Born December 10, 1948 in Kharkov, then the USSR. He received his M.S. degree in computer science in 1972 and then joined the laboratory of Dr. A.V.Zolotov in Kalinin (now Tver), where he studied the problem of the Tunguska explosion for three years. He received his Ph.D. degree in the philosophy of science from the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, where in 1980 he defended his doctoral thesis “Philosophical and Methodological Aspects of the Problem of Extraterrestrial Civilizations” (the first of its kind in the former USSR).
His professional fields are methodology of interdisciplinary research, sociology of science and technology, and general epistemology. He is currently Director of the Research Institute on Anomalous Phenomena, a new scientific research body that has been established in Kharkov by the Ukrainian Aerospace Company “Vertical”, as well as the Editor of its newsletter RIAP Bulletin.
He has been involved in ufological studies since 1966 (his paper “Guests from Outer Space or Atmospheric Phenomena?”, published in the popular-scientific journal Znannia ta Pratsa, Kiev, 1966, No. 9, was in fact the first positively-oriented ufological paper ever published in the Soviet press). As far back as 1981, he organized in Kharkov one of the first half-official UFO Study Groups in the USSR.
He is taking a specific interest in the application of the scientific method to this field of investigations. He has authored more than 100 articles on ETI and UFO problems in the Soviet, post-Soviet, and foreign press, as well as two scientific monographs: The Problem of Extraterrestrial Civilizations (with A.D.Ursul, Kishinev: Shtiintsa, 1984 & 1987) and UFOs and Modern Science, (with Y.V.Platov, Moscow: Nauka, 1991).
He is a full member of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, an associate member of the Society for Scientific Exploration, USA, a member of the Expert Group on Anomalous Atmospheric Phenomena of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the MUFON representative for Ukraine, as well as a co-director of the Joint USA-CIS Aerial Anomaly Federation.
He can be contacted at: RIAP, P.O.Box 4542, 61022 Kharkiv-22, Ukraine. E-mail address: tolimak@mail.ru.
Awards: Award of Moldavian Academy of Sciences, 1984.
Publications:
Book: The Problem of Extraterrestrial Civilizations: Philosophical and Methodological Aspects. Kishinev: Shtiintsa (Science) Publishing House, 1st edition: 1984, 2nd, enlarged, edition: 1987 (with A.D.Ursul).
Book: UFOs and Modern Science. Moscow: Nauka (Science) Publishing House, 1991 (with Y.V.Platov).
Selected Papers:
Visitors from the Space or Atmospheric Phenomena?, Znannya ta Pratsa, Kiev, 1966, No. 9.
The Discovery by Dr. Gurlt (with Y.N.Morozov), Tekhnika-Molodyozhi, Moscow, 1976, No. 7.
A “Flying ‘Man’ in Black” in Russia, Flying Saucer Review, 1979, Vol. 24, No. 4.
The Dichotomy “Natural-Artificial” and its Role in the Problem of Extraterrestrial Civilizations, Proceedings of XV Tsiolkovsky Readings, Kaluga, 1981.
The Problem of Paleovisits (Corr.), Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 1983, Vol. 36, No. 11.
Open Letter to Ancient Astronaut Theory Proponents, Ancient Skies, 1984, Vol. 11, No. 4.
Beyond the Sirius Lore, Ancient Skies, 1985, Vol. 12, No. 4.
Anomalous Phenomena and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Civilizations, Non-Periodical Transient Phenomena in the Environment. Interdisciplinary Scientific-Technical Conference. Abstracts of Papers. Tomsk, 1988.
The Problem of Anomalous Aerial Phenomena and Its Methodological Lessons, MUFON UFO Journal, 1988, No. 248.
UFOs: from Controversy to Investigations, Zemlya i Vselennaya, Moscow, 1990, No. 3.
Encounter in Kazakhstan (Corr.), Fortean Times, 1990, No. 56.
Criteria of Artificiality in SETI, Bioastronomy: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life – The Exploration Broadens. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag, 1991.
On the Question of Paleovisits. – Ibid.
Soviet Ice Ring, MUFON UFO Journal, 1991, No. 282.
Ukraine Research Institute on Anomalous Phenomena, Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1993, Vol. 7, No. 3.
Alien Contacts and Abduction Experiences: a Look from the C.I.S., MUFON 1994 International UFO Symposium Proceedings. Seguin, 1994.
Los Ovnis Del Rio Mzha, Enigmas, Madrid, 1996, Vol. 2, No. 9.
Soviet Ufology in Its Human Dimensions, UFOs 1947-1997. London: John Brown Publishing, 1997.
SSE Member Vladimir V. Rubtsov. Profile. The Explorer, 1998, Vol. 14, No. 1&2.
The Unknown Tunguska, Fate, 2001, May.
Domes of Wrath, Fate, 2002, April.
Soviet Ufology, Fate, 2005, December.