Yale Symposium: Thinking About the Impossible

Yale University will host a two-day interdisciplinary conference, “Thinking about the Impossible,” on December 4–5, 2026, at the Humanities Quadrangle. The conference brings together historians, sociologists, anthropologists, and scholars of religion to examine how societies interpret and adjudicate claims of the extraordinary — miracles, anomalous phenomena, and UFOs/UAP — from early modern ecclesiastical tribunals to contemporary disclosure debates.

The conference is convened by four Yale faculty members: Carlos Eire (History and Religious Studies), Ivano Dal Prete (History and History of Science & Medicine), Philip Smith (Sociology), and Etienne Caron (Immunobiology).