Jacques Vallée

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Jacques F. Vallée
Born September 24, 1939 (1939-09-24) (age 68)
Flag of France Pontoise, France
Occupation Computer Scientist
UFO Researcher

Jacques F. Vallée, Ph.D., (September 24, 1939) is a French-born venture capitalist, computer scientist, ufologist and former astronomer, currently residing in San Francisco, California in the United States. (He should not be confused with the Canadian astronomer Jacques P. Vallée.)

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[edit] Life and career

Dr. Vallée was born in Pontoise, France. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the Sorbonne, followed by his Master of Science in astrophysics from the University of Lille. He began his professional life as an astronomer at the Paris Observatory in 1961. He was awarded the Jules Verne Prize for his first science-fiction novel in French.

He came to the United States in 1962 and began working in astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin, at whose MacDonald Observatory he worked on NASA's first project making a detailed informational map of Mars.

In 1967, Vallée received a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University. While at the Institute for the Future from 1972 to 1976 he was a principal investigator on the large NSF project for computer networking, which developed the first conferencing system, Planning Network (PLANET)[1], on the ARPANET many years before the Internet was formed.

He has also served on the National Advisory Committee of the University of Michigan College of Engineering and was involved in early work on artificial intelligence.

Dr. Vallée has authored four books on high technology, including Computer Message Systems, Electronic Meetings, The Network Revolution, and The Heart of the Internet.

Along with his mentor, astronomer J. Allen Hynek, Dr. Vallée carefully studied the problem of UFOs for many years and served as the real-life model for the character portrayed by François Truffaut in Steven Spielberg’s film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

His research has taken him to countries all over the world. Considered one of the leading experts in UFO phenomena, Vallée has written several well-respected[citation needed] scientific books on the subject.

His current endeavours include his involvement in SBV Ventures [2] a Venture Capital Fund as a General Partner. He and the other General Partner, Graham Burnette [3] on SBV are also in the early stages of launching a second Venture Capital fund.

[edit] Venture capital activity

A venture capitalist since 1982, Vallée has co-founded four venture capital funds, notably the Euro-America family of venture partnerships, specializing in high technology. As a general partner in these funds, he has spearheaded early-stage investments in over 60 startup companies, 18 of which have become traded on the public markets, either through IPOs or acquisitions. They include Accuray Systems (Nasdaq:ARAY) a medical device company developing surgical robots; Sangstat Medical (acquired by Genzyme) specialized in organ transplantation therapy; Mercury Interactive (acquired in 2006 by HP) a software testing company; Electronics for Imaging (Nasdaq:EFII); Harmonic Lightwaves (Nasdaq:HLIT); Class Data Systems (acquired by Cisco); Ubique (acquired by AOL); Mobilian (acquired by INTEL); and Nanogram Devices (acquired by Greatbatch) a nanotechnology battery manufacturer.

[edit] UFO research and academic work

In May 1955, Vallée first sighted an unidentified flying object over his Pontoise home. Six years later in 1961, while working on the staff of the French Space Committee, Vallée witnessed the destruction of the tracking tapes of unknown objects orbiting the earth. These events contributed to Vallée's long-standing interest in the UFO phenomenon.

In the mid-1960s, like many other UFO researchers, Vallée initially attempted to validate the popular Extraterrestrial Hypothesis (or ETH). Leading UFO researcher Jerome Clark[4] argues that Vallée's first two UFO books were among the most scientifically sophisticated defenses of the ETH ever mounted.

However, by 1969, Vallée's conclusions had changed, and he publicly stated that the ETH was too narrow and ignored too much data. Vallée began exploring the commonalities between UFOs, cults, religious movements, angels, ghosts, cryptid sightings, and psychic phenomena. These links were first detailed in Vallee's third UFO book, Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers.

As an alternative to the extraterrestrial visitation hypothesis, Vallée has suggested a multidimensional visitation hypothesis. This hypothesis represents an extension of the ETH where the alleged extraterrestrials could be potentially from anywhere. The entities could be multidimensional beyond space-time, and thus could coexist with humans, yet remain undetected.

