Vallee's Books: a Qu.

[David Biedny]

This thread is really excellent, makes me happy that Le Paracast exists. We've got some really thoughtful audience and forum members, you guys rule!

So FYI, Gene, Jeff & I are scheduled to be speaking with Dr. Vallee later this evening, if there's anything you'd like us to ask him, let's hear it. And I know someone will try and spank me for not posting this in the Vallee questions thread, but it's late and I'm tired.

dB

[dorkbot]

Originally Posted by David Biedny

if there's anything you'd like us to ask him, let's hear it.

My big list of questions is in the original thread but mostly I would like to hear a focus on "where do we go from here?" I've read thousands of case reports and all kinds of analysis and speculation but much of what I feel Vallee has to offer now is real insight on possible steps forward. As a generalization he has stated the need for teams of competing scientists working independently towards a common goal but I would really like to hear this expanded upon.

1. Is there a step between analysis of statistical patterns and having something concrete that you can haul into a lab and observe at will? What does that interim step look like?

2. The Google boys give Vallee $100M to design a UFO X-Prize(s). What specific goals does he think could be accomplished w/ a $100M prize or 10x $10M prizes? Try to get him to be as detailed as possible.

I'm very much looking forward to the interview.

[Rocketsauce]

Questions:

1. What are his thoughts on an insider UFO working group in the corso/greer model of appointed people as well as defense contractor/private industry big wigs mixed together.... Any truth to Corso's book in his view?

2. Is there any way to get groups like NAS to support any aspects of UFO research? Do paranormal research grants to NSF like organizations ever get any type of funding? John Alexander made a great point at the X conference how there is a huge disconnect between what is researched versus what the average person and even academics believe. By the way, here is the closest to an academic org that researches this stuff that I've found - http://www.scientificexploration.org/

3. What is his current opinion on the abduction phenomena in light of seemingly tens of thousands of corroborating testimony across the world?? Are back alley hypnotists with ulterior motives along with mass media influence the only explanation? If he thinks some secret organization potentially conducts some of these abductions, why would anyone spend millions/billions to stage fake abductions?

4. Who are the best researches currently in the field and what books does he recommend on the subject (other than his!)?

5. What does he think the various layers of the disinfo onion are? (great analogy he uses in Revelations)


Not really a question, more just a comment but based one of his theories in Revelations, IMO I don't understand the point in spending billions/millions of dollars just so the US can establish a UFO mythos through which they can do recon/infiltration with UFO looking aircraft. We don't seem to have problems currently going anywhere we want with our aircraft and with contractors working on nano recon aircraft I don't think they whole idea of perpetuating a myth as a cover worth the estimated effort/costs IMO. I think it makes more sense in the instance of the staged encounters that they are measuring the reaction. How could they use this reaction? Perhaps knowing that UFOs are real they want to see what type of power influence UFO's might have on people so they can plan accordingly so the society doesn't become unstable. Or perhaps they want to see how powerful a UFO encounter can be in creating a movement that would ultimately alter pop culture. In this instance, if a UFO movement got enough clout and was manipulated, it could be a great way to either influence huge groups of people to want to to clean up our energy, start another war or even start wearing speedos to work! In other words, a group that manipulates these experiences could potentially dictate our deep seated priorities much like religion in a very controlled manner to develop society in their vision and these encounters are just tests to see if this is possible on a larger scale. Of course, this is only for the staged events, this does not include the real deal hollyfield events.

Look forward to the interview, sounds like I gotta get the other 2 books! I agree that his theory in Revelations is very limited, in that it would not explain a lot of the other UFO cases, but his theory on Randlesham and some of the other cases in the book are really strong and seemingly conveniently overlooked elsewhere.

[Bobb999]

Questions for Dr. Vallee:

[I also posted these on the "Questions for Guests" thread]

1) Physicist Dr. Jack Sarfatti, who knew Vallee, wrote about Jacques' '96 UFO novel "Fastwalker" thus:
"[Fastwalker] is an essentially factual report thinly disguised as sci-fi"...[and]..."Vallee's book is not really sci-fi. It is what Tim Leary called 'science fact-ion', allegedly thinly disguised top secret black ops."
--What aspects of the novel does Jacques believe are more fact than fiction?*

2) Since Vallee's '79 book "Messengers of Deception", he has warned about the potential threat to society posed by the rise of UFO contactee cults.
--Does Jacques see evidence that influence of such cults he warned about in '79 has in fact spread and grown in 30 years?
Or do they remain fringe groups with limited influence and small membership, not yet a growing threat?

3) (As Dorkbot mentions) Jacques has studied aspects of the occult, and has written of potential societal dangers posed by some occult groups and UFO contactee cults.
--But what forms of occultism or spiritual pursuit does he view as valid and positive, instead of dubious and worrisome?
.................................................. ........
* [The novel "Fastwalker" postulates a super-secret US gov't dept. devoted to UFOs, Vallee calls "Alintel". In the novel, Alintel infiltrates UFO cults and study groups, fakes UFO events, and manipulates the public UFO "message". Alintel captures a real saucer it investigates. The saucer demonstrates its inter-dimensional nature by apparently transporting the book's protagonists to an alternate dimension]

[karlemids]

It's allways worth checking eBay for Vallee's books, they do appear every so often, allthough they've allways sold for more than i can afford so far, i'm determined too get all his works.

