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Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma
A tight copy. Illustrated edition.
- GenresNonfictionAliensScience
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
161 people want to read
About the author
Jacques F. Vallée
66 books378 followersExcerpted from wikipedia: Jacques Fabrice Vallée (born September 24, 1939 in Pontoise, Val-d'Oise, France) is a venture capitalist, computer scientist, author, ufologist and former astronomer currently residing in San Francisco, California.
In mainstream science, Vallée is notable for co-developing the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA and for his work at SRI International in creating ARPANET, a precursor to the modern Internet. Vallée is also an important figure in the study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), first noted for a defense of the scientific legitimacy of the extraterrestrial hypothesis and later for promoting the interdimensional hypothesis.
In mainstream science, Vallée is notable for co-developing the first computerized mapping of Mars for NASA and for his work at SRI International in creating ARPANET, a precursor to the modern Internet. Vallée is also an important figure in the study of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), first noted for a defense of the scientific legitimacy of the extraterrestrial hypothesis and later for promoting the interdimensional hypothesis.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 30, 2025
AN EARLY ATTEMPT AT ‘SCIENTIFIC STUDY’ OF UFO REPORTS
Jacques Fabrice Vallée (born 1939) is a French astronomer, computer scientist, ufologist, and author. He also was the person who served as the model for ‘Claude Lacombe’ in the movie, ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind.’
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1966 book, “The subject of this book is the scientific study of the sightings of ‘flying saucers’ or ‘unidentified flying objects’ that have been reported throughout the world… It is not possible, at the present time, to subject the ‘flying saucer’ to scientific study… Yet the fact that since 1946 numerous persons in all countries have made detailed reports of events they regard as strange, mysterious, sometimes even terrifying, deserves attention… The UFO phenomenon has been the subject of serious official attention only in the United States… We believe that these studies are open to criticism, for they are based on data on which no attempt at classification has been made, in which significant sightings have remained smothered in a mass of mistakes and misinterpretations… This book emphasizes the global nature of the phenomenon, showing how the European sightings illuminate the cases observed in America and in other parts of the world…. Our investigation was based on extensive material; we have drawn from the general files of the U.S. Air Force, from private and official collections in Europe, and from the data we have gathered personally since 1961.”
He acknowledges, “Most [UFO] reports are fragmentary. Witnesses forget the exact date, do not accurately report the time and the duration. The [news]papers, on top of that, tend to exaggerate details they think ‘fantastic’ and routinely transform quite ordinary shooting stars into ‘flying saucers.’ This makes the official files an indispensable source of information; they contain a solid nucleus of data, a series of observations whose authors are known, they have been investigated at some length, sometimes indeed in considerable detail.” (Pg. 36)
He clarifies, “We report these accounts here merely to illustrate what one can find in the press and the official files; for the time being we will express no value judgment regarding these statements, the sincerity of those who made them, or the plausibility of the phenomena described.” (Pg. 65)
He says of Aime Michel’s ‘Straight-Line Theory’ [i.e., that saucer sightings are made in places that lie on the same straight line], “Why devote so much time to the straight-line theory? … while the straight-line theory, as far as we can say, is not the key to the mystery, a body of knowledge has been accumulated and a large edifice of techniques has been built, and this development reached far beyond the negative conclusion on the straight-line hypothesis.” (Pg. 95)
He outlines, “There are various means for testing the evidence for or against each of these theories, but first the conditions with which each interpretation must comply in order to be accepted… must be established. These fundamental features are: the considerable growth in the number of reports since 1946; the distribution of these sightings in series, with peaks and troughs; the absence of any correlation with solar activity, atmospheric radioactivity, or the appearance of meteors, the presence of independent features not observable in usual physical effects; and the consistency of the secondary details, which makes it possible to classify the sightings in accordance with perfectly defined criteria and thus to extract the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise.’” (Pg. 119)
