NASA launches a 16-member team to study and collect data on the possibilities of extraterrestrial life.
16 individuals have been selected to participate in an independent scientific study to foray into the investigation of UFOs (unidentified flying objects) and UAPs (unexplained aerial phenomena), according to NASA on Friday. The commissioning of the team was first announced in June of this year. The program seeks to allocate already existing data effectively for research and analysis and how to collect future data efficiently, so as to use the data to create a better understanding of UAPs and UFOs.The research will be unclassified in nature and a report will be made public based on the findings.
“Consistent with NASA’s principles of openness, transparency, and scientific integrity, this report will be shared publicly,” said Daniel Evans, NASA representative for the study. “All of NASA’s data is available to the public – we take that obligation seriously – and we make it easily accessible for anyone to see or study.”
The selected members of the group notably include scientists, professors, an oceanographer, a science journalist and a former NASA astronaut, among others who specialize in space study. They are:
- David Spergel
- Anamaria Berea
- Federica Bianco
- Paula Bontempi
- Reggie Brothers
- Jen Buss
- Nadia Drake
- Mike Gold
- David Grinspoon
- Scott Kelly
- Matt Mountain
- Warren Randolph
- Walter Scott
- Joshua Semeter
- Karlin Toner
- Shelley Wright
The full report of the team is expected to be released by mid of 2024.
In an official press note, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration revealed that the team will start the study on Monday and is scheduled to spend the next nine months studying previously recorded data and observations to determine the next step in analyzing data for the future. While the study will not prove previous reports on UFOs and UAPs are legitimate, it is expected to create a better understanding towards creating progressive assessments towards similar events in the future.
Insufficient data made it impossible to assess the nature of more than 140 sightings recorded by military observers since 2004, majorly including Navy personnel, according to a Pentagon analysis published last year.
Senior defence and intelligence officials stated before Congress five months ago that there had been 400 documented UAP sightings, many of them however continue to defy explanations as either sophisticated human technology, atmospheric phenomena, or extraterrestrial life.
Federal officials monitor and view UAPs and UFOs with interest, as they pose a security threat at a national level. In order to track and study UFOs, the Department of Defense established the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization in November 2021. Congress also held its first hearing on UFOs in more than 50 years in May.
While the team is not associated with the Department of Defense’s Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force the Airborne Object Identification and Management Synchronization Group, NASA has notably coordinated with the government regarding the usage of scientific methods to reveal the nature and source of the mysterious unidentified objects in space.
The study’s team will be led by astrophysicist David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation in New York City, and previously also the chair of the astrophysics department at Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey. the NASA official responsible for conducting the study, Daniel Evans, serves as the assistant deputy associate administrator for research at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.
The UFO, recently rechristened as a UAP, is any sky-based or aerial occurrence that cannot be explained or identified. Most UFOs that are investigated, however, turn out to be ordinary/ recognizable objects or atmospheric phenomena, with only a tiny fraction remaining unexplained.
The possibility of extraterrestrial life continues to enthral people, with its ‘invasion’ over generations of pop culture and fiction flicks- from movies to tv shows and books, the idea of life outside our planet is strange yet exciting, and this study sets the perfect groundwork to investigate the biggest question: are we truly alone in the universe?
