Overview
The Society for UAP Studies (SUAPS) announced that its 2025 Annual Conference, titled Interdisciplinarity in Contemporary UAP Studies, will take place December 4–6, 2025 as a fully online, globally accessible event. Daily sessions begin at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET / 16:00 CET, allowing participants from every time zone to join without travel barriers. Organized around the premise that UFO/UAP research now requires coordinated effort across the social sciences, humanities, physical sciences, and consciousness studies, the three‑day program promises a blend of plenary talks, discipline‑specific workshops, and two high‑profile keynote addresses.
Distinguished Keynote Speakers
The conference’s opening day will feature Professor Steve Fuller, a leading sociologist of science known for his work on epistemic communities and paradigm shifts. Fuller’s keynote is expected to explore how traditional academic structures can evolve to accommodate emerging fields like UAP research, offering a roadmap for legitimizing and funding systematic investigations.
Joining him is Professor Ron Westrum, an internationally recognized authority on organizational culture and information flow. Westrum will draw on his typology of institutional responses—ranging from “pathological” to “generative”—to assess how governments, scientific bodies, and research institutions handle anomalous data. Both speakers are slated to provide challenging, forward‑looking perspectives that address methodological hurdles, institutional inertia, and the potential for new collaborative models.
Featured Plenary Presentations
A diverse lineup of plenary speakers will expand the conference’s interdisciplinary scope. Dr. Michael Glawson and Dr. Courtney Bower will introduce a new framework aimed at making UAP research more credible, legible, and tractable. Professor Michael Zimmerman will revisit the cultural and psychological dimensions of “alien abductions,” while Michaël Vaillant examines governance of uncertainty in cross‑disciplinary investigations.
The scientific strand includes Dr. Matteo Polato, who will trace ontological developments from John Keel and Jacques Vallée to contemporary theorist Jacques Hellier. Assoc. Prof. Tiina Mahlamäki offers a historical case study of the Finnish UFO movement, and Dr. Adam Dodd—who also serves as SUAPS Director for Academic Events—will discuss UFOs as “more‑than‑human media.” Closing the plenary series, Dr. Massimo Teodorani will present a unified framework linking plasma physics, consciousness, and advanced propulsion concepts.
Who Should Attend
SUAPS explicitly invites academics, researchers, and practitioners from all relevant disciplines, as well as graduate students and engaged members of the public. The online format eliminates geographic constraints, making it possible for scholars in remote institutions or emerging research communities to participate. The conference’s design—combining plenary talks with interactive workshops—aims to foster collaborative networks that can sustain long‑term, peer‑reviewed UAP scholarship.
Leadership Perspectives
Reflecting on the event’s significance, Dr. Adam Dodd, Director for Academic Events and Programs at SUAPS, stated:
“UAP studies now demand an integrative intellectual effort that crosses disciplinary borders. This conference gives researchers a structured venue to share methodologies, critique assumptions, and develop joint research agendas that can be taken seriously by mainstream academia and policy‑making bodies.”
Dodd also emphasized the Society’s broader mission: to advocate for serious, holistic research on close‑encounter witnesses and to involve those witnesses directly in data collection, analysis, and policy discussions. By encouraging witness participation, SUAPS hopes to bridge the gap between anecdotal reports and systematic scientific inquiry.
Looking Ahead
The 2025 conference marks a pivotal moment for the nascent field of UAP studies, signaling a shift from isolated curiosity toward organized, interdisciplinary scholarship. Organizers anticipate that the insights generated—from Fuller’s institutional analysis to Teodorani’s unified physics‑consciousness model—will inform future research grants, academic curricula, and governmental transparency initiatives. As the community gathers virtually across continents, the event may well set the standards for rigor and collaboration that will define the next decade of UAP investigation.
