Unsolved:Archives of the Impossible

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Archives of the Impossible, Rice University, Houston, TX
CountryUnited States of America
ScopeParanormal, UFO, and anomalous phenomena research archives
EstablishedScript error: No such module "Date time".
LocationWoodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University, Houston, Texas
Coordinates [ ⚑ ] : 29°43′4.021″N 95°24′0.730″W / 29.71778361°N 95.4002028°W / 29.71778361; -95.4002028
Access and use
CirculationSpecial collection (rare materials): does not circulate
Other information
DirectorJeffrey J. Kripal (Curator)
AffiliationRice University School of Humanities
Public transit accessMETRORail Red Line (Hermann Park/Rice University station)
Websiteimpossiblearchives.rice.edu
Map
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The Archives of the Impossible are a special collection at Rice University began by Jeffrey J. Kripal. Based at the Woodson Research Center in the Fondren Library, it stewards collections on UFO and paranormal subjects, including the papers of Jacques Vallée, declassified United States Army Stargate Project materials, correspondence sent to Whitley Strieber after the publication of Communion, and materials related to John E. Mack. By 2024 the archive comprised fifteen collections, hosts recurring conferences at Rice, and in 2024 launched a two-year research initiative of their collections.

Details

The Archives of the Impossible (AOTI) of Rice University at Houston, Texas is a special collection founded in 2014 by Jeffrey J. Kripal, a religious studies academic.[1][2] AOTI is based at the Woodson Research Center.[3] AOTI materials are housed in the Fondren Library.[2] By 2024, AOTI contained fifteen separate collections of materials.[1] The AOTI were identified as the "most utilized collection within the institution."[4]: 16  AOTI was identified by the Washington Library Association (WLA) in their journal Alki as the first such publicly accessible archive of UFO and paranormal research materials as "a primary focus".[4]: 17 

Kripal developed the AOTI by building relationships with other researchers over time, with their team at Rice identifying collections to consider for accession.[4]: 16  AOTI was initiated with a donation by French ufologist and author Jacques Vallée of his collected lifetime research materials.[3][1] After four years of negotiation, Vallée donated his collection to AOTI.[1] Rice University in 2024 began a two-year study of the materials in AOTI, after ten years of collection and archival work.[1] The research included artificial intelligence driven analysis of the Strieber and Mack collections.[2]

According to Oxford American, the project aimed to counter "damage" caused to the study of such topics by the Condon Committee report in 1969.[2] In 2025, Rice University hosted the conference, The Archives of the Impossible: The UFO and the Impossible.[2] A semi-annual AOTI conference is held at Rice University.[4]: 17  Kripal remarked in 2025 that "now we call it the Center of the Impossible.[2]

Collections

The AOTI houses mail correspondences that Whitley Streiber, author of the book Communion, received from the public about their reported alien abduction claims.[5][3] Kripal highlighted 3,400 letters to Steiber in particular.[1] AOTI has a collection of material from John E. Mack of Harvard University.[2] Additional collections to the AOTI were donated by Larry W. Bryant, Brenda Denzler, Richard F. Haines, R. Leo Sprinkle and Wendelle C. Stevens. [4]: 14–16  Both the Sprinkle and Vallée materials have embargoes requested by the creators on some content due to their "sensitive nature", according to the journal of the WLA.[4]: 15  AOTI holds declassified research material of the United States Army's 1972-1995 Stargate Project, donated by Edwin May, the program director from 1985 to 1995.[3][5]

The project was described as holding "thousands" of "firsthand abduction accounts".[3] Rice University began an extensive de-identification process for Mack's collection, to protect the identities of claimed experiencers in medical records.[4]: 8–9  Similar anonymization efforts were reported underway for the Strieber collection.[4]: 14–15  KPRC-TV described the AOTI collections as containing "photos, drawings, sketches, and personal testimonies, all claiming to document encounters with the unknown".[1] Editor Derek Askey of the The Sun in 2025 detailed his visit to AOTI, and his examination of materials from the government's Stargate Project and Communion readers.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Cerota, Andy (2024-10-28). "Archives of the Impossible at Rice University Marks 10 years: Exploring supernatural encounters and exponential growth". https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/10/28/archives-of-the-impossible-at-rice-university-marks-10-years-exploring-supernatural-encounters-and-exponential-growth/. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Clarke, Will (2025-05-27). "Inside Rice University’s 2025 UFO Conference". https://oxfordamerican.org/oa-now/inside-rice-university-s-2025-ufo-conference. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Billeaud Anderson, Virginia (July 2022). "Cosmic Sex and UFOs: Rice University’s Archives of the Impossible". https://www.intownmag.com/2022/07/cosmic-sex-and-ufos-rice-universitys-archives-of-the-impossible/. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Luftig, David M.; Cukier, Emily S. (August 2024). "Trends in UFO-Related Archival Collections". Alki: The Washington Library Association Journal 40 (2): 1–27. doi:10.7273/000006614. ISSN 8756-4173. https://rex.libraries.wsu.edu/esploro/outputs/journalArticle/Trends-in-UFO-Related-Archival-Collections/99901139039701842. Retrieved 2025-10-28. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Askey, Derek (2025-10-20). "Rifling Through the Impossible". https://www.thesunmagazine.org/articles/28855-rifling-through-the-impossible. 



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