| Bio:
Philippe
Piet van Putten, 39,
Obtained
his BA in Social Communications (1986)
Started
his ufological activies as an ufofilist when he was
In
1976, Philippe developed Project Contact, in Santos, SP, where he lived.
He gathered groups of 10 to 15 persons to
try to establish controlled ufo contacts at Irarare Beach.
In
1978, Philippe first joined the Mutual UFO Network
In
1982 he established the Brazilian Academy of
Philippe
was the editor of many parascientific
He
has written numerous articles for magazines in
Philippe
is also a musician and a professional
He
is finishing his Encyclopedia of UFOs and Anomalous
In
the field of ufology, Philippe has specialized in
He
has a large collection of photos and films of unconventionalaircraft (UAVs,
UCAVs, VTOLs etc.) which are also a focal point of one of his public lectures.
Philippe
is married with Mrs. Marlene, also an artist,
World UFO Report (WUFOR): You've been involved with ufology for 28 years, what got you interested in UFO phenomena? Philippe Piet
van Putten (PPvP): I became interested
in different aspects of the unexplained since I was a child. Since then
I recognized mankind's ignorance concerning the rich and
multifaced reality
we live in. When I first heard about flying saucers I readily felt
that there was something real about them. When I was 12, I became
a UFOfilist collecting newsclippings, a few books and magazines.
In 1976 I started Project Contact, in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and had
lots of fascinating experiences with anomalous aerial phenomena, mainly
big elipsoid nocturnal lights.
 PPvP: Well... I've had the great satisfaction to meet wonderful people in the parascientific circles. I've met very clever, sensitive and dedicated UFOlogists, but I soon discovered that there are also many people in the field, some authoring books or publishing magazines, who are far from becoming what we would call examples of ethics, honesty, humanity and dedication to the search of truth. Unfortunately,
I had the very sad experience of finding out that the UFO community is
polluted with liars, crackpots, selfish and irrational people, capable
of doing the worst
WUFOR:
I know you're not one to shy away from giving
your opinion about something
when asked to do so, and I know that this has caused you some
problems in the
past, but I would really like to know your honest opinion
PPvP: I'm not affraid to be sincere and to expose my feelings. I know that we have some few serious and dedicated UFOlogists in Brazil, but, unfortunately, as in many other countries, they are outnumbered by those who have no competence, nor interest, to develop reliable UFO investigation. I can name ALL the good brazilian UFOlogists (those who develop solid and credible research). From Edison Boaventura Junior, Carlos Alberto Machado, Elisangela dos Santos Anderson, Jose Agobar, Hulvio Brandt Aleixo, Vitorio Pacaccini, Alberto Francisco do Carmo... and a few others. But there are so many pathetic pseudo-UFOlogists that its hard to name them all. When I specialized in Military UFOlogy and Intelligence Studies, I found out the many mistakes that civilian UFOlogy has done! The great number of disinformation that has been infiltrated among the UFO community. And also who are the "bad guys" who travel around the world as "the great ones" and turning the UFO subject a laughable one. Brazilian UFOlogy is in a mess !! The so called "mystical UFOlogists" are mixed with the "scientific UFOlogists" and making a big "salad" of technical data with "channeled" messages. As a scientific-spiritualist, I know about the transcedental aspects of reality, but Its impossible to accept, at this point, UFOs and their occupants as "angels of love", "messengers of Jesus", "saviours of mankind" or the like. Civilian UFOlogy
is condemned ! Its becoming very difficult for those who see from the outside,
what's credible or not. I feel very sorry for this and don't want to make
part of
