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Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred
Most scholars dismiss research into the paranormal as pseudoscience, a frivolous pursuit for the paranoid or gullible. Even historians of religion, whose work naturally attends to events beyond the realm of empirical science, have shown scant interest in the subject. But the history of psychical phenomena, Jeffrey J. Kripal contends, is an untapped source of insight into the sacred and by tracing that history through the last two centuries of Western thought we can see its potential centrality to the critical study of religion.
Kripal grounds his study in the work of four major figures in the history of paranormal research: psychical researcher Frederic Myers; writer and humorist Charles Fort; astronomer, computer scientist, and ufologist Jacques Vallee; and philosopher and sociologist Bertrand Méheust. Through incisive analyses of these thinkers, Kripal ushers the reader into a beguiling world somewhere between fact, fiction, and fraud. The cultural history of telepathy, teleportation, and UFOs; a ghostly love story; the occult dimensions of science fiction; cold war psychic espionage; galactic colonialism; and the intimate relationship between consciousness and culture all come together in Authors of the Impossible , a dazzling and profound look at how the paranormal bridges the sacred and the scientific.
Kripal grounds his study in the work of four major figures in the history of paranormal research: psychical researcher Frederic Myers; writer and humorist Charles Fort; astronomer, computer scientist, and ufologist Jacques Vallee; and philosopher and sociologist Bertrand Méheust. Through incisive analyses of these thinkers, Kripal ushers the reader into a beguiling world somewhere between fact, fiction, and fraud. The cultural history of telepathy, teleportation, and UFOs; a ghostly love story; the occult dimensions of science fiction; cold war psychic espionage; galactic colonialism; and the intimate relationship between consciousness and culture all come together in Authors of the Impossible , a dazzling and profound look at how the paranormal bridges the sacred and the scientific.
332 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2010
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1066 people want to read
About the author
Jeffrey J. Kripal
40 books143 followersJeffrey J. Kripal, Ph.D. (History of Religions, The University of Chicago, 1993; M.A., U. Chicago; B.A., Religion, Conception Seminary College, 1985), holds the J. Newton Rayzor Chair in Philosophy and Religious Thought at Rice University, where he serves as Associate Dean of Humanities, Faculty and Graduate Studies. He also has served as Associate Director of the Center for Theory and Research of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 17, 2015
One of the best books on UFOs and paranormal phenomena
Thoughtful,stimulating,and beautifully written, I have never taken more notes than with this book! There is tremendous density of thought and some really creative ideas in here. Certainly worth a read!
Thoughtful,stimulating,and beautifully written, I have never taken more notes than with this book! There is tremendous density of thought and some really creative ideas in here. Certainly worth a read!
June 14, 2018
A strange but interesting book, think it was recommended in a Rod Dreher blog post. Big idea - written by an historian of religion who essentially says "why do even religious studies departments, whose own data is filled with the paranormal, find it professionally impossible to consider it in a serious way?". He then goes through four authors who did consider it seriously, shares a few crazy stories, and spends most of the time talking about the conclusions they drew.
If you're wondering, near as I can tell the author is not an adherent of any traditional faith - in fact he seems even more annoyed by the "easy answers" to these phenomena offered by traditional religion, as he does the effective denials of science that the (many, many) reported strange incidents ever actually happened. He ends the book actually retelling the 20th century Fatima affair from the perspective that it sure sounds a lot like a typical UFO story, so that gives you some idea. A couple of the "conclusions" I found interesting:
1. The repeated suggestion that... something that paranormal events tend to have in common is that they contain some meaning for the person(s) involved, in fact it's almost like "we're characters in a story someone else is writing". Christian says AHEM. But especially as the authors tend to reject the idea of a transcendent God (at least as traditionally conceived), what they actually reminded me more of was sci-fi stories where we've gotten so good at creating virtual realities and artificial intelligences, that the characters we create don't realize they're just characters on a computer server somewhere. And then you get to the end of the story and you learn, of course, SO ARE WE.
2. The idea that humans are some combination of the transcendent or spiritual, and the biological. Plenty of stories here about humans who know things they have no way of knowing through their biological senses (or doing, or being, or whatever). And yet the biological nature of humans is, of course, undeniable - people suffer brain damage, get older, get diseases, their functionality is impaired in serious ways. How to reconcile those two facts? And so what you're left with (though he doesn't like this word) is the idea that the brain is some kind of filter that unites the transcendent and the physical. And then (because the author has no problem with the idea of biological evolution), you have to ask yourself how a biological organ came to be so well-suited to this task, and at that point he essentially proposes some kind of intelligent design guiding the evolution of the organ. (Again, he doesn't really believe in a "god" though, so exactly what form that would take and who is doing the designing he's pretty vague on.)
