Rice University in Houston hosted "The Archives of the Impossible: The UFO and the Impossible" conference beginning April 3, 2025, bringing together scholars, military veterans, and researchers for a rigorous academic examination of the UAP phenomenon.
The Conference
The event was organized by Dr. Jeffrey Kripal, the J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion and Associate Dean of Humanities at Rice University, who has spearheaded the formation of the "Archives of the Impossible" — an impressive collection of paranormal studies housed at Rice that includes the personal papers of legendary UFO researcher Jacques Vallee.
Key Speakers and Presentations
The conference featured Stanford professor Garry Nolan, who juggles world-class immunology research with running the Sol Foundation. Retired Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, who testified in the November 2024 congressional hearing on UAPs, delivered a talk about anomalous phenomena he has tracked underwater.
Astronomer Dr. Wes Watters, physicist Dr. Kevin Knuth, and anthropologist Dr. Peter Skafish addressed the topic from their respective disciplines. Panels covered ethics, ontology, remote viewers, and experiencer narratives moderated by scholars including Kimberly Engels and Karin Austin.
Academic Legitimacy
The conference represents a significant milestone in the academic acceptance of UAP research. Rice University, a top-tier research institution, hosting a multi-day UAP conference signals a shift in how mainstream academia treats the subject.
The Archives of the Impossible collection at Rice's Fondren Library includes thousands of documents, photographs, and research materials donated by researchers who have spent decades investigating anomalous phenomena. Jacques Vallee's papers alone span several decades of research.
The Sol Foundation Connection
The conference shares significant personnel overlap with the Sol Foundation, the Stanford-backed UAP think tank. Jeffrey Kripal serves on Sol's Social Science Advisory Board, and speakers including Nolan, Gallaudet, and Skafish are active in both organizations.
Significance
The Rice conference demonstrates that UAP research is increasingly finding a home within traditional academic institutions, moving beyond the stigma that historically prevented serious scholarly engagement with the topic. The combination of archival resources, interdisciplinary scholarship, and high-profile speakers establishes a model for how universities can contribute to understanding the phenomenon.