Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds [Paperback]

Jacques Vallee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1993

Over two decades ago, eminent scientist Vallee wrote a provocative book about alleged UFO landings, folklore, and certain unexplained phenomena. That long-out-of-print book--which discussed the most interesting reports of more than 1,000 apparently reliable witnessess--has become an underground classic and is now being reissued.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Contemporary Books (April 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0809237962
• ISBN-13: 978-0809237968
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jacques VALLEE holds a master's degree in astrophysics from France and a PhD in computer science from Northwestern University, where he served as an associate of Dr. J. Allen Hynek. He is the author of several books about high technology and unidentified phenomena, a subject that first attracted his attention as an astronomer in Paris. While analyzing observations from many parts of the world, Jacques became intrigued by the similarities in patterns between moderrn sightings and historical reports of encounters with flying objects and their occupants in every culture. The result was the seminal book Passport to Magonia, published in 1969.

After a career as an information scientist with Stanford Research Institute and the Institute for the Future, where he served as a principal investigator for the groupware project on the Arpanet, the prototype of the Internet, Jacques Vallée co-founded a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. He lives in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Return to Fairyland, March 26, 2004

By 

Kevin Seeger "DudeSeeg" (Woodland Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds (Paperback)

Researcher Jacques Vallee has done an excellent job synthesizing the various reports through the ages of our contact with otherworldly entities. He especially empasizes the fairy lore of the Celtic region, as this is relatively modern and also well-documented.

Vallee points out that many of the chief characteristics of contact with fairies is coincidental of modern accounts of contact with UFOnauts. He surmises that these accounts are cultural-specific descriptions of a phenomenon that has been with us since time immemorial. It is probable that everything from demons, incubi, and jinns are one and the same as the aliens which now captivate our global attention.

Interestingly, the entities have consistantly been described as possessing technology just beyond the means of whichever society is experiencing the contact. Today, the entities appear in antigravity spacecraft, just as in the Bible they steered luminous chariots, and in the great airship sighting wave of 1897, they seemed to be manning turbine-driven zeppelins. The one constant throughout the ages has been the entities proclivity to tinker with the genetics of mankind. Vallee offers no answers to this strange phenomenon, but only wishes to point out that it did not originate in modern times.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, March 13, 2001

By 

Edane "edane" (Wisconsin, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds (Paperback)

I can be harsh in reviews of books I find silly, but this one I found excellent and I'm glad to say so in a review. Yes, it is dated, but that is part of the interest because it lets you see how things have developed over the past 30 or so years. It is also intelligent and discerning and is not in a rush to leap to conclusions or explain everything. It trusts you to be smart and form your own judgements. No book in this subject should be read alone, no one book can begin to cover the many aspects and issues, but this should be one of the books you read.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful and Insightful With a Different Perspective, August 4, 2002

By 

Angelaustin (Elkhart, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passport to Magonia: On UFOs, Folklore, and Parallel Worlds (Paperback)

I have long admired Mr. Vallee, as I have read several of his books and have found him to be rational, thorough in his investigations, and very balanced in his conclusions. Until this book, I never realized the connection between the fairy and other unusual sightings of years ago and the UFO phenomena of today. Mr. Vallee's basic premise is that as man has evolved and become more technologically advanced, so too do the strange phenomena. They seem to parallel our advancements. It is a most interesting theory, and while it does not give answers as to why these things happen in the first place, it makes for an interesting and intelligent read. I am fortunate enough to have a copy of this book, and if you can get your hands on one, do so. You'll be glad you did.