Jacques Vallee Interview

[ChrisPerridas]

Dr Wu has been telling me to read more of Dr Vallee. I'm working a plan toward that goal. My exposure to him was mostly hearing about him- and sometimes hearing him - on C2CAM, and he seems to have great respect. That's why when I read this small excerpt of an internet interview it kind of caught me breathless. I'll post it here, with a link, and maybe some people can tell me more about what he is saying. (I underlined part of it)

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Jacques Vallee: The evidence for an “undercurrent” of deceit behind some alleged UFO cases only becomes visible when you spend time in the field interviewing witnesses and tracking down the evidence. It became annoying to me because it represented a waste of time and a distraction from studying genuine observations. Researchers who collect reports only through books or media accounts would not necessarily encounter this level of the phenomenon and would understandably resist the suggestion that the belief in extraterrestrial intervention is being manipulated to serve political or cultist goals.

Even people who are fully aware of this negative aspect don’t want to bring it up into the open because they think it will call disrepute to the subject. Many erstwhile ufologists don’t want the deceptive reports exposed, just as the Catholic Church long denied instances of abuse in its ranks. Whistle-blowing is never welcome. My own position has always been that, on the contrary, the best way to gain the respect of the intellectual community is to expose hoaxes, sloppy research and manipulation whenever we encounter them.

Jacques Vallee: By denying the reality of the reports, brushing aside the witnesses (including trained observers like pilots or military personnel) and treating them like fools or crooks, the academic skeptics are actually teaching the public that science is impotent at studying the phenomenon. As the belief in the reality of UFOs grows among the population along with the evidence that a real phenomenon exists, people naturally tend to turn away from science in their search for answers, and that is a very dangerous trend.
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Jacques Vallee - On Messengers of Deception | TDG - Science, Magick, Myth and History

[Darrell]

Personally I feel that science itself is on a dangerous path, both in respect to UFOs and the paranormal in general, and in regard to untested extreme primarily math based hypotheses (projections) with which it tends to embrace the wierd and abandon all common sense. It is my opinion that scientists of 100 years in the future will look back and wonder how today's scientists could have possibly drawn so many wierd conclusions about the universe from their early study of quantum theory. I truly expect such concepts as multiverses and other dimensional physical realities to eventually join the ranks of the earth centered universe and earth as flatland.

[dr wu23]

Chris,
Regarding this quote : Researchers who collect reports only through books or media accounts would not necessarily encounter this level of the phenomenon and would understandably resist the suggestion that the belief in extraterrestrial intervention is being manipulated to serve political or cultist goals.:

Vallee's book Revelations most directly addresses the disinformation and hoaxing isssues but Messengers and Invisible College both address ufo cults and related fringe beliefs to a larger degree.

[Carol Nistri]

Thats all well and good Mr.Vallee,but if the public is bombarded with case after case of ufo sightings and science in nowhere to be found of course there going to seek out those that are willing to explore and even come to a conclusion,rightly or wrong thats human nature,its not our fault that science does there work behind the scenes.

[dr wu23]

Originally Posted by Carol Nistri

Thats all well and good Mr.Vallee,but if the public is bombarded with case after case of ufo sightings and science in nowhere to be found of course there going to seek out those that are willing to explore and even come to a conclusion,rightly or wrong thats human nature,its not our fault that science does there work behind the scenes.

The answer is that the paranormal ,and ufos are included in there by default by the mainstream, is a liminal area that has been marginalized by society for various reasons. Science is reluctant to investigate due to the social stigma present in such areas. Vallee and others have talked about this many times in books and articles and it's well known by ufologists who suffer some of this outcast syndrome.
It has always been this way with the paranormal even in the 19th century when seances and other things were popular it was looked upon as nonsense by the mainstream scientists who were just starting to figure out reality and didn't want to be bothered by what they considered charlatans and frauds.
It shouldn't be this way today since things are much more open and 'anything goes these days' just like the Cole Porter song yet most of science is still reluctant to get involved.

[ChrisPerridas]

There have been a few rare exceptions. Carl Sagan never cringed when it came to looking the paranormal or flying saucer in the eyes. And almost no one remembers or knows this, but Scientific American offered a reward of $2500 for proof that a manifestation could occur. It began a knock-down-drag-out between a medium called Margery, Arthur Conan Doyle taking the paranormal side, and breaking off his warm friendship with Houdini. Houdini even dragged in weird tale writer H. P. Lovecraft to help.

[dr wu23]

Originally Posted by ChrisPerridas

There have been a few rare exceptions. Carl Sagan never cringed when it came to looking the paranormal or flying saucer in the eyes. And almost no one remembers or knows this, but Scientific American offered a reward of $2500 for proof that a manifestation could occur. It began a knock-down-drag-out between a medium called Margery, Arthur Conan Doyle taking the paranormal side, and breaking off his warm friendship with Houdini. Houdini even dragged in weird tale writer H. P. Lovecraft to help.

Sagan did comment about the paranormal and ufos but primarily to denounce the areas since he was not what one would call a believer though he did co author a short book about the possibility of extraterrestrial life which he did think existed...somewhere out there.

I do recall there was a 'war' between Houdini and Doyle about the paranormal and specifically whether or not mediums and seances were real or faked.
I actually own a copy of supernatural tales that Doyle wrote. Most think he only wrote Sherlock Holmes tales.

[dr wu23]

For Chris and all the H P Lovecraft fans.....both the writer and the psychedelic band from the 60's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._P._Lovecraft_(band)

"Don't believe it's a game
games like this my friend will make you go insane..."

One of my friends actually knew a band member back in the late 60's ; he was from a local town near us where we all grew up in northwest Indiana/Chicago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_McGeorge



Yes...I know this is off topic but I love the old psych rock bands and Chris keeps bringing up HP.

[Carol Nistri]

so,having said that Dr.Wu are you ready to concede that science because of that reluctance to get involved maybe doing us all a favor,science as it stands right now will Never Ever be the ones to solve the Ufo mystery.

[dr wu23]

Originally Posted by Carol Nistri

so,having said that Dr.Wu are you ready to concede that science because of that reluctance to get involved maybe doing us all a favor,science as it stands right now will Never Ever be the ones to solve the Ufo mystery.

I couldn't disagree more;...if anyone can it will be science (and people like Dr Vallee who are willing to straddle both worlds) since they are the only ones qualified to do so. Do you think a priest would do a better job...or an amateur ufologist who thinks the evil aliens live under Dulce?
I believe that in time it will be addressed by science but it might be a long time before that happens.