Archives of the Impossible – Paperback

Consider a number of phenomena that, according to dominant paradigms, are impossible. Near-death experiences, precognitive abilities, apparitions, presences, UFOs, abductions, physical mediumship, and remote viewingall of these are commonly dismissed, but evidence for them builds up all the time. The Center for the Impossible at Rice Universityone of the largest archives dedicated to the study of the paranormal at an American research universityholds around a million documents of alleged paranormal experiences, and the collection continues to grow.

This book presents essays and interviews in which leading experts explore the Archives of the Impossible and its lessons for our understanding of the universe. Luminaries from the study of UFOs are joined by academics from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, along with writers, archivists, and experiencers. Together, their contributions inaugurate a new era of intellectual attention to phenomena that have long been marginalized. Eschewing both credulous belief and reflexive skepticism, these thinkers model careful and critical attention to dimensions of human experience that defy prevailing intellectual models. Archives of the Impossible reveals how much more there is to the world than reductive materialism allows.