 WUFOR: Are you a believer in the abduction phenomenon? That is to say, do you really believe that human beings are being abducted by extraterrestrials, or do you believe there is a more practical explanation as to what is taking place within this phenomenon? PPvP: I beleive that only a very small percentage of the unidentified (UFOs) are of extraterrestrial origin. I am inclined to beleive that most structured craft come from Earth (alien communities installed underwater in the Earth's crust). I am ready to accept that a few abductions could realy be done by alien creatures, but I do not exclude Dr. H. Lammer's claims that we also have what he calls "military abductions of alleged UFO abductees" (MILAB). Humans are deeply involved in this. I also beleive that secret experiments with electromagnetic weapons (developed since the late 40s) capable of affecting mind/brain fisiology are responsible for a large percentage of alleged abductions. We cannot forget Dr. Michael Persinger's experiments in this field, which surfaced very interesting effects induced in humans who felt themselves as if they were seeing UFOs or aliens. The mental dimention plays a fundamental role here. Most abductions have nothing to do with extraterrestrials. WUFOR: You are one of the most knowledgeable people I know concerning UFO phenomena, religion/spirituality and science. In fact, you seem to have an insatiable appetite for these three subjects. PPvP: Thanks ! You're right indeed ! I love learning and discovering new aspects of the anatomy of reality. I admire all sciences. They have helped those who think to expand their vision of inner and outer cosmos. This scientifically based brain/mind expansion affects our religious feelings and inspire new questions. What I've called scientific-spiritualism promoted a new way of digesting the scientific knowledge as spiritual nutrition (and vice-versa). We live wonderfull times, where simple "faith" is gradually losing grounds for real and substantiated "knowledge", which will leads us to the practical experience of "wisdom". WUFOR: You have been following the Varginha case since it came out, and I know you have quite a bit of contact with Vitorio Pacaccini, are there any new developments with the case that you know about? PPvP: Since this case has been publicly explored by one or two "grotesque" pseudo-UFOlogists, who are among the most disgusting people I've ever known in the field of UFOlogy, I have exchanged some few data with Pacaccini, who's a very good and sincere friend, but have avoided to involve myself in discussions which could force me to interact with those "creatures". Unfortunately I have nothing very important to say about this. WUFOR: I know that you've been working on a UFO encyclopedia for a Brazilian publisher for almost a year now. What kinds of problems have you encountered in undertaking such a project and when can the Brazilian public expect to see the encyclopedia on the store bookshelves? PPvP: The book is almost finished now. The Encyclopedia of UFOs and Anomalous Aerospatial Phenomena is the first of its kind in South America. I have received friendly contributions from good UFOlogists worldwide, like, Jerome Clark, Antonio Huneeus, Jan Aldricht, Flavio Pereira, Hulvio Brant Aleixo, Kevin D. Randle, and many, many others. I'm having a few problems. For exemple: I've opened an entry about BUFORA (the British UFO Research Group). I've sent them four requests of info for the entry. I've also sent requests to Philip Mantle, but they never bothered to reply !! They are not willing to cooperate. editor's note: Philip Mantle replied to Mr. van Putten's requests shortly after I finished my interview with PPvP. I have found
some obstacles to fill-up some biographical entries (some famous researches
are deceased now and no one seem to have info about them; others are hard
to find), but, you know, this first edition will be only a small reference
books. I don't even dream with a "complete" UFO encyclopedia; It
would be an almost impossible task !
