Jim Ledwith is a successful entrepreneur and longtime resident of Sonoma, California. His interest in unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is the result of extraordinary events going back to his youth. His passion for all things extraterrestrial drew him into research and eventually lectures of which the fine residents of the Sonoma Valley were the chief beneficiaries. Over the past fifteen years he made so many presentations on the UFO/ET subject he came to be known as UFO Jim. Perhaps his most important contribution has been his sponsorship of the UFO Symposium held each year during the Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF). March of 2023 marks the 11th Symposium in which one or more relevant films are screened along with panel presentations by film principals and other researchers. The SIFF is the only mainstream film festival in the world that includes UFO/ET related films – thanks to Jim Ledwith.
In 2004 at the beginning of his ufological career Jim was interviewed by the Sonoma Index-Tribune. (Those not subscribed to the Index-Tribune can read the article HERE.”)
October 29, 2004 – Mr. UFO: Valley resident fascinated by ‘little green men’ “I don’t think I’m going to be the Messiah who is going to bring this message. I’ve just been invited to this party.” – Jim Ledwith – Tiffany Malehefski, Sonoma Index Tribune
Nine years and many lectures later he was interviewed by Dianne Heber Hart of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in 2013 at which time he came out as a contactee. Some excerpts from that interview:
What inspired your interest in UFOs and ETs?
I’ve always had this passion and this drive. I didn’t know what it was but I was totally fascinated. (As a young boy) I had already been abducted.
Were you abducted just once?
I, like millions of others, have been taken. First as a child on Long Island, then four or five years ago from this house (in a secluded area of east Sonoma). There were two in the hallway around 2 a.m. The larger one was 4 feet and the smaller one was about 3½-feet. They were standard extraterrestrials.
Had you been drinking or perhaps dreaming?
No. And I never sleepwalk. They were looking for me and I probably sensed them. I can theorize they were coming to get me. What happened next? I ran away, not toward them. It’s called fright flight. The next thing I remember I was sitting on the edge of my bed two hours later.
Are you absolutely convinced UFOs and ETs exist?
I have very little doubt, basically no doubt. They’ve been here forever. There’s tons of evidence.
Interviews with UFOJim
February 3, 2018 – Aquarian Radio with Sasha and Janet Lessin
July 13, 2017 – California MUFON Radio with Lorien Fenton
July 9, 2017 – Spooky Southcoast with Tim Weisberg (Part 1)
July 9, 2017 – Spooky Southcoast with Tim Weisberg (Part 2)
April 9, 2017 – Aquarian Radio with Sasha and Janet Lessin
March 28, 2017 – Bigger Questions with Ron James
Articles about the UFO Symposium and UFOJim
July 8, 2021 – Close encounters of the Sonoma kind – Jim Ledwith, Sonoma Index-Tribune
April 4, 2019 – Valley Forum: UFO expert has message for Sonoma: They are coming – Jim Ledwith, Sonoma Index-Tribune
March 29, 2019 – UFOs return to Sonoma film fest with 9th symposium – Christian Kallen, Sonoma Index-Tribune
November 2, 2017 – UFO program lands in Sonoma on Nov. 6 – Sonoma Index-Tribune
October 31, 2017 – Another close encounter with UFO Jim – Sonoma Valley Sun
May 24, 2016 – Sonoma UFO forum is out of this world – David Templeton, Sonoma Index-Tribune
October 20, 2013 – Crop circles, animal abductions discussed at Sonoma Community Center – Sonoma Index-Tribune
October 20, 2013 – 10 Questions for ‘UFOlogist’ Jim Ledwith – Dianne Reber Hart, Santa Rosa Press Democrat
October 16, 2013 – Oct. 22: UFO expert Jim Ledwith at the Sonoma Community Center – Tara Kaveh, The Bohemian
April 6, 2011 – I Want to Believe: Flying Saucers Take Center Stage at Saturday’s Sonoma International Film Festival – Alexis Fitts, Sonoma Valley Patch
October 29, 2004 – Mr. UFO: Valley resident fascinated by ‘little green men – Tiffany Malehefski, Sonoma Index-Tribune
FROM JIM
A review of researech-based abduction literature—including that published by the late Dr. John Mack, professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School—reveals countless cases from around the world of abductees reporting received telepathic messages from his/her captors. An actual, direct, comprehensible, no-verbal transfer of information from an alien to a human. Are my fellow abductees and I all crazy or does such a thing actually occur?
If it does, do the entities ever use this telepathic technique to subconsciously suggest that an abductee engage in certain activities, of one kind or another that might be directed toward enlightening other people about what seems to be the next important chapter in human history? In other words, are some abductees, including me, being used by elusive, non-human intelligences to “spread the word” about the impending paradigm shift and if so, is my overriding need to lecture, and present films thru film festivals all about the UFO/ET reality? And is this someone else’s game plan? This will seem like an absurd idea to most people but, in context of my many strange life experiences, it certainly seems sensible to me to at least consider the possibility.
LAST PARAGRAPH FROM “ALIEN AGENDA,” written by Jim Marrs in 1997
Since the wealthy elite—through mechanisms such as the Federal Reserve system, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund along with private groups such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the trilateral commission—exert a substantial degree of control over the world governments, it would stand to reason that they would be very concerned with UFO’s and life in space. Such a group would desire to be foremost in any alien contact so as to gain control of or suppress any alien technology that might unbalance the status quo. Any technology that might unseat the monopolies of energy, communication, or health care would be viewed as dangerous to a position of power. After all, would the long-suffering public continue to pay ever-increasing prices for ever-decreasing reserves of gas and oil if they knew for certain that fuel-free, nonpolluting electro-magnetic or antigravity technology existed? Would the public remain passive with the certain knowledge that there were cures for aids, cancer, and perhaps even old age? Viewed from this perspective, the cause for secrecy concerning extraterrestrial contact becomes abundantly clear.