I don't remember particular sentences like that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were at least partially intentional. Ambiguity is one of the main components

I don't remember particular sentences like that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it were at least partially intentional. Ambiguity is one of the main components of hypnotic inductions, and van Vogt was a lay expert on hypnosis. (He co-authored "The Hypnotism Handbook" with Charles Cooke, for example.) It's said that van Vogt would sometimes rely on unconscious processing and "dream logic" (for want of a better term) in his writing processes, so those sentences you noticed might well have been both "accidental" and unconsciously intentional.