3. The idea (and I think this is why Rod recommended the book) that what we are able to perceive is somehow conditioned by language and culture. So, it is well known in Christianity that "supernatural interactions" (demon sightings, miraculous healings, etc.) seem to happen more frequently outside the United States than they do inside the United States, and nobody knows why, though various ideas are suggested. This author might say, to put it simply, we can't see such things because we have conditioned ourselves not to see them. Your thinking and even perception is not as "free" as you might think.
PS he says lots of stuff about quantum physics I found, at best, extremely speculative. You know how this goes - quantum physics says some really weird stuff, here I am observing some really weird stuff, maybe there is some connection. OK, it's slightly more concrete than that, but still extremely speculative.
If you're wondering, near as I can tell the author is not an adherent of any traditional faith - in fact he seems even more annoyed by the "easy answers" to these phenomena offered by traditional religion, as he does the effective denials of science that the (many, many) reported strange incidents ever actually happened. He ends the book actually retelling the 20th century Fatima affair from the perspective that it sure sounds a lot like a typical UFO story, so that gives you some idea. A couple of the "conclusions" I found interesting:
1. The repeated suggestion that... something that paranormal events tend to have in common is that they contain some meaning for the person(s) involved, in fact it's almost like "we're characters in a story someone else is writing". Christian says AHEM. But especially as the authors tend to reject the idea of a transcendent God (at least as traditionally conceived), what they actually reminded me more of was sci-fi stories where we've gotten so good at creating virtual realities and artificial intelligences, that the characters we create don't realize they're just characters on a computer server somewhere. And then you get to the end of the story and you learn, of course, SO ARE WE.
2. The idea that humans are some combination of the transcendent or spiritual, and the biological. Plenty of stories here about humans who know things they have no way of knowing through their biological senses (or doing, or being, or whatever). And yet the biological nature of humans is, of course, undeniable - people suffer brain damage, get older, get diseases, their functionality is impaired in serious ways. How to reconcile those two facts? And so what you're left with (though he doesn't like this word) is the idea that the brain is some kind of filter that unites the transcendent and the physical. And then (because the author has no problem with the idea of biological evolution), you have to ask yourself how a biological organ came to be so well-suited to this task, and at that point he essentially proposes some kind of intelligent design guiding the evolution of the organ. (Again, he doesn't really believe in a "god" though, so exactly what form that would take and who is doing the designing he's pretty vague on.)
3. The idea (and I think this is why Rod recommended the book) that what we are able to perceive is somehow conditioned by language and culture. So, it is well known in Christianity that "supernatural interactions" (demon sightings, miraculous healings, etc.) seem to happen more frequently outside the United States than they do inside the United States, and nobody knows why, though various ideas are suggested. This author might say, to put it simply, we can't see such things because we have conditioned ourselves not to see them. Your thinking and even perception is not as "free" as you might think.
PS he says lots of stuff about quantum physics I found, at best, extremely speculative. You know how this goes - quantum physics says some really weird stuff, here I am observing some really weird stuff, maybe there is some connection. OK, it's slightly more concrete than that, but still extremely speculative.
November 25, 2015
Fascinating discussions of Frederick Myers, Charles Fort, Jacques Vallee, and Bertrand Méheust, showing the connections between spiritualism, Theosophy, UFOs and religious mysticism. You cannot read Kripal's commentary and analysis and not come away thinking that our materialist worldview is too reductive, that consciousness is something greater than just the brain and body. You will also think that the producers of the Matrix series and ancient Gnostics were on to something.
April 15, 2016
What damages an otherwise interesting, even compelling, read is the imposition of post-structural specialized terminology and unnecessary complex sentence structures that obfuscate rather than enlighten.
Authors of the Impossible, by Jeffrey J. Kripal of Rice University [Dept. of Religion], has been written for a specialized audience [read academic] in what appears to be an attempt to bring the paranormal/fantastic elements of popular culture, as it takes over the role of the sacred/religious in our lives, into the fold of acceptable, even laudable, academic studies.