He explains, “No single object has been misinterpreted as a ‘flying saucer’ more often than the planet Venus. The study of these mistakes proves quite instructive, for it shows beyond all possible dispute the limitations of sensory perception and the weakness of the accounts relating shapes and motions of point or objects with small apparent diameters.” (Pg. 129)
He notes, “the psychiatrist and the sociologist will be tempted to include in a study of UFOs certain reports of ‘miracles’ and other unusual happenings that are unquestionably linked, just as the ‘flying saucer’ sightings are, to an emotional matrix. We feel that physicists should not let themselves be drawn into discussion of these cases beyond a general review of the theories about them; they should center their study on reports that can be pinpointed in longitude and latitude and are free from any typically religious or legendary context.” (Pg. 136)
He laments, “Unfortunately… the observations of unusual aerial phenomena have not been gathered by official centers in a truly scientific spirit, and we must rely on carefully selected samples drawn from either the files of amateurs or the collections of the U.S. Air Force. Both sources are far from satisfactory to the scientist, for the consistency in the documentation of the cases is poor---the former’s because of lack of funds and the latter’s because of the lack of scientific curiosity. In all the studies conducted so far, scientific research has been absent.” (Pg. 159)
He suggests, “If a correlation… does exist between Mars and the distribution of UFO reports, how could it be interpreted? Would we be able to decide definitely between the two main theories that confront us? Unfortunately, we do not think so. In fact, those who do not believe in the material reality of the saucers will see in this result the confirmation that the phenomenon is to be attributed to MASS PSYCHOLOGY: visions of a hallucinatory nature, of a mild form, are stimulated by the close approach of Mars, they will say; misinterpretations of the image of the planet by pilots or by people on the ground add to the confusion. The same interpretation works for any series of sightings, if Venus and Jupiter are brought into the picture.” (Pg. 171-172)
He explains, “In the remainder of this book, we will consider the UFO as a physical object, without a prejudgment as to its nature. We feel very strongly that when analysis has shown the witnesses’ testimony to be sincere and detailed, the reported data as to the shapes, dimensions, and behavior of the objects cannot be overlooked.” (Pg. 211)
He concludes, “The ‘UFO phenomenon,’ with all its disturbing aspects, presents a most unwelcome challenge to the physical and philosophical conceptions of the universe painstakingly formed in the course of many centuries of civilization on this planet. But it is there; we cannot forever refuse to study it. And it could well be that, in the final analysis, our own existence will be dependent upon the sincerity with which we conduct this research.” (Pg. 234)
This book will be of great interest to those studying UFOs and related phenomena.
Jacques Fabrice Vallée (born 1939) is a French astronomer, computer scientist, ufologist, and author. He also was the person who served as the model for ‘Claude Lacombe’ in the movie, ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind.’
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1966 book, “The subject of this book is the scientific study of the sightings of ‘flying saucers’ or ‘unidentified flying objects’ that have been reported throughout the world… It is not possible, at the present time, to subject the ‘flying saucer’ to scientific study… Yet the fact that since 1946 numerous persons in all countries have made detailed reports of events they regard as strange, mysterious, sometimes even terrifying, deserves attention… The UFO phenomenon has been the subject of serious official attention only in the United States… We believe that these studies are open to criticism, for they are based on data on which no attempt at classification has been made, in which significant sightings have remained smothered in a mass of mistakes and misinterpretations… This book emphasizes the global nature of the phenomenon, showing how the European sightings illuminate the cases observed in America and in other parts of the world…. Our investigation was based on extensive material; we have drawn from the general files of the U.S. Air Force, from private and official collections in Europe, and from the data we have gathered personally since 1961.”
