Alternate Perceptions Magazine, April 2025
My personal takeaways on 2025’s Archives of the Impossible conference
Mike Fiorito
After reading Jeff Kripal’s book The Flip many years ago, I developed a deep interest in the UFO phenomenon. Over time, my library has grown so much that it now exceeds the space in our small NYC apartment. Along this journey, I have written two UFO-themed books, and I’ve made friends worldwide who share this interest.
Mike Fiorito with Jeff Kripal, Professor of philosophy and religious thought at Rice University.
Fueled by this passion, I attended the Archives of the Impossible (AOTI) 2025 conference in Houston from April third to fifth. The event was spectacular, featuring a packed agenda with speakers and presenters from various fields worldwide. Fortunately, breaks and sessions allowed for further conversations. The panelists included physicists, biologists, archivists, experiencers, philosophers, and humanists, all agreeing that input from every area of study is essential to tackle the subject.
The speakers included Jeff Kripal, Diana Pasulka, Garry Nolan, Tim Gallaudet, Karl Nell, Wes Watters, Kevin Knuth, Peter Skafish, Karin Austin, Kimberly Engels, Amanda Focke, William Parsons, Michael Clelland, Darren King, Hussein Ali Agrama, Matthew Bowman, James Madden, Darnise Martin, Michael Cifone, Paul Smith, and Brenda Denzler.
Mike Fiorito with Diana W. Pasulka, author of American Cosmic (2019) and Encounters: Experiences with non-human intelligences (2023)
While all presenters were excellent, a few stood out to me. Diana Pasulka and Garry Nolan challenged us to examine the limits of our thinking, suggesting that the UFO topic offers an opportunity to reevaluate our scientific and philosophical paradigms. Garry’s bold challenge to the scientific community was inspiring, urging us not to get hung up on proving anything, as there is enough proof if people take the time to investigate. Garry has developed instruments and tools to examine found objects and materials, categorically stating that some are neither human-made or naturally occurring anomalies, worthy of further study. He shared a story about coordinating a Sol Foundation Conference at Stanford Research Institute (SRI), where SRI initially had issues with the content but eventually showed full support by insisting their name come first on the bill.
Mike Fiorito with Whitley Strieber, host of Dreamland: Journeys to the Extreme Edge.
Mike Clelland’s presentation was outstanding. He discussed his book The Messengers: Accounts of Owls, UFOs and a Deeper Reality, detailing his sixteen-year investigation into the relationship between owls and UFO phenomena. Mike received numerous emails daily from people sharing their experiences, including myself. Compiling these accounts into a book was a massive undertaking that took its toll on him. He noted that the experiences were overwhelming initially, causing him to question his sanity. The owl, Mike said, blurs with the UFO, reflecting its mythic and numinous qualities. During the presentation, Mike showed that the word OWL is embedded in the word KNOWLEDGE. Through persistence and sleepless nights, Mike developed the fortitude to trust his intuition, recognizing the interconnectedness of all things, recalling C.G. Jung's words: “There is a mystical fool in me that proved to be stronger than all my science.” If experiences don’t fit the model, we should question the model.
Mike Fiorito with Greg Bishop, host of Radio Misterioso.
Building on Mike’s presentation, Darren King (AKA ExoAcademian), Communications Director at John Mack Institute, discussed how encounters with others can cause disorientation and fear, pushing us into unknown and uncomfortable places. These experiences transform worldviews, reducing concern with materialism and fear of death, and often instilling a sense of mission on the planet. Darren noted that ancient wisdom traditions describe similar transformations, which also occur in psychedelic experiences. He emphasized that our cultural disconnect with deeper mysteries has contributed to global crises, including mental health, ecological, and political strife. One of the most interesting parts of the week was the discussion on how the multidisciplinary metadata team is cataloging experiencer accounts to make them more accessible to researchers. In addition to the thousands of letters Whitley & Anne Strieber donated to Rice University, there is a growing body of documents and images that need to be managed. The team, including Jeff Kripal, Karin Austin, Amanda Focke, Elliot Hauser, Charles Yokoyama, and Kimberly Engels, brings their specializations to analyze, categorize, and organize the data. For instance, Kimberly Engels, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Molloy University in Long Island, offers her phenomenological expertise to the conversation, urging the team to focus on the first-person experience of encounters, taking careful note of how the encounters are experienced and in what modality of consciousness. The first step of analysis is understanding what was experienced and how, and how the individual made sense of the experience. Once we have collected such data, we can test out explanatory models to see if they can account for the full scope of lived experience. I should add that I’ve taken Kim’s excellent class “Shamanic Worldviews and UFOs/UAP: Ancient Wisdom, New Paradigms” at Morbid Anatomy, where we studied how some Indigenous American groups, like the Hopi and the Mayan, have long integrated their encounters with non-human intelligences into their worldviews. Elliot Hauser, Assistant Professor of Information Science at the University of Texas, Austin, discussed how the team is using optical character recognition to scan documents and tag data elements for easier querying. The team is also aiming to create a standard data model for consistency across research institutes.
Darnise Martin, Religion Professor at Loyola Marymount University, described an experience that she had where beings of light emerged from a spaceship in suits. Those same beings then transformed into grandmotherly souls who, with the care and sweetness of a grandmother, inserted probes into Darnise’s ear. “Don’t you worry, honey, this isn’t going to hurt,” they seemed to say. Darnise had our full attention. While she discussed the importance of African American identity and representation in the culture, she also made the audience laugh with her delightful humor.
Darnise discussed how Afrofuturism has long celebrated the connection between phenomena and music. This genre blends African and African-American cultural elements with futuristic themes and technology, exploring the African diaspora through a futuristic lens. It often incorporates funk, soul, jazz, hip-hop, and electronic music. Although Darnise didn’t mention Sun Ra, he famously claimed to be from Saturn and said he was told to preach peace and make music to heal the people of Earth. Sun Ra’s eclectic and avant-garde music spanned the entire history of jazz, from ragtime and early New Orleans hot jazz to swing, bebop, free jazz, and fusion. His compositions ranged from keyboard solos to big band works, electronic excursions, songs, chants, percussion pieces, and anthems1. Sun Ra’s Afrofuturism and pioneering style influenced Slyvester (Sly) Stone, who significantly impacted Parliament/Funkadelic. Listening to Prince’s music reveals the influence of Sly Stone. More recently, artists like Janelle Monáe, Doja Cat, and André 3000 continue this tradition. I spoke with Darnise about my research into the connection between music and phenomena and hope to connect with her again.
The AOTI 2025 conference was a resounding success. I'm delighted I attended, had the chance to chat with people like Jeff Whitley and Diana, and made many wonderful new friends. Mike Fiorito is an Adjunct Professor of English at City Tech (City University of New York), a freelance journalist, and an author. His book UFO Symphonic-Journeys into Sound explores the relationship between music and the phenomenon. For more info, please visit: https://mikefiorito.com.