Vallée's opposition to the popular ETH hypothesis was not well received by mainstream U.S. ufologists, hence he was viewed as something of an outcast. Indeed, Vallée refers to himself as a "heretic among heretics".

Vallée's opposition to the ETH theory is summarised in his paper, "Five Arguments Against the Extraterrestrial Origin of Unidentified Flying Objects," Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1990:

"Scientific opinion has generally followed public opinion in the belief that unidentified flying objects either do not exist (the "natural phenomena hypothesis") or, if they do, must represent evidence of a visitation by some advanced race of space travellers (the extraterrestrial hypothesis or "ETH"). It is the view of the author that research on UFOs need not be restricted to these two alternatives. On the contrary, the accumulated data base exhibits several patterns tending to indicate that UFOs are real, represent a previously unrecognized phenomenon, and that the facts do not support the common concept of "space visitors." Five specific arguments articulated here contradict the ETH:

  1. unexplained close encounters are far more numerous than required for any physical survey of the earth;
  2. the humanoid body structure of the alleged "aliens" is not likely to have originated on another planet and is not biologically adapted to space travel;
  3. the reported behavior in thousands of abduction reports contradicts the hypothesis of genetic or scientific experimentation on humans by an advanced race;
  4. the extension of the phenomenon throughout recorded human history demonstrates that UFOs are not a contemporary phenomenon; and
  5. the apparent ability of UFOs to manipulate space and time suggests radically different and richer alternatives."

[edit] Film appearance

In the Steven Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind Vallée served as the model for the French researcher character, Lacombe (François Truffaut).

In 1979, Robert Emenegger and Alan Sandler updated their 1974 UFOs, Past, Present and Future documentary with new 1979 footage narrated by Jacques Vallée. The updated version is entitled "UFOs: It Has Begun".

Jacques Vallée attempted to interest Spielberg in an alternative explanation for the phenomenon. In an interview on Conspire.com, Vallée said, "I argued with him that the subject was even more interesting if it wasn't extraterrestrials. If it was real, physical, but not ET. So he said, 'You're probably right, but that's not what the public is expecting -- this is Hollywood and I want to give people something that's close to what they expect.'" -- Mack White [5]

[edit] Vallee's interpretation of the UFO evidence

Vallée proposes that there is a genuine UFO phenomenon, partly associated with a form of non-human consciousness that manipulates space and time. The phenomenon has been active throughout human history, and seems to masquerade in various forms to different cultures. In his opinion, the intelligence behind the phenomenon attempts social manipulation by using deception on the humans with whom they interact.

Vallée also proposes that a secondary aspect of the UFO phenomenon involves human manipulation by humans. Witnesses of UFO phenomena undergo a manipulative and staged spectacle, meant to alter their belief system, and eventually, influence human society by suggesting alien intervention from outer space. The ultimate motivation for this deception is probably a projected major change of human society, the breaking down of old belief systems and the implementation of new ones. Vallée cannot say who or what is behind this scheme, only that the evidence, if carefully analysed, suggests an underlying plan for the deception of mankind by means of psychotronic technology. It is highly unlikely that governments actually conceal alien evidence, as the popular myth suggests. Rather, it is much more likely that that is exactly what the manipulators want us to believe. Vallée feels the entire subject of UFO's is mystified by charlatans and science fiction. He advocates a stronger and more serious involvement of science in the UFO research and debate. Only this can reveal the true nature of the UFO phenomenon.

[edit] Vallée's view of UFO investigative efforts

Vallée is often highly critical of UFO investigators overall, both believers and skeptics, asserting that what often passes for an acceptable level of investigation in a UFO context would be considered sloppy and seriously inadequate investigation in other fields. He has written pointing out logical flaws and methodological flaws common in such research. Unlike many critics of UFO investigative efforts, his critiques are not condescending and dismissive and he indicates that he is simply interested in good science.

[edit] Concerns regarding the UFO subculture

Vallée's Messengers of Deception is recognised as an important sociological work in its own right, since the subject of this 1975 study is UFO contactees and cults as opposed to the UFO phenomenon itself. In the course of the study Vallée expresses concern about the often authoritarian political and religious views expressed by many contactees. Amongst the groups profiled are the nascent Raelian movement and an early form of the Heaven's Gate suicide cult, against which Vallée prophetically warned potential converts, "you only risk your life!"

