Magonia is a British journal focused on UFO phenomena. Its name comes from Passport to Magonia, a book by Ufologist Jacques Vallée

Jacques Vallée

Jacques Fabrice Vallée is a venture capitalist, computer scientist, author, ufologist and former astronomer currently residing in San Francisco, California....

. Vallée in turn had borrowed the term from Magonia

Magonia (mythology)

According to the treatise on weather magic composed by Carolingian bishop Agobard of Lyon in 815, Magonia is the name of the cloud realm from where felonious aerial sailors were said to have come....

, a magical land described by French folklore

French folklore

French folklore encompasses the fables, folklore and fairy tales and legends of the Gauls, Franks, Normans, Bretons, Occitans, and other peoples living in France.-Folklore from the Middle Ages:...

.

The journal explores related areas of belief and unusual behaviour, focusing on the sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 and social history

Social history

Social history, often called the new social history, is a branch of History that includes history of ordinary people and their strategies of coping with life. In its "golden age" it was a major growth field in the 1960s and 1970s among scholars, and still is well represented in history departments...

 of UFO believers and related belief system

Belief system

A belief system is a set of mutually supportive beliefs. The beliefs may be religious, philosophical, ideological or a combination of these.The British philosopher Stephen Law has described some belief systems as "claptrap" and said that they "draw people in and hold them captive so they become...

s e.g. imaginary friend

Imaginary friend

Imaginary friends and imaginary companions are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than external physical reality. Imaginary friends are fictional characters created for improvisational role-playing. They...

s, paracosm

Paracosm

A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world involving humans and/or animals, or perhaps even fantasy or alien creations. Often having its own geography, history, and language, it is an experience that is developed during childhood and continues over a long period of time: months or even years.The...

s and trance channelling. The writers, columnists, and editors of Magonia do not support the extraterrestrial hypothesis

Extraterrestrial hypothesis

The extraterrestrial hypothesis is the hypothesis that some unidentified flying objects are best explained as being extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets occupying physical spacecraft visiting Earth.-Etymology:...

 or ETH, which theorizes that UFOs are vehicles from an advanced extraterrestrial civilization. Instead, Magonia promotes the alternative psychosocial hypothesis

Psychosocial Hypothesis

In ufology, the psychosocial or psychocultural hypothesis, colloquially abbreviated PSH or PCH, argues that at least some UFO reports are best explained by psychological or social means...

 to explain UFO sightings and incidents. According to this theory, UFOs are not "real vehicles" in a physical sense, but can instead be explained as a product of psychological and/or social factors acting upon both individuals and large groups of people.

Contributors to Magonia have often been critical of ufologists (particularly American ufologists) who promote the ETH. They have also criticized Jerome Clark

Jerome Clark

Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note....

, a prominent American Ufologist and historian, but have praised his work on several occasions