NASA has created a new position within the space agency to oversee research into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) events seen in the night sky also known as unidentified objects or UFOs.
The space agency revealed the new position in its report released on Thursday based on findings from an interdependent science team gathered to determine how the space agency can analyze future unidentified objects or UAPs.
The space agency commissioned a 16-person UAP independent study team in June 2022 to examine the unidentified anomalous phenomena events in the sky that are not aircraft or natural phenomena. The study team did not seek to determine what caused the unidentified objects seen, but a way forward for NASA to study them in the future.
“The NASA independent study team did not find any evidence that UAP have an extraterrestrial origin, but we don’t know what these UAP are,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
The study team focused on a way to evaluate and study UAP events using data, technology and other tools of science. On Thursday, the group and NASA released the findings offering NASA a road map for future analyses of unidentified events.
NASA defines UAP “as observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective.” According to the space agency, there are a limited amount of quality observations of these events, which makes it “impossible to draw firm scientific conclusions about their nature.”
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The space agency included images of weather and space weather phenomena such as sprites and the aurora lights in its report, but weather was not the cause of the recent UAP events. However, the study group recommends using weather radars, including the NEXRAD Doppler Radar Network, and NOAA’s GOES satellites to distinguish “interesting objects from airborne clutter.”
The negative perception surrounding reporting UAP is an obstacle to collecting data. NASA’s involvement may help reduce the stigma associated with unidentified object reporting, according to the 36-page report.
Among the goals of the team was to “shift the conversation from sensationalism to science,” Nelson said.
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Part of the conspiracy and obsession surrounding UAP is why NASA won’t be announcing who they have appointed as their new UAP research director.
UAP independent study Chair David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation, said during the 9 months following the study team announcement panel members saw some “very inappropriate behavior” and received harassment from people on social media.
NASA’s Science Mission Directorate assistant deputy associate administrator of research Dan Evans said some of the behavior toward panel members was “beyond the pale” and ranged from “simple trolling” to “actual threats.”
The space agency said it has appointed a Director of UAP Research “to centralize communications and leverage NASA’s extensive resources and expertise to actively engage in the whole-of-government UAP initiative.”
This comes after the Department of Defense established the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to examine similar events. NASA’s UAP research director will serve as a liaison to the DOD office.