He acknowledges, “Most [UFO] reports are fragmentary. Witnesses forget the exact date, do not accurately report the time and the duration. The [news]papers, on top of that, tend to exaggerate details they think ‘fantastic’ and routinely transform quite ordinary shooting stars into ‘flying saucers.’ This makes the official files an indispensable source of information; they contain a solid nucleus of data, a series of observations whose authors are known, they have been investigated at some length, sometimes indeed in considerable detail.” (Pg. 36)
He clarifies, “We report these accounts here merely to illustrate what one can find in the press and the official files; for the time being we will express no value judgment regarding these statements, the sincerity of those who made them, or the plausibility of the phenomena described.” (Pg. 65)
He says of Aime Michel’s ‘Straight-Line Theory’ [i.e., that saucer sightings are made in places that lie on the same straight line], “Why devote so much time to the straight-line theory? … while the straight-line theory, as far as we can say, is not the key to the mystery, a body of knowledge has been accumulated and a large edifice of techniques has been built, and this development reached far beyond the negative conclusion on the straight-line hypothesis.” (Pg. 95)
He outlines, “There are various means for testing the evidence for or against each of these theories, but first the conditions with which each interpretation must comply in order to be accepted… must be established. These fundamental features are: the considerable growth in the number of reports since 1946; the distribution of these sightings in series, with peaks and troughs; the absence of any correlation with solar activity, atmospheric radioactivity, or the appearance of meteors, the presence of independent features not observable in usual physical effects; and the consistency of the secondary details, which makes it possible to classify the sightings in accordance with perfectly defined criteria and thus to extract the ‘signal’ from the ‘noise.’” (Pg. 119)
He explains, “No single object has been misinterpreted as a ‘flying saucer’ more often than the planet Venus. The study of these mistakes proves quite instructive, for it shows beyond all possible dispute the limitations of sensory perception and the weakness of the accounts relating shapes and motions of point or objects with small apparent diameters.” (Pg. 129)
He notes, “the psychiatrist and the sociologist will be tempted to include in a study of UFOs certain reports of ‘miracles’ and other unusual happenings that are unquestionably linked, just as the ‘flying saucer’ sightings are, to an emotional matrix. We feel that physicists should not let themselves be drawn into discussion of these cases beyond a general review of the theories about them; they should center their study on reports that can be pinpointed in longitude and latitude and are free from any typically religious or legendary context.” (Pg. 136)
He laments, “Unfortunately… the observations of unusual aerial phenomena have not been gathered by official centers in a truly scientific spirit, and we must rely on carefully selected samples drawn from either the files of amateurs or the collections of the U.S. Air Force. Both sources are far from satisfactory to the scientist, for the consistency in the documentation of the cases is poor---the former’s because of lack of funds and the latter’s because of the lack of scientific curiosity. In all the studies conducted so far, scientific research has been absent.” (Pg. 159)
He suggests, “If a correlation… does exist between Mars and the distribution of UFO reports, how could it be interpreted? Would we be able to decide definitely between the two main theories that confront us? Unfortunately, we do not think so. In fact, those who do not believe in the material reality of the saucers will see in this result the confirmation that the phenomenon is to be attributed to MASS PSYCHOLOGY: visions of a hallucinatory nature, of a mild form, are stimulated by the close approach of Mars, they will say; misinterpretations of the image of the planet by pilots or by people on the ground add to the confusion. The same interpretation works for any series of sightings, if Venus and Jupiter are brought into the picture.” (Pg. 171-172)
He explains, “In the remainder of this book, we will consider the UFO as a physical object, without a prejudgment as to its nature. We feel very strongly that when analysis has shown the witnesses’ testimony to be sincere and detailed, the reported data as to the shapes, dimensions, and behavior of the objects cannot be overlooked.” (Pg. 211)
He concludes, “The ‘UFO phenomenon,’ with all its disturbing aspects, presents a most unwelcome challenge to the physical and philosophical conceptions of the universe painstakingly formed in the course of many centuries of civilization on this planet. But it is there; we cannot forever refuse to study it. And it could well be that, in the final analysis, our own existence will be dependent upon the sincerity with which we conduct this research.” (Pg. 234)
This book will be of great interest to those studying UFOs and related phenomena.
June 4, 2021
What makes this important from a sociological perspective is the appendix where it takes a poll of what UFO groups in the mid 60s actually believed in and it turns out that almost nothing has changed in the decades since, in fact that the current obsession with a government cover-up was there from the very beginning
March 25, 2024
An important book from Jacques Vallee, a text that is prior to his major works, still quite ahead of the time when published.
August 10, 2024
If you haven't read a book by this author, you need to. He takes his vast education about the universe and connects it to what might be. Science fiction meets science fact and intertwine in ways no one expected.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews