Dr Immanuel Velikovsky is the biggest growing cult figure in the USA. Aged 77, he's an unorthodox scientist who believes that a mere few hundred years before Christ was born Venus almost collided with the Earth. Mountain ranges were formed, seas boiled and the world stood still.
He also believes that man, because he lived through these catastrophes, has an urge to repeat them. Only by understanding the reasons for this urge can we hope to control our compulsion to destroy ourselves.
Few scientists take Velikovsky seriously. But his supporters point to the recent American space probes which seem to confirm his startling predictions about the nature of the moon and the planets Venus, Mars and Jupiter.
People have begun to wonder. Other men have been scorned by the establishment for unpopular ideas. Is Velikovsky a crank? Or is he another Galileo?