[edit] Books

[edit] Finance

Vallée, Jacques (January 2001). Four Elements of Financial Alchemy: A New Formula for Personal Prosperity, The, 1st ed. (paperback), Ten Speed Press, 195 pp.. ISBN 1-58008-218-1. 

[edit] Novel

Jacques Vallée has also written four science fiction novels, two under the pseudonym of Jérôme Sériel:

  • Le Sub-Espace [Sub-Space] (1961)
  • Le Satellite Sombre [The Dark Satellite] (1963)
  • Alintel (as Jacques Vallée) (1986) (provided partial basis for Fastwalker)
  • La Mémoire de Markov (as Jacques Vallée)

[edit] Technical books

  • (August 1984) Computer Message Systems, hardcover ed., New York: McGraw-Hill (Data Communications Book Series), 163 pp.. ISBN 0-07-051031-8. 
  • Johansen, Robert; Valles, Jacques and Spangler, Kathi (July 1979). Electronic Meetings: Technical Alternatives, 1st ed. hardcover (Addison-Wesley Series on Decision Support), Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., Inc., 244 pp.. ISBN 0-201-03478-6. 
  • The Network Revolution
  • The Heart of the Internet

[edit] UFO books

  • (January 1965) Anatomy of a phenomenon: unidentified objects in space--a scientific appraisal, 1st ed. (hardcover), NTC/Contemporary Publishing. ISBN 0-8092-9888-0. 
Reissue: (April 1987) UFO's In Space: Anatomy of A Phenomenon, reissue (paperback), Ballantine Books, 284 pp.. ISBN 0-345-34437-5. 
  • Challenge to Science: The UFO Enigma - with Janine Vallée (1966)
  • (1969) Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers. Chicago, IL, U.S.A.: Publ. Henry Regnery Co.. 
  • (1975) The Invisible College : What a Group of Scientists Has Discovered About UFO Influences on the Human Race, 1st ed.. 
  • The Edge of Reality - Jacques Vallée and Dr. J. Allen Hynek (1975)
  • (June 1979) Messengers of Deception: UFO Contacts and Cults, paperback, Ronin Publ., 243 pp.. ISBN 0-915904-38-1. 
  • (April 1988) Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact, 1st ed., Contemporary Books, 304 pp.. ISBN 0-8092-4586-8. 
  • (March 1990) Confrontations - A Scientist's Search for Alien Contact, 1st ed., Ballantine Books, 263 pp. hardcover. ISBN 0-345-36453-8. 
  • (September 1991) Revelations : Alien Contact and Human Deception, 1st ed., Ballantine Books, 273 pp. hardcover. ISBN 0-345-37172-0. 
  • UFO Chronicles of the Soviet Union : A Cosmic Samizdat (1992)
  • Forbidden Science: Journals, 1957-1969 (1992)

[edit] Research papers

[edit] Film appearances

  • UFOs: It Has Begun (1979)

[edit] Gallery

Jacques Vallee (right) and Allen Hynek (left)

[edit] References

  1. ^ "PLANET - IRC History, ARPANET Chat, Conferencing, Jacques Vallee, Internet".
  2. ^ SBV Ventures
  3. ^ Graham Burnette on SBV
  4. ^ Clark, Jerome, The UFO Encyclopedia: 2nd Edition; Volume 1, A-K; Omnigraphics, Inc, 1998, ISBN 0-7808-0097-4
  5. ^ "Heretic Among Heretics"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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Robert Balch  · David Taylor  · Jacques Vallée  · Louis Theroux  · Janja Lalich  · Irving Hexham  · Nigel Watson
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Bounded Choice  · Millennialism and charisma  · The Gods have Landed  · The Call of the Weird  · Heaven's Gate: Cult Suicide in San Diego  · Inside Heaven's Gate  · The Secret World of Cults: From Ancient Druids to Heaven's Gate  · Cults: From Bacchus to Heaven's Gate  · The Keepers of Heaven's Gate  · How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven's Gate  · Cosmic Suicide: The Tragedy and Transcendence of Heaven's Gate
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