was what I will call bibliographical, i.e. they can be referenced for research as identifiable documents, such as copy of a newsletter, booklet or report. Most of those were donated to the Ohio State University collection or, if they were specific in some way about the State of Ohio, they were donated to the Ohio Historical Society here in Columbus. They are not labeled at those places as being part of Kenny’s files, although I told each institution where they came from. For example, you can’t go to either and ask for Kenny’s collection of these items.

“Most of Kenny’s news clippings that were unrelated to his specific case or special interest files were donated to the Archives for UFO Research (AFU) in Sweden.

“Kenny’s case and special interest files were collected and bound up by various means, mostly in three ring notebooks, and donated to the Ohio Historical Society. I asked that each of these special files be listed under Kenny’s name. In case you want to use these collections some day once they are indexed and put on the shelf, here is a list of what was donated.

  1. Norwood, Ohio UFO Searchlight Case, 1949 – 1950, research notes and papers (three volumes).
  2. Report on the Saucer Crash at Cape Girardeau, 1941.
  3. TriState Advocates for Scientific Knowledge, Ohio UFO Sightings.
  4. Report on the UFO Incident at the Lebanon Correctional Institute, April 8, 1993.
  5. Trumbull County, Ohio UFO Incident, Summer 1994.
  6. TriState Advocates for Scientific Knowledge, Background.
  7. The Truth about TWA Flight 800 – The UFO Controversy.
  8. TriState Advocates for Scientific Knowledge – The Clermont County Recording.
  9. Information on the UFO Sighting Near Waynesville, Ohio, April 25, 2001.
  10. The Mantell UFO Incident, January 7, 1948, Miscellaneous Documents.

“I trust that some of you will be curious enough about Kenny’s files to look at them someday. These files represent Kenny’s works in progress. A web site is being maintained at http://kenny.anomalyresponse.com that presents Kenny’s finished products. Kenny accomplished a lot in his few years of investigating the UFO mystery across Ohio and in other places. His work deserves to be remembered. And maybe somewhere within his work the answer lies, still hidden from us.⁷

References

  1. UFO Research: Cincinnati
  2. 2001 Blue Chip Awards
  3. 2002 Blue Chip Awards
  4. Personal correspondence, Kenny Young, 26 Dec. 2001
  5. Report on the Saucer Crash at Cape Girardeau, 1941. (Self-published, 1999)
  6. Roswell Revelation
  7. Personal correspondence, William E. Jones, 9 Feb. 2007
  8. In reference to UFOs on Young’s autobiography on his website, “About This Website”.
  9. UFO Research: Cincinnati!

Awards

Published Mentions of His Cases

Other Published Mentions

Obituaries

Tribute To A Great UFO Researcher And Investigator

It is with a heavy heart and deep sadness that I announce the passing of my best friend Kenny Young.

Back in 1999 when I first contacted Kenny I had no idea what an impact this young man was going to make in my life. Having never researched or investigated a UFO story I had no idea how to go about it. I just knew that this was what I wanted to do more then anything else in the world.

I found Kenny’s website and contacted him. My thoughts were then that he would not give me a minute of his time. Instead, he told me that he could use some help with his research.

I happily accepted and for the next 5 years I was taken on the journey of my life. We use to kid each other when we had a hot UFO case by saying, “Keep your seat belt on, we are in for a Ride!”

Over the following 5 years, Kenny and I investigated no less then 75 cases. Some of those where so compelling that they made radio, TV and newspaper articles, including The Jeff Rense Program (The Screaming Woman Case of Morehead, Ky) in November of 2003.

Kenny had an eye for a good case and he taught me what to look for, how to find the facts and how to wrap up a story. One thing I learned early on: To be a good researcher you need to be a good detective. The facts of every case lie hidden just beneath the surface and sometimes you can dig out a true gem.

To top out Kenny’s credits, he was a video technician and producer for a local TV show called UFO UPDATE LIVE! He never ceased to amaze me how he could take raw footage we had taped and turn it into a high quality video production.

The world has lost a true hero in the UFO field and I will never forget the fun and hard work we did to help make him that hero!

Kenny, I still have my seat belt on and I’m going to keep on riding! To do less would be a dishonor to you.

Your bestest friend,
Donnie Blessing
Southern Ohio Section Director MUFON
Director for SOAAR
Southern Ohio Alien Abduction Research