On April 3–5, 2025, Rice University (Houston TX) is holding an interesting conference “The UFO and the Impossible”. Amongst the speakers are, for example, Brenda Denzler and Diana Walsh Pasulka. I thought that the conference might interest also UAP Discovery forum users: “The UFO and the Impossible” conference
Rice University Fondren Library houses also document collections related to the study of paranormal experiences. I was wondering whether anyone has any experience using their collections? Fondren Library: Archives of the Impossible
Thank you for sharing this intriguing opportunity! Are you planning to attend? If so, is there any available funding for registration or travel expenses? Although I have not worked directly with their collection, I am well-acquainted with much of the material it contains and would be eager to explore it in greater depth.
I am attending the conference remotely. I bought a virtual 3-day pass which gives me the possibility to listen to all the presentations.
Unfortunately, I have no information about available funding from Rice University. I believe each university funds its own staff and students and has their own requirements for funding. Funding can also be applied from different private or state managed foundations and trust funds.
It’s unfortunate you will not be able to attend in person as it would be a great networking opportunity. It looks like a good lineup for speakers though and the price for the virtual registration ($50) is not too bad. I would be interested to hear your review of the conference when it’s all said and done. Please keep us posted.
I have been trying to schedule in person visits to UFO conferences. Both in North America and Europe. It would be great to have a running list of available conferences throughout the year. I am still saddened that the UFO Congress in Phoenix does not seem to be going forward. Does anyone have any insight as to whether it will be resurrected?
Hey there, Thanks for sharing. What is your research focus? Maby we can help direct you with some more info on what you would like to get out of attendance. Unfortunately most of the “UFO conferences” are a bit off topic for our purpose here. As far as I know the UFO Congress in Scottsdale has been postponed indefinitely due to logistical issues. Perhaps @Alejandro can provide more info on that.
Thanks Jason, I will continue to look for opportunities to visit with like minded explorers. Tho, it does appear the conference circuit is still feeling the effects of Covid…
I’ll write here a few lines about the conference:
In my opinion, “The UFO and the Impossible" conference was thought-provoking. Speakers were well chosen – they came from various fields of science, which made it possible to discuss the phenomena from different angles. Of course, participating online cannot be compared with participating in person, but for me it was still a great experience.
The theme that stood out for me the most was reality. It was brought up in many presentations, and it was surprising to hear how limited our understanding of the world is. Scientific theories do give explanations, but they do it inside the prevailing framework. It was suggested that the framework we are currently using, might be meaningless in studying the UFO phenomena – maybe it is the right time to question the existing (western) model of the universe.
This conference has given me a lot to think about and I hope it will be arranged next year too!
Fantastic! Thank yous so much for this insightful and thorough review of the conference.Were there any specific sessions or speakers that stood out for you? How can our models and framework be adjusted to improve our goals?
There were many very good speakers at the “UFO and the Impossible" conference, but the one who affected me the most was Wes Watters, professor of astronomy, from Wellesley College. He did not speak about UAPs at all, but about meteors. He gave an overview of the study of meteors, starting from 15th century, where peasants claimed they saw rocks falling from the sky (and no one believed them!), to the modern science of meteoritics. Meteors have gone through the transmission from being an anomaly to an accepted science. I found the simplicity of the parallel between early history of meteoritics and UAPs beautiful.
So, you ask how to adjust our models and framework to improve our goals… Based on different speakers, I would suggest that we should accept the fact that our knowledge is limited. If we cannot see something with our own eye, doesn’t mean that it is not there. We should be more open to different ideas and beliefs, because they might lead us to new discoveries.
Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies is having their Annual Conference on June 6-8, 2025.
Location: Von Braun Center, Huntsville, Alabama.
Participation: in person or virtually!