NASA is putting together an independent team to study unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) – more commonly known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) – the United States space agency said on Thursday, 9 June.
It is difficult to draw scientific conclusions about the nature of such events because of lack of data, the agency explained in a statement.
“Given the paucity of observations, our first task is simply to gather the most robust set of data that we can," said David Spergel, the astrophysicist who will lead the research.
"We will be identifying what data – from civilians, government, non-profits, companies – exists, what else we should try to collect, and how to best analyze it."David Spergel, Astrophysicist
The study, which is expected to cost no more than $100,000, will begin in early fall and take roughly nine months to complete. No classified military data will be used and the final report will be shared with the public.
'Reputational Risk'
Thomas Zurbuchen, who heads NASA's Science Mission Directorate, admitted that the push for studying UFOs may be seen by the scientific community as "selling out", news agency AP reported.
UFOs have long been associated with conspiracy theories and speculation about aliens and secret government programmes.
“We are not shying away from reputational risk. Our strong belief is that the biggest challenge of these phenomena is that it’s a data-poor field.”Thomas Zurbuchen, Associate Administrator, NASA's Science Mission Directorate
In a teleconference, David Spergel said that there are many things we don’t understand and that UAPs will probably have multiple explanations.
“We have to approach all these questions with a sense of humility. I spent most of my career as a cosmologist. I can tell you we don’t know what makes up 95 percent of the universe. So, there are things we don’t understand," he said.
"We have the tools and team who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown. That’s the very definition of what science is. That’s what we do," he added.
No Signs of Extraterrestrial Life
NASA's announcement comes weeks after a Congressional hearing in which US lawmakers questioned Pentagon officials on UAP reports and sightings by military pilots.
The hearing was focused around a 2021 Pentagon report which documented 144 sightings by US Government sources of unidentified phenomena flying at various speeds and trajectories.
Some appeared to "remain stationary in winds aloft, move against the wind, maneuver abruptly or move at considerable speed, without discernible means of propulsion."
Investigators said that most of the UFOs likely do represent physical objects but no extraterrestrial links or explanations were found. Definitive links to China and Russia were also not found.
NASA said it has coordinated across the government on how to approach the study, but the study itself is not part of the Department of Defense’s efforts to identify aerial objects.
(With inputs from AP)
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