NASA to Study Nature of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena

NASA will set up an independent study that will examine unidentified aerial phenomena from a scientific perspective. NASA defines UAPs as “observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena.”

The study will focus on data identification and collection and how the space agency can use the information to understand UAPs. According to Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate director for science at NASA, the agency has the tools and the personnel to do the study.

The study is expected to take nine months to complete, NASA said.

The initiative will be led by David Spergel, an astrophysicist and the president of the Simons Foundation in New York City. Daniel Evans, the assistant deputy associate administrator for research at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, will serve as the agency’s official responsible for orchestrating the study.

According to Spergel, the data will come from a variety of sources, including civilians, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and private entities. He also shared that officials will identify other pieces of information needed to identify UAPs.

The U.S. government is interested in studying UAPs because of their impact on national security and air safety.

The quest to identify the source of UAPs has been ongoing since the 1960s.