However, the overlay of post-structural language, with lots of name dropping [Freud, Derrida, Lacan, Foucault], and inelegant sentences and sentence structures does not make this book any better. Not to say this is a poor piece of scholarship, it is a very interesting hypothesis, but the language and the sentence structures make the work unnecessarily opaque.
Recommended for academic readers with a thorough grounding in post-structural theory and an interest in the manner in which the sacred has moved/is moving from the scared 'register' to the imagined 'register'. Other readers may find getting at the author's argument and intentions more trouble than it is worth.
Prof. Kripal might do well read Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Authors of the Impossible, by Jeffrey J. Kripal of Rice University [Dept. of Religion], has been written for a specialized audience [read academic] in what appears to be an attempt to bring the paranormal/fantastic elements of popular culture, as it takes over the role of the sacred/religious in our lives, into the fold of acceptable, even laudable, academic studies.
However, the overlay of post-structural language, with lots of name dropping [Freud, Derrida, Lacan, Foucault], and inelegant sentences and sentence structures does not make this book any better. Not to say this is a poor piece of scholarship, it is a very interesting hypothesis, but the language and the sentence structures make the work unnecessarily opaque.
Recommended for academic readers with a thorough grounding in post-structural theory and an interest in the manner in which the sacred has moved/is moving from the scared 'register' to the imagined 'register'. Other readers may find getting at the author's argument and intentions more trouble than it is worth.
Prof. Kripal might do well read Steven Pinker's The Sense of Style.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
January 28, 2023
if you like this review, i now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com
220516: this becomes more interesting as it progresses from naive to sophisticated 'expression' of ufo phenomena. the authors examined cross back and forth over the rigid divisions between rational and scientific and mystical and fantastic. if nothing else, I like the distinction ufos are neither flying nor objects but are 'aerial phenomena' that are unidentified. the early chapters are of primarily historical interest, the latter chapters theory. the paranormal and the sacred seem to occupy the same post-modern register. it is not required to be credulous but only open-minded...
220516: this becomes more interesting as it progresses from naive to sophisticated 'expression' of ufo phenomena. the authors examined cross back and forth over the rigid divisions between rational and scientific and mystical and fantastic. if nothing else, I like the distinction ufos are neither flying nor objects but are 'aerial phenomena' that are unidentified. the early chapters are of primarily historical interest, the latter chapters theory. the paranormal and the sacred seem to occupy the same post-modern register. it is not required to be credulous but only open-minded...
November 29, 2013
I just couldn't get into it: quit at page 75.
July 31, 2018
This book is an interesting book: it's about the comparative scholarly practice itself, rather than a tradition "world religions" textbook. I think worth considering as a text to pair with a more traditional "world religions" textbook in a "world religions" or "comparative religions" course.
There's a fair bit that feels a little more like "care-taker" than "critic" if you catch McCutcheon's drift - Kripal takes religious experience at face value & a couple of times describes his own experiences - but some of that tension between insider-outsider is what religious studies students are interested it.
It's also, perhaps, non-traditional in the inclusion of UFOs & other paranormal stuff where a more traditional teacher might want "the supernatural" and a limit to "gods, spirits, & ancestors."
Part of what I like about it is that it's different than my otherwise pretty traditional approach to "world religions" and even my "intro to religious studies" approach. It'll give me & students something to discuss when I get to contrast some more traditional examples & approaches.
I'm thinking of using it in my fall class, if I do, I'll try to remember to come back to this & comment on how it worked for my 1-2 year community college students.
There's a fair bit that feels a little more like "care-taker" than "critic" if you catch McCutcheon's drift - Kripal takes religious experience at face value & a couple of times describes his own experiences - but some of that tension between insider-outsider is what religious studies students are interested it.
It's also, perhaps, non-traditional in the inclusion of UFOs & other paranormal stuff where a more traditional teacher might want "the supernatural" and a limit to "gods, spirits, & ancestors."
Part of what I like about it is that it's different than my otherwise pretty traditional approach to "world religions" and even my "intro to religious studies" approach. It'll give me & students something to discuss when I get to contrast some more traditional examples & approaches.
I'm thinking of using it in my fall class, if I do, I'll try to remember to come back to this & comment on how it worked for my 1-2 year community college students.
