Forbidden Science

Book excerpt: Known principally as an investigator of the UFO phenomenon and a science fiction novelist, the French-born Vallee (now a resident of the U.S.) has also worked as a computer scientist in both academia and industry. UFOlogists will not find the answers to all of their questions here, for although Vallee believes that UFOs exist, he has no idea just what they are. Therein lies the excellence of his dazzling diary: it offers a glimpse into the mind of a scientist who seems to challenge every preconception and established piety. To his academic training as a mathematician and scientist, which stressed rational approaches to problems, Vallee has brought an interest in the mystical, the psychical, and the paranormal. He has been a Rosicrucian and has studied the works of ancient scientists like Paracelsus. His diary is replete with profoundly insightful, often devastating observations about the strengths and weaknesses of France and the U.S., their academics and their researchers in industry.