Bertrand Méheust

Sociologue & auteur

  • Sunday, June 29 – 1:40 PM / 3:10 PM – Ethical and Exo-Theological Aspects of Abductions. Certain religious manifestations have strengthened the faith of laypeople: could some of these manifestations be of exogenous origin?

About

Born in July 1947, Bertrand Méheust belongs to the generation that came into the world alongside UFOs. In his final year of high school, reading a book by Aimé Michel convinced him that a significant question was hidden behind accounts of "flying saucers." To prepare to confront this enigma, he pursued studies in philosophy.
In Science-fiction et soucoupes volantes, his first book published in 1978, Méheust challenged the beliefs of ufologists of the time. Without denying the possible materiality of UFOs, he sought to demonstrate that science fiction narratives had anticipated their emergence since the late 19th century. While this observation could lead to a psycho-sociological reduction, Méheust rejected this conclusion and proposed the idea of a "second-degree" extraterrestrial hypothesis. It is as though an unfathomable "X" manifests itself to us, resonating with the idealized and dated vision of future technology inherited from science fiction.
After this period of engagement in ufology, Bertrand Méheust, while continuing to study UFOs, became a historian of psychic sciences—parapsychology and metapsychics—focusing on the often-overlooked impact these disciplines have had on modern and contemporary culture. His thesis, published in 1990 under the title Somnambulisme et médiumnité, is considered authoritative in this field.
After this long detour, Méheust now returns to the two central insights of Science-fiction et soucoupes volantes: the elusiveness of UFOs and the precedence of science fiction. He seeks to weave these ideas into a new synthesis.