 WUFOR: What types of experience, if any, have you had with UFO phenomena? PPvP:
I've had a lot of experiences with anomalous aerial phenomena. Fortunately
most were also witnessed by other people with whom I could make comparisons
and
The most interesting experiences were during what I named Project Contact. Between 1976 and 1977, I gathered small groups of 10 to 15 people to try to establish "controlled UFO contacts" based on what we knew about the psychodynamics of contactees. We used to meet ate Itarare Beach, in Santos, Sao Paulo, around 11 PM and tried to call the attention of UFOs "signalling" with our minds. The results were amazing !! We saw elipsoid luminous objects in numerous opportunities and, in some cases, they signalled back with lighs or movements. WUFOR: You said that one of the reasons you're leaving civilian ufology is because ".....the UFO community is polluted with liars, crackpots, selfish and irrational people, capable of doing the worst things to >promote their personalities to "stardom"." This is a statement that I totally agree with, but could you please elaborate on it? I think a few examples of "crackpots", "liars" and "selfish and irrational people" are in order, especially for those who are just becoming fascinated with UFO phenomena. Just to make myself clear, I'm not asking for names, I'm just asking you to give our readers some generalized examples. PPvP: You know some of the people I've reffered to Michael. I could mention their names (I did it before) but I'm not quite sure If I would like to reopen the fights and arguments I had with such crackpots. It's a tremendous waste of time and energy. They don't worth my attention. We have an editor in Brazil who has persecuted me in all possible ways. When I started printing my bimonthly bulletin Fenomenos Aeroespaciais (Aerospatial Phenomena) many among his contributors started contributing with my publications too. He became upset because of this and started making phone calls to our colleagues threatening them. He also did this to you Michael; Do you remember ?! WUFOR: Yes. I remember that quite well. A very sad experience. PPvP:
There's another guy, who's a very close friend
and contributor for the mentioned editor, who threatened me, directly,
if I didn't "expell" the names of our colleagues from my bulletin ! Such
a disgusting man, who claims to be an engineer (I sincerely doubt,) even
called my wife to say: "You're a s.o.b ! I want you and your husband
to f... yourselves !!"
 WUFOR: Have you ever sat down with anyone from the Brazilian military and discussed the subject of UFOs? And if you have, did you learn anything that you didn't already know about the phenomena? PPvP: Oh yes ! The first time was in 1978 when I ministered a three-day UFOlogy course at the Aeronautics Club, in Rio de Janeiro. Some in the audience were high-ranking military, including Air Force Brigadiers. I also met there with a Army diver who was involved in the secret examination of a UFO that had crashed in Cubatao, Sao Paulo, on February 14, 1976. My bulletin Fenomenos Aeroespaciais has some readers among the military. We reach, for instance, the COMDABRA, the Brazilian Aerospace Defense Command, which is the Brazilian Air Force center which collects UFO sightings. I have learned a lot from the military. Much more than I ever learned among civilian UFOlogists, who constantly mix fact and ficction. Military UFOlogy and its UFOlogists are much more reliable. WUFOR: Last year (1997), there was a flurry of reports in the Brazilian media about the "Chupacabra" attacking farm animals all over Brazil. Then, suddenly, the reports died. What can you tell us these attacks? Do you believe in the existence of this "creature"? PPvP: The attacks are still under way ! The media has ceased discussing about it, but, we still hear about sparse cases happening in Brasil and elsewhere. Despite the few reports of coincidental UFO sightings in areas where the so called chupa-cabras have attacked, I am not convinced that there is a relationship. It is possible that we are dealing with an unknown creature, as rare as the white lions (only 25 of them are known and living in a private north-american zoo). If there is a chupa-cabras, It can well be a weird blood-sucking animal previously unclassified by science. WUFOR: I believe a man by the name of Urandir appeared on Brazilian television in 1997 and claimed he was going to make contact with aliens in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul sometime during the year. I think, if I remember correctly, he even invited some members from the TV audience to witness the event. Can you tell us a little about this man and event? PPvP: I was invited by Bandeirantes TV to go to Mato Grosso and participate in an UFO contact with Mr. Urandir. The production team of Brasil Verdade bought my air ticket, but because of a heavy rain a failed to get to the airport in time. Fortunately, nothing important happened , so nothing was lost. Urandir promissed a televised contact for november 1997. He said that the ETs authorized him to take another person inside their craft. Well.. Nothing happened !! I've seen him cheating more than once while performing his alleged "paranormal" feats. So... Up to this day, I have nothing to make me think that he is a real psychic or contactee. WUFOR: Tell us a little about your publication "Maravilhas e Misterios". PPvP: Maravilhas e Misterios (Marvels & Mysteries) is an old editorial dream. Many people seemed to be interested in helping me materialize such a dream, but, up to this day, I've had only words and promisses. I have no many to invest in the project so I decided to start a small electronic bulletin as a seed. Maravilhas
e Misterios is a collection of amazing scientific and parascientific facts.
Its a compilation of the curious, the bizarre, and the anomalous, mixed
with the modern
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