[Bobb999]

If Jacques Vallee was interviewed several weeks ago for a Paracast podcast,
when, I wonder, will it become available? I keep checking back to the site thinking, "it's got to be this week", but never does Jacques' name appear![/u]

[Karras]

About the "Alintel" secret group, I think he mentions something like that in Revelations:

The second team was composed of journalists and cameramen who were almost as well equipped as the military. They obtained excellent photos, which can be consulted in the newspaper archives of that period. Unfortunately, as I indicated earlier, only the negatives have scientific potential. And all the negatives taken by the newspaper teams have left Brazil, purchased from the publishers by an unnamed American firm.
Somebody in the United States owns a collection of records that contains the proof of the reality of the phenomenon.

(Page 225, Revelations, J. Vallee)

It doesn't say much more than that, nothing of actual physical evidence or anything, but I guess this suggests that there actually is some kind of group - financed by the government, or a private group/individual - who is just as interested in this as Vallee is.

I've been somewhat interested in the Majestic documents, or rather, the Majestic 12-conspiracy. Not that I am a "true believer" so to speak, I find it interesting that it is generally agreed that after 1969, when Project Bluebook was terminated, so may this "secret group" have been (in the sence of economic support by the government), and that the group in turn became a private organization.

So, if you haven't asked Vallee yet, or plan to do so:

1. Like some posters before me asked - what does Vallee know about any "underground group"? Does it exist, is it financed by the government, or is it a private group? Can he talk about it?

2. What happened to Vallee's research? Did he come to "the end" in the late 1980's, was there nothing more to write about? Will Vallee again engage in UFO research?

3. What are Vallee's thoughts about other and "new" writers such as Patrick Harpur (Daimonic Reality) and George Hansen (The Trickster and the Paranormal) and their thoughts about the subject?

4. About the phenomenon itself - it has manifested throughout human history, but it also manifests personally to people. Even John Keel write about this - time, place and even names are connected. Some are mentally and physically destroyed by it, but others "improved" with new abilities. What about the "internal" experiences people have? For example, the tests that were made with the drug DMT (where the test subjects encountered "beings" on their "trips")? What are his thoughts about this?

(Oh, and hello, I'm new. )

[Bobb999]

I'm still wondering what ever happened to the new Vallee interview The Paracast had set up a few months back. Did Jacques cancel at the last minute or something?

On the retail market for Vallee's books:
I was pleased to receive an email notification from Powell's Books last night saying a copy of the '69 hardcover of "Passport to Magonia" was now available, and at a not-completely-unreasonable price, at $45.00, reduced to $40.50 'cause I google searched a 10% money off coupon online for Powell's.

Considering the next nearest going price I saw today for retail copies of "Passport" was $98.00, rising steeply from there, I thought $40.50 + $7 int'l postage to Canada, was a comparative steal, I couldn't refuse! Powell's didn't have much info. on its condition though, except to say the dustjacket's included.

Previously, I'd decided I didn't really need "Passport..." afterall, as Vallee repeats the bulk of its data and arguments in his later "Dimensions". But I changed my mind after seeing a library copy. Mostly 'cause I dig the massive (+ or - 200 page) appendix, listing 100 years of UFO sightings, 1868 - 1968, emphasizing episodes that include landings, or contact with or sightings of UFOnauts. Jacques gives bite-sized accounts of many hundreds of cases in that "Passport" appendix, along with source info.I was pleased to see it has a number of cases from Canada, including some from my own 2 "home" provinces. That excellent appendix, which comprises about half the pages of "Passport", is not reproduced in later books. For instance, the appendix describes case after case of sightings from across mid-fifties France during one of the pronounced, intense periods of UFO activity ever. A surprising number the French episodes involved craft landings and UfOnaut encounters. The one UFO Vallee himself ever witnessed was during this same time period as a teenager in France. To read so many amazing, independent cases, one after the other, drives home just how significant to UFO history were those few years in 1950s France!

Other Vallee admirers who may be holding out for more reasonable prices on some of Vallee's more in-demand/scarce books, might benefit as I did by requesting notifications from Powell's Books. They appear to be more customer-friendly, being prepared to sell at somewhat lower prices than elsewhere.

[Bobb999]

Karras mentions that Vallee writes of a mysterious American group that bought up all the original negatives of photos possessed by Brazil newspapers of the incredible, uncountable UFO cases from Brazil's Amazonia region of a few decades back. Karras wonders if this group might be the shadowy secret
US gov't group Jacques seems to believe exists, which he calls "Alintel" in his "Fastwalker" novel.

I too have wondered who it was doing all that evidence-grabbing in Brazil.
I also wondered why all the newspapers were so obliging about it -- big bucks offered? Something less friendly?

We know much evidence presumably still exists with the Brazilian military though, as they conducted extensive investigations while the ophenomena was ongoing, reportedly shooting lots of photos and videos, gathering witness statements, including from among their own personnel, etc.
The Brazilian military did release a small amount of their official reports, but it's too bad they've kept back the bulk of their files on one of the most intense periods of UFO manifestation ever!

[tommyb98201]

Ive read all of Vallee's books over the years. They can be found on Amazon used sometimes or Ebay. I really like his writings, hes the first to admit that he hasnt a clue whats going on with the UFO thing, he just knows there is something to it. I found Passage to Magonia online as a free E book, I just did a bit of searching. Im not sure where now. GOOGLE, GOOGLE!!