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An independent report found that NASA could play a crucial role in collecting more data on UFOs — or what are officially known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, the space agency announced Thursday.
The report comes from an independent group of experts and scientists who set out in 2022 to create a road map for NASA to begin aiding UAP research, sifting through data to determine whether and how the mysterious phenomena can be studied scientifically. The team found no concrete evidence that the unexplained events came from intelligent alien life forms.
Ultimately, the group determined that NASA should use satellites and other instruments to search for more information about the phenomena. In response to the findings, the space agency also announced Thursday that it will name its first director of UAP research.
“This is the first time NASA has taken concrete action to seriously look at UAP,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a press conference. “We begin without preconceptions, but understanding that we are in a world of discovery.”
Dive deeper
The 33-page report, which was based on unclassified data so it could be discussed publicly, is careful to make clear that aliens are not the only – or even a likely – explanation for the UAP, but the search for definitive answers is in progress.
“Recently, many credible witnesses, often military aviators, have reported seeing objects they did not recognize in U.S. airspace,” the report reads. “Most of these events have since been explained, but a small handful cannot immediately be identified as natural or man-made phenomena.”
NASA can expand its efforts to search for answers using existing technology, the report suggests. Nelson also mentioned the possible use of artificial intelligence to mine vast amounts of data in search of answers, allowing scientists to cross-reference information collected by various tools to provide a clearer picture of what is happening as it happens these inexplicable events.
The report also highlights the need to combat prejudice and “preconceived skepticism” that may prevent UAP witnesses from discussing what they saw.
“Science is a process that reveals reality rather than sculpts it, no matter how unsatisfactory or confusing that reality may be,” the report states.
At the same time, however, the report’s authors acknowledge that eyewitness testimony can often be unreliable and difficult to corroborate.
“Therefore, to understand UAP, a rigorous, evidence-based, data-driven scientific framework is essential,” the report states.
The report emphasizes the need for a scientific process and appeals to Thomas Jefferson, quoting the thoughts of the third president of the United States on concepts still understood: “Every day there arise a thousand phenomena which we cannot explain, but in which are suggested facts which cannot have no analogy with the laws of nature still known to us, their truth requires proof proportionate to their difficulty.
In short, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” the report states.
Dan Evans, NASA’s associate deputy administrator for research, said during a panel Thursday that the space agency will not publicly release the name of NASA’s new UAP research director, in part because of the risk of harassment.
Evans said those involved in the independent study have already experienced online harassment and abuse that he described as “beyond the pale”.
All about aliens
In his remarks, Nelson emphasized that the search for extraterrestrial life is already a fundamental principle of NASA. The agency has been engaged in such searches for decades and continues to use advanced telescopes to search the cosmos for planets that are in habitable zones and could be equally hospitable to Earth, he said.
“Do I believe that there is life in a universe so vast that it is difficult for me to understand how big it is? My personal answer is yes,” Nelson said.
However, that doesn’t mean UAPs are evidence of such life, he said. If intelligent life existed, it would likely have to travel many millions if not billions of light years to reach Earth and remain largely unnoticed.
“We want to move the debate about UAP from sensationalism to science,” Nelson said.
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