Vallée Publishes Messengers of Deception: UFOs as Mass Manipulation

In March 1979, Jacques Vallée published Messengers of Deception. For years, Vallée had argued that UFOs were probably not the result of extraterrestrial activity; he now described them as “machines of mass manipulation” that could influence those who experienced them, change belief systems, and transform or destroy present civilization. He left open who was behind them—extraterrestrials, time travelers, interdimensional beings, or covert human groups. He presented the phenomenon as ancient, with its message changing over time, while also hinting that deeply covert human groups might be responsible for much of it. Vallée theorized that the flying-disc concept originated in 1930s Germany and that an unknown private group gained control of it after World War II. He said human intelligence operatives pervaded the UFO field; contactees might be unwittingly manipulated by human “programmers,” and intelligence groups had penetrated UFO research organizations including CUFOS. The book polarized UFO researchers: some praised Vallée’s courage and originality, while others considered his anti-ET position excessive or accused him of unprovable conspiracy-mongering. Former CIA officer Victor Marchetti amplified the discussion by saying that UFOs were seldom discussed within the CIA not because the subject was silly, but because it fell within “very sensitive activities.”