This past week, I was working on a story about conspiracy theory culture. But aliens and sasquatches weren't the most unusual trend I noticed: it seemed like nearly all the interviewees on my hit list were former journalists.

There's the long list of the usual suspects--journalists turned theorists--like Alex Jones. But I came across some interesting characters in my research. Case in point: Barrie Zwicker, a leading Canadian 9/11 theorist, also happens to be a former Ryerson journalism prof. Or Richard Syrett, who hosted a completely "normal" show on Newstalk 1010, until his ratings dived and he found a niche market in vampire slayers and pharmaceutical conspiracies.

So why do so many journalists sidestep relatively successful careers to pursue the parapolitical?

Syrett told me he thinks that in order to write successful conspiracy theory literature, you have to be equipped with all the tools a good journalist should have: most notably, the capacity to research thoroughly.

Partick Whyte, owner of the store Conspiracy Culture, had another idea, though. "Humans have a natural curiosity about them," he told me. To be interested in conspiracy theories, you have to be innately curious, a common trait in journalists. Many journalists also go into the business with dreams of investigative reporting. But with the grip media conglomerates have on what appears in publications, it leaves reporters with two choices: keep re-writing news wire stories, or find the truth. Apparently, it's out there.