The Edge of Reality: A Progress Report on Unidentified Flying Objects

Two of our country's most eminent scientists, both of whom have studied the UFO phenomenon for decades, have collaborated on this report of what serious scientists now believe about it. And they show that an increasing number of scientists are taking the UFO subject seriously.

From the outset, Hynek and Vallee make their position clear: UFOs represent an unknown but real phenomenon. The far-reaching implications take us to the very edge of what we consider the known and real in our physical environment. Perhaps, say the authors, UFOs signal the existence of a domain of nature as yet totally unexplored.

In this mind-stretching book, the authors sample UFO reports—including those allegedly involving humanoids—and describe the patterns that have been perceived in the behavior of the phenomenon.

They also establish a framework for the further study of the UFO phenomenon. Where might such study lead? What can be studied, and how? What is the real nature of the UFO phenomenon? Does it originate with the actions of other intelligences in the universe? Does the UFO phenomenon have a purely physical explanation, or is there a vaster, hidden realm that holds the solution?

J. Allen Hynek is Professor of Astronomy at Northwestern University. For years, he was astronomical consultant to the U.S. Air Force. Over the years, as Dr. Hynek focused on the UFO reports that appeared unsolvable, he began to believe that there is something most unusual going on.

Jacques Vallee is the author of several classic UFO books. After obtaining his doctorate in computer sciences from Northwestern University, he joined the Computer Laboratory at Stanford University.