Nasa UFO report: Scientists reveal first-ever report on unidentified anomalous phenomena
Space agency releases pioneering report on unexplained events spotted by pilots and others
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Nasa has released the first findings from its report into unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UFOs.
The US space agency commissioned the study in response to a variety of reports of what appear to be unexplained and unknown craft, reported by US pilots and others.
It said that unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, are defined as “observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective”. It noted that there are very few high-quality observations of the phenomena, which makes them difficult to understand scientifically.
The first report found “there is no reason to conclude that existing UAP reports have an extraterrestrial source”, however Nasa chief Bill Nelson said he personally believes aliens are out there.
“There is a global fascination with UAPs,” he said. “Much of that fascination is due to the unknown nature of it.”
A media briefing on the report was live streamed from Nasa’s official YouTube channel.
Nasa UFO hearing - how to watch along
Nasa is conveniently providing a live stream of today’s hearing on its official YouTube channel.
The hearing is set to begin at 10am EDT (3pm BST), with the full report published 30 minutes beforehand.
You can watch along here:
Beachgoers prompt report on ‘cosmic event’
While we’re on the subject of mysterious phenomena, Virgin Media News in Ireland has reported on a strange “cosmic event” on a beach just north of Dublin.
It was discovered by a dogwalker but it turns out it was just a hole dug by beachgoers.
Nasa releases long-awaited UAP report
As promised, Nasa has released the full report 30 minutes ahead of the hearings getting underway.
You can find it here.
Nasa says mysterious sightings cannot yet be explained
We cannot yet explain mysterious sightings in the sky, Nasa panel says
Nasa cannot yet explain all of the mysterious sightings that have been spotted in the sky, a major new report has said.
UAP report urges Nasa to be more proactive in hunting UFOs
The report concludes that Nasa needs to use more sophisticated data analysis techniques, including AI and machine learning, in order to be more robust and systematic when searching for UAPs.
At present, the detection of UAP is often serendipitous, captured by sensors that were not designed or calibrated for this purpose, and which lack comprehensive metadata. Coupled with incomplete data archiving and curation, this means that the origin of numerous UAP remain uncertain. The importance of detecting UAP with multiple, well-calibrated sensors is thus paramount, and accordingly we recommend that Nasa leverage its considerable expertise in this domain to potentially utilize multispectral or hyperspectral data as part of a rigorous data acquisition campaign.
Nasa UAP report hearing about to get underway
The hearing to discuss this report is about to start.
Here’s a reminder of who will be there:
- NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
- Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Dan Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
- David Spergel, president, Simons Foundation and chair of NASA’s UAP independent study team
And we’re underway!
We’re starting with some opening remarks, starting with Nasa chief Bill Nelson.
“We are looking for signs of life, past and present,” he says. “And it’s in our DNA to explore and ask why things are the way they are.”
Nasa chief says there is ‘global fascination’ with UAPs
Nasa chief Bill Nelson says he is asked about UAP wherever he goes in the world.
“There is a global fascination with UAPs,” he says. “Much of that fascination is due to the unknown nature of it. Think about it: most UAP sightings result in very limited data. That makes it even more difficult to draw scientific conclusions about the nature of UAP.”
Nasa chief says he believes there is alien life out there
The Nasa chief is carrying on with his opening remarks, saying that he believes aliens are out there.
“Nasa has a statuatory authority to look for life in the universe,” Bill Nelson continues.
“With the James Webb [telescope] looking at the exoplanets, we are now beginning to discover, and somewhere out there we will discover, another medium-sized stony planet around a medium-sized sun or star at just the right distance... that has carbon, that will have a habitable atmosphere.
“If you ask me do I believe there’s life in a universe that is so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is, my personal answer is yes. But I asked some of our scientists: What is the mathematical probability that there is life out there in the universe? And if you calculate in billions of stars in billions of galaxies that there’s replicated in what I just said, another stony planet, the answer was ‘at least a trillion’. That’s from our scientists.”
Nasa appoints director of UAP research
Bill Nelson says Nasa has appointed a director for UAP research, a brand new post for the US space agency.
“The top takeaway from the study is that there’s a lot more to learn,” he says, adding that the study did not find any evidence of any UAP having an extraterrestrial origin.
“But we don’t know what these UAP are. That’s why I’m announcing that Nasa has appointed a Nasa director of UAP research. They are being tasked with developing and overseeing the implementation of Nasa’s vision for UAP research.”
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