What Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry Thought of UFO's & Psychic Phenomenon

Gene Roddenberry gave us Star Trek which became the most famous science fiction television program ever. But what did he think of his subject matter?

It's not automatic that a writer believes in his subject. It sure helps, but I've written on things I didn't like. Of course for the long term, like a television series, it's fairly certain the creator has an affinity for what they're writing about week in and year out.

Examples: Michael Crichton, creator of blockbuster medical drama E.R. earned his MD from Harvard Medical School. David E Kelly was an attorney before he created his most popular shows, the legal dramas, The Practice and Boston Legal. Chris Carter creator of the X-Files was a big fan of The Night Stalker starring Darren McGavin. The spooky adventures of newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak influenced him to pair FBI agents exploring the paranormal in his mega hit FOX series.

During World War II, Roddenberry was a decorated B17 Pilot, and then became a Los Angeles police officer. For Roddenberry, the love of science fiction was a lifelong one. During his career, especially after Star Trek's cancellation, Roddenberry gave many lectures to supplement his income. Those speeches may be lost in time, but thankfully he also discussed UFO's and psychic phenomenon in a book called "Gods Of Aquarius" by Brad Steiger. In a chapter discussing the phenomenon of UFO's and developing psychic powers in children, here's what Roddenberry said:

"We wrote a couple of episodes about individuals who had such unique talents. As a matter of fact, our second pilot - and the one that sold the series - was on that subject when Gary Lockwood began to find out that he could, after having undergone a strange experience in space, accomplish things like moving a glass of water without touching it. And then he developed more and more power... It was too much power to put into the hands of an unprepared person."

When asked if he'd ever seen a UFO, Roddenberry replied, "No, I haven't, but at the same time you can hardly work seriously in science-fiction or you can hardly be an educated person, and say that such things are impossible. I think it would probably be the most mathematically incredible happening you could conceive that this is the only place in this great universe where happenings that we call life occurred. Therefore, I think that, as many people would say, it's likely there are people ahead of us and behind us."

Indeed, as is illustrated time and again in various Star Trek stories, life forms may be centuries ahead of us or behind. For Roddenberry, the excitement lay in exploring those what if scenarios which his classic series captured so well.