May 30, 2015
While this book is written by an academic and primarily aimed at other academics involved in religious studies, its prose is so glib, its coverage so broad that it should appeal equally to academics and smart people everywhere.
As he advocates for what the study of what he calls "the data of the damned," you repeatedly get the feeling that everything you know is wrong.
I'll let Weird Al take it from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qits3...
As he advocates for what the study of what he calls "the data of the damned," you repeatedly get the feeling that everything you know is wrong.
I'll let Weird Al take it from here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qits3...
July 12, 2012
I read the spanish translation of this book ("Autores de lo imposible", Kairos Publishing, 2012), and I found it interesting to know and understand the works of men like Frederic Myers, Charles Fort, Jacques Vallée and Bertrand Méheust, but also like Aimé Michel. For an avid reader of supernatural and philosophy books, a must!
February 3, 2016
Interesting introduction to people who have tabulated paranormal events and interpretations of what they might mean.
November 17, 2017
An interesting work on interest thinkers, from Charles Fort to Jacques Vallée.
December 1, 2017
I have to say this was one of the most exciting books I've ever read. As a French literature scholar, the references to French theorists and writers were certainly a draw. For instance, I'd never heard of the 19th-century psychic Alexis Didier and his influence on Balzac, Dumas and Baudelaire. My own writing on the atypical wiring, early life experiences, and paranormal activities of poetic geniuses [In Their Right Minds: The Lives and Shared Practices of Poetic Geniuses] shares many common findings with Kripal.
While I've always been a skeptic about UFO sightings, the historic connection to religious visions was particularly interesting and made sense. Plus, who am I to say we are the only sentient beings in this big wide Universe, where the time / space continuum also affords interesting possibilities for paranormal encounters. Speaking of encounters, I had no idea that the French scientist in Spielberg’s movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” was based on Jacques Vallée, one of the “authors of the impossible” that Kripal studies.
I see how many people either loved or loathed Authors of the Impossible. Personally, I found Kripal’s style to be as engaging, even friendly and often funny, as it was scholarly and thoughtful. I was so enthralled that I read through the whole thing in a week.
While I've always been a skeptic about UFO sightings, the historic connection to religious visions was particularly interesting and made sense. Plus, who am I to say we are the only sentient beings in this big wide Universe, where the time / space continuum also affords interesting possibilities for paranormal encounters. Speaking of encounters, I had no idea that the French scientist in Spielberg’s movie, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” was based on Jacques Vallée, one of the “authors of the impossible” that Kripal studies.
I see how many people either loved or loathed Authors of the Impossible. Personally, I found Kripal’s style to be as engaging, even friendly and often funny, as it was scholarly and thoughtful. I was so enthralled that I read through the whole thing in a week.
June 3, 2014
Estando en completo desacuerdo con las tesis presentadas por el autor, la verdad es que he disfrutado con la lectura. La presentación es consistente y muy convincente, pero peca del mismo defecto que adolecen los autores del mismo palo, no tomarse en serio las alternativas materialistas a la visión mágica del mundo que se defiende. A pesar de ello esta obra es una interesante aplicación del pensamiento posmoderno a la cuestión de lo paranormal.
January 17, 2019
Kripal is one of my favorite authors. I have read everything by Jacques Vallee, as he is one of my favorite thinkers. I have also read Fort's Book of the Damned, and am very familiar Fredrick Myers opus "Phantasms of the Living", so this book came as a logical choice. This book is about modern hermetics, how life and the page and words can be the same organism. It really made me wish that there were some English translations of Bertrand Méheust's works. This books is fantastic.
October 10, 2014
This book should be read by everyone.
March 27, 2016
Overlong, but had some seriously interesting sections!
January 6, 2019
Mandatory, foundational text of weird studies.
January 23, 2019
With this, I have now finished all of Kripal's books. They are all good and everyone should read them.
