On Friday, the American space agency NASA announced that 16 people would take part in a long-awaited study of UAP, or unidentified aerial phenomena (UFOs). A report detailing the findings of the study, which will make use of publicly available data, will be released in 2020.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced in a press release that the research team would begin their investigation on Monday and spend the next nine months analyzing past observations and planning for the analysis of future data. The study, it said, will not prove whether or not UFO sightings in the past were real, but it will let researchers know what kinds of observations to make in the future so they can better grasp the phenomenon.
Associate NASA Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said, “Exploring the unknown in space and the atmosphere is at the heart of who we are at NASA.”
“To arrive at scientific conclusions concerning what may be happening in the skies, it is essential to comprehend the information we have around mysterious aerial occurrences. To scientists, data is the language that allows them to give explanations for things that previously had none “Moreover, Mr. Zurbuchen remarked.
Faculty members, scientists, an oceanographer, and others interested in space research make up the group’s core personnel. According to the press release, other members include scientific writer Nadia Drake and former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.
It is intended to “set the framework for future studies on the nature of UAPs for NASA and other organizations,” as the US space agency put it. It went on to say that “civilian government agencies, commercial data, and data from other sources” will all contribute to this.
This study was first reported in June, when NASA made their announcement. The organization previously stated that due to a paucity of data, “scientific judgments about the nature of such phenomena are difficult to draw.”
NASA maintains that investigating UFOs is crucial for the protection of airspace and national security. However, it also insists that UAPs have not been linked to aliens thus far.