Ruminations on Jacques Vallee and "Lost"

Here are some cogent thoughts from one of this centuries most
resonant voices, scientist/sociologist Jacques Vallee. Those familiar
with Mr. Vallee know that his ideology regarding UFO phenomena breaks
with conventional notions of extraterrestrial causes inherent in the
UFO experience. He sees mythological extrapolations, paranormal and
potentially unknowable using Aristotelean logic and current
scientific paradigms. He rather suggests finding meaning
ontologically as opposed to fundamentally.

"When the underlying archetypes are extracted, the saucer myth is
seen to coincide to a remarkable degree with the fairy-faith of
Celtic countries...religious miracles...and the widespread belief
among all peoples concerning entities whose physical and
psychological descriptions place them in the same category as the
present-day ufonauts. A control system, the means which man's
concepts are being rearranged, may be at work. Their ultimate source
may be unknowable, at least at this stage of human development; what
we do know is that we are being presented with continually recurring
absurd messages and appearances which defy rational analysis but
which nonetheless address human beings on the level of myth and
imagination".

By 1969, when he published Passage to Magonia, Vallee's assessment of
the UFO phenomenon had undergone a significant shift. Much to the
consternation of the "scientific ufologists" who had seen him as one
of their champions, Vallee now seemed to be backing away from the
extraterrestrial hypothesis and advancing the radical view that UFO's
are paranormal in nature and a modern space age manifestation of a
phenomenon which assumes different guises in different historical
contexts. He posits that they may in fact be part of a great, more
subtle "control system" which may be a factor in human evolution and
is indeed influencing humanity, perhaps aggressively and with
hostility. It may in fact be part of the earth itself leading us to
recognize the limits of our own conciousness in perceiving the
existence of other dimensional realms that exist where we reside.

Vallee in distillation is significant in the essential recognition of
a quasi-sociological implication of paranormality and it's ongoing
role in human conciousness. To focus on these aspects yields an
existential/ontological relationship with our inherent confrontation
with animal/divine/evolutionary roles of human life. These mysteries,
which clearly lie at the core of "Lost", are expressing themselves
with volume at this point in our epoch, rearranging old and renewing
vital components of efficacy to ourselves and each other. Meaning is
sought first over all other explanations. This message has
transcendental implications for our survival and reparation as a
fundamentally broken species. "Lost" is guiding us, using the over-
used anachronism "phoenix from the ashes", to a perception of hope,
vitally necessary in refueling the emptiness of human life on this
planet.