May 16, 2024
Uskontotieteilijän kiehtovaa pohdintaa paranormaaleista ja psyykkisistä ilmiöistä sekä ufoista (jotka määrittyvät myös sellaisiksi) ja siitä, miten arkijärjen ja tieteen mahdottomiksi määrittelemistä asioista voisi ajatella ja kirjoittaa. Hän nostaa esimerkiksi neljä kirjoittajaa – authors of the impossible – ja kuvaa heidän avullaan tapoja, joilla voi lähestyä hermeneuttisesti psyykkisiä ja paranormaaleja ilmiöitä. Hän esittelee ensin 1800-luvun brittiläisen Frederick Myersin, joka toimi psyykkisen tutkimuksen seurassa, keräsi, vertaili ja analysoi ihmisten paranormaaleja kokemuksia. Vuosisadan vaihteen molemmin puolin taas vaikutti aivan uskomaton henkilö, Charles Fort, joka keräsi sanomalehdistä uskomattoman laajan kokoelman arjen paranormaaleja, outoja ja okkultteja ilmiöitä, luokitteli ja vertaili niitä sekä julkaisi muutaman teoksen aiheesta. Kolmas henkilö on itsellenikin tutumpi Jacques Vallee, joka on akateemisesti menestynyt fyysikko, tietoverkkojen kehittäjä ja Yhdysvaltain rakettiohjelmassa ja salaisissa ufoprojekteissa työskennellyt henkilö. Samalla hän on esoteriaan perehtynyt ruusuristiläinen, joka pyrkii ymmärtämään ufoilmiötä aivan uusilla tavoilla. Viimeisenä toinen ranskalainen, Bertrand Méheust, joka on muun muassa vertaillut kristillistä mystiikkaa, science fiction -kirjallisuutta ja ufokokemuksia – ja löytänyt niistä paljon yhtäläisyyksiä. Kripal pyrkii tekemään tutkimusta tavalla, joka antaa paranormaalille mahdollisuuden.
November 26, 2023
this textbook has been the most eye opening and helpful guide to reflexively looking at the academic comparative study of religion. or at least most successful in introducing the toolkit for someone to consider doing so.
i had to read this for an intro class over the course of this semester and its easily been the most ive ever learned in a classroom setting, and i contribute a great deal of that due to the fact that Kripal was our main text.
the amount of substance covered in this book is absolutely dense and phenomenal. i could spend a lifetime studying just one chapter- whether with paradoxical both-ands or eschatology- Kripal covers the complex ideologies, systems, and theories in understandable terms that still hold the face bulk of the topics with complete class.
i have nothing but praise for Kripal and his work. this book legitimately changed my worldview and perspective on religion. i couldn’t recommend it more- i think it is a must read for people of all beliefs !!
i had to read this for an intro class over the course of this semester and its easily been the most ive ever learned in a classroom setting, and i contribute a great deal of that due to the fact that Kripal was our main text.
the amount of substance covered in this book is absolutely dense and phenomenal. i could spend a lifetime studying just one chapter- whether with paradoxical both-ands or eschatology- Kripal covers the complex ideologies, systems, and theories in understandable terms that still hold the face bulk of the topics with complete class.
i have nothing but praise for Kripal and his work. this book legitimately changed my worldview and perspective on religion. i couldn’t recommend it more- i think it is a must read for people of all beliefs !!
July 15, 2025
If you are a serious scholar of the paranormal--and I acknowledge this population could just about staff a McDonald's--this should be essential reading. Kripal is not glib or tongue-in-cheek. He considers the material and does not shy away from the conclusions one might reach. He makes no apologies. I come to this material primarily as a novelist whose oeuvre is steadily inching toward just indulging in the paranormal, and this book shored up some of my theories about a paranormal unified field theory.
Excellent book, well-told.
Excellent book, well-told.
March 13, 2021
Excellent Book. Would Highly recommend for the skeptical mind.
May 27, 2022
Kripal is endlessly fascinating.
June 26, 2023
An excellent overview of both the history of paranormal investigation and the reasons to approach it as a legitimate topic.
September 20, 2024
soooo boring so long just speaking straight nonsense
November 17, 2024
this religion class is killing me
April 26, 2016
This was the textbook for a history and religion course, and it was a very interesting read. A lot of what the author covered might be considered new age, or Woo-woo, depending on the reader's tolerance level. Once you've read this information, you probably can't unread it, so be prepared to not be able to look at any religion the same way again.
November 28, 2017
I had to read this book for my Comparative Religion class. This book is the best text Book I have read in my life . Brilliant . I loved the description of everything by the writer and the organization of facts and ideas , they are almsot fault -less . Wonderful book !!
March 23, 2022
The most excellent textbook I have ever read for comparative religions. I will definitely be using this going forward. Great reference book to keep on the shelf for all those interested in comparative religions, and related alternative spirituality.
January 2, 2016
The incomparable scholar Kripal does it this time in a textbook no less!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews