Aimé Michel (12 May 1919 – 28 December 1992) was a French

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

specialist, science and spirituality writer and author.

Biography

Aimé Michel was born in Saint-Vincent-les-Forts, now known as

Ubaye-Serre-Ponçon Ubaye-Serre-Ponçon (; Vivaro-Alpine dialect, Vivaro-Alpine: ''Ubaia e La Sèrra de Ponçon'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, southeastern France. It was formed on 1 January 2 ...

, France on 12 May 1919. After obtaining diplomas in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and passing the entrance exam as a studio sound engineer in 1943, Michel joined the French radio station

Radiodiffusion Française Radiodiffusion Française (RDF) was a French public institution responsible for public service broadcasting. Created in 1944 as a state monopoly (replacing Radiodiffusion Nationale), RDF worked to rebuild its extensive network, destroyed during t ...

in 1944. In 1946, he worked in the research department, where he met with Pierre Schaeffer, who later founded the Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète. Michel published ''Mystérieux Objets Célestes'' in 1958, which covered the 1954 wave of UFOs in France. After the publication with help from Jacques Bergier, he devised a theory called Orthoténie ( en, orthoteny) in a corner of a restaurant booth. Michel postulated so-called "alignments": straight lines that corresponded to large circles traced and centered on the earth. Michel claimed that UFO sightings could be clustered along these grid lines. He proposed, for example, that there was a line known as “BaVic,” pointing from

Bayonne Bayonne (; eu, Baiona ; oc, label= Gascon, Baiona ; es, Bayona) is a city in Southwestern France near the Spanish border. It is a commune and one of two subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine re ...

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a Spa town, spa and resort town and in World ...

, where, out of nine UFO observations cited in the press on 24 September 1954, six aligned (

Lencouacq Lencouacq (; oc-gsc, Lencoac) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. Transport Between 1907 and 1934, Lencouacq was the terminus of the long gauge Chemin de fer Économiques Forestiers des Land ...

, Tulle, Ussel, Gelles,

). A member of the editorial board of ''Lumières dans la nuit'' from 1969, he wrote numerous articles on UFOs, mysticism, the animal kingdom as well as other topics in various journals.(''Arts'', ''

Science et Vie ''Science & Vie'' (; ''Science and Life'') is a monthly science magazine published in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. History and profile The magazine was started in 1913 with the name ''La Science et la Vie''. In 1982, a spinoff computer m ...

'', '' Tout Savoir'', '' Monde et Vie'', '' Encyclopédie Larousse'' « Découvrir les Animaux » in 1971, ''

Planète A planet, in astronomy, is one of a class of celestial bodies that orbit stars. (A dwarf planet is a similar, but officially mutually exclusive, class of body.) * For articles on specific types of planet, see List of planets Planet or Planets ma ...

'' - apologist for Réalisme fantastique including other participants

Remy Chauvin Remy Chauvin (10 October 1913 – 8 December 2009) at Sainte-Croix-aux-Mines, Haut-Rhin, was a biologist and entomologist, and a French people, French Honorary Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris, Sorbonne, PhD, and a senior research fell ...

, Bernard Heuvelmans, Charles Noël Martin
Jean E. Charon
and

George Langelaan George Langelaan (19 January 1908 – 9 February 1972) was a French-British writer and journalist born in Paris, France. He is best known for his 1957 short story " The Fly", which was the basis for the 1958 and 1986 sci-fi/horror films and a ...

-, '' Phénomènes Spatiaux'', ''Recherches ufologiques'', ''Question de'', ''France Catholique'', ''Ecclésia'', '' Flying Saucer Review'', '' Archeologia'' (with an article on his village where he was born), etc.) In the periodical '' La vie des bêtes'', during the 1960s, he authored the column "Les mystères du monde animal", documenting the mysteries of the animal world. From September 26 to October 10, 1964, Aimé Michel also led cultural workshops on the theme of "Life in the Sidereal Universe", taking place under the backing of the magazine ''Planète'' at

Cefalù Cefalù (), classically known as Cephaloedium (), is a city and comune in the Italian Metropolitan City of Palermo, located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily about east of the provincial capital and west of Messina. The town, with its populati ...

in Sicily. He wrote the television screenplay Mycenae, the One From the Future, which aired in 1972. He was a friend of controversial people like

Jacques Bergier Jacques Bergier (; maybe born Yakov Mikhailovich Berger (russian: link=no, Я́ков Миха́йлович Бéргер); Odessa, Paris, 23 November 1978) was a chemical engineer, member of the French-resistance, spy, journalist and writer. He ...

and

Louis Pauwels Louis Pauwels (; 2 August 1920 – 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and writer. Born in Paris, France, he wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 (including ''Esprit'' and ''Variété'') until the 1950s. He partic ...

, who were arrested in 1971 for their cooperation in ''Planète''. He self-described himself as a "pathological" rebel for his cooperation in such activities.

Bibliography

Filmography

Notes

References

External links

Article on Michel's life by Thibaut Canuti

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Michel, Aime 1919 births 1992 deaths People from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Ufologists UFO writers French non-fiction writers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers