Message from the publishers concerning the BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PEOPLE IN UFOLOGY AND SCIENTIFIC EXTRATERRESTRIAL RESEARCH

We are proud to present this new and important book by Maximillien de Lafayette. While other books exist on this subject, there had never been a biographical encyclopedia quite like this one. What makes it unique and so valuable is the fact that Mr. de Lafayette is not an Ufologist. He states, quite frankly and candidly, that he does not want to be considered as such. He had never been a member of any organized UFO society or group, and he had never witnessed any physical evidence that would lead him to form his own angle. Rather, he is a scholar and a historian, who had written extensively on comparative civilizations and cultures. This allows him complete objectivity.

Therefore, after years of hearing about the UFO phenomenon and the extraterrestrial question, Mr. de Lafayette came to the conclusion that the field deserves a wider recognition and global interest, and when we had approached him with the request to write the encyclopedia, he found the project congenial and graciously accepted the challenge. We wanted such an impartial observer for many reasons, one of which are the disturbing lists we have encountered on the Internet. Some of these declare themselves as the lists of “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in Ufology.” We took the liberty of reproducing some of them in this book, to show the readers the level of hostility and antagonism that exists in the field. The surprising fact is that some of the greatest minds in Ufology are part of the “ugly” or “bad,” while others, obscure participants or even charlatans, are part of the “good” list. The vulgar (an unoriginal) title and prejudices would not matter if only a few lists like that existed. In such a case time would devour them and they would be forgotten, but unfortunately, they appear all over the Internet, reproduced over and over and pasted on many UFO websites, thus rendering the field unhealthy and negative.

This is not the way to approach an important subject that may be extremely influential in our lives as time goes by, and we hope that this work will change the climate and restore it to the high standards it merits. One important note to the readers: there are 700,000 people involved in Ufology, zillions of websites, and thousands of books and papers. Within this immense perimeter, we found the most credible scientists, honest researchers lost among the “crackpots.”

We tried to avoid this alarming situation in this book. To the best of our knowledge, we have included the most recognizable names. However, we may have missed genuine Ufologists and interesting personalities in the field. Rest assured that this omission will be rectified in forthcoming editions.

Please, e-mail the author with all pertinent information on people you consider worth mentioning, or, of course, your own information! You can reach the author at delafayette@internationalnewsagency.org