Tom Carey

Background

Thomas J. Carey is a native Philadelphian who became one of the most prolific and well-regarded Roswell researchers of the disclosure era. He holds a B.S. from Temple University and an M.A. in anthropology from California State University, Sacramento, and attended the Ph.D. program in anthropology at the University of Toronto. An Air Force veteran who held a TOP SECRET/CRYPTO clearance, Carey brings both institutional credibility and rigorous investigative discipline to his work. Following his military service, he became a successful Philadelphia area businessman before dedicating himself full-time to UFO research beginning in the mid-1980s.

Organizational Leadership and Investigations

Careey's formal involvement in UFO research spans more than three decades. From 1986 to 2001, he served as State Section Director for the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) covering Southeastern Pennsylvania, investigating local UFO sightings across the Delaware Valley five-county region surrounding Philadelphia. From 1991 to 2001, he was a Special Investigator for the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies (CUFOS), and served on the CUFOS board of directors from 1997 to 2001. His roles in these respected organizations positioned him at the center of mainstream UFO research infrastructure during the post-Cold War transition.

Careey first became involved in the Roswell case in 1991 when he joined the investigative team of Kevin Randle and Don Schmitt. In 1998, he entered into an exclusive research partnership with Schmitt that has endured for more than two decades. Together, they conducted over 23 years of sustained field investigation, publishing more than 35 articles on various aspects of the 1947 Roswell incident. His portrait hangs on the "Wall of Fame" at the International UFO Museum and Research Center in Roswell, New Mexico—recognition of his outstanding contributions to the public understanding of the case.

Major Publications and Media Impact

Careey's first major collaborative book with Don Schmitt, Witness to Roswell: Unmasking the 60-Year Cover-Up (2007), became the #1 best-selling UFO book in the world during 2007–2008. The work represented the culmination of a decade's investigative work and offered systematic analysis of witness testimony, documentary evidence, and government records related to the crash recovery.

Following this breakthrough, Carey and Schmitt produced several additional books that achieved significant commercial and critical success. Inside the Real Area 51 (2013), examining the secret history of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, reached #1 in Amazon's "Astronomy & Space Science" category and the site's annual "Top 100 Books of the Year." The Children of Roswell (2016) expanded the narrative by investigating the personal impact of the incident on families and witnesses' descendants, also achieving top-ranking status on Amazon. Roswell: The Chronological Pictorial, based on their 30 years of investigation, provided a visual and chronological framework for understanding the incident's documented history.

Careey's multimedia reach has been extensive. He has appeared on Coast to Coast AM, Fox and Friends, Larry King Live, and numerous other broadcast and podcast programs. He served as a consultant and on-camera interviewee for multiple television documentaries, including the SyFy Channel's acclaimed The Roswell Crash: Startling New Evidence, the History Channel's Conspiracy Theory (Roswell episode), the Travel Channel's Weird Travels - Roswell, the SyFy Channel's SyFy Investigates, and the History Channel's The UFO Hunters.

Legacy and Approach

Careey represents a particular style of UFO research: methodical, academically trained, grounded in witness testimony and documentary analysis, and committed to institutional credibility. His willingness to subject his work to peer review through publications and his integration into established research organizations—MUFON and CUFOS—distinguishes his approach from fringe speculation. His trajectory from private citizen to international expert demonstrates how sustained, professional investigation can elevate the legitimacy of UFO research in broader public discourse. His books remain the most commercially successful Roswell-focused works of the 2000s-2010s, positioning him as a bridge figure between popular interest and scholarly inquiry into one of the most contested incidents in UFO history.