NASA begins UFO study with 16-member team

NASA starts 9 month study on UFOs, analysing data collected from government, academic findings and others

US space agency NASA began its 9-month study to learn about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) or UFOs with a team of 16 members, including qualified scientists, data and AI practitioners, aerospace safety experts, and others.

Astrophysicist David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation and former chair of the Princeton University astrophysics department, is expected to lead the study. The team also includes its well-known NASA astronaut Scott Kelly who has commanded International Space Station multiple times and piloted the Space Shuttle Discovery.

The study aims to look at UAPs and analyse data gathered from government entities, commercial data, academic findings, and other public information. The team will determine how future data can be collected and how the space agency can use it for its scientific advantage. The findings will be shared after nine months in an independent unclassified report, which will be released to the public in mid-2023.

NASA also intends to hold a UAP Independent Study Team in late Spring 2023, inviting the public to participate in the meeting. Daniel Evans, an official from NASA's Science Mission Directorate responsible for managing the study, says, "The findings will be released to the public in conjunction with NASA's principles of transparency, openness, and scientific integrity."

Earlier this year, associate administrator for science at NASA's Washington HQ, Thomas Zurbuchen, said, "Establishing events, whether they're natural or need to be explained otherwise, is very much aligned with NASA's goals. Part of our task at NASA is not only to do fundamental research but as part of that also to find life elsewhere."