UFO study presented: NASA names head of UFO research

NASA is uniquely suited to help resolve UFO sightings and provide important data to understand the phenomenon. This is a key finding of a group of experts set up by the US space agency, which has now presented its long-awaited report. Contrary to many expectations, no UFO sightings are evaluated and possible previously secret events are presented. Instead, it was about working out how NASA, with its unique instruments and treasure trove of data, could help clarify what the UFO sightings are all about.

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Better data needed

At NASA itself the group’s final report is still being evaluated; In any case, the space agency wants to appoint a head of UFO research. It is intended to bring together communication, resources and analytical skills to lay a robust foundation for future assessments of UFO sightings. NASA also wants to work more closely with the public and “destigmatize” the study of UFOs, it says. In doing so, the space agency is responding to demands the UFO group when presenting an interim status in the spring formulated. The core requirement is the provision of better data.

In its final report, the group added that cooperation with commercial providers of earth observation services should be improved. Companies like Planet and Airbus operate satellites that image the Earth’s surface at high resolutions. In addition, the group concluded that advanced data analysis methods should be used to comprehensively study the UFO phenomenon, including techniques such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. NASA would have to make its expertise available to other government initiatives that are also dedicated to researching UFO sightings.

NASA announced its own investigation into UFO sightings last June. The team led by astrophysicist David Spergel spent nine months collecting data and working out how the phenomena could best be investigated in the future. In the United States, the final report was awaited with particular interest, also because the public trusts no other agency as much as NASA. Spergel explained that the committee’s work was not about clarifying once and for all whether there is proof that the activities of extraterrestrial intelligence are behind UFO sightings.

(mho)