On UFO study, NASA takes historic step, holds first ever UAP study team meeting

In June last year, NASA announced that it was commissioning an independent team to study the existence of UFOs. UFOs are unidentified objects in space often referred to as alien spaceships. They are part of what NASA calls “UAP” – Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, which refers to any unidentified aerial object in space. The team included experts from several fields such as astronomy, and oceanography and even had astronaut Scott Kelly on board, with a funding of $100,000. Now, the first-ever meeting of this independent study team took place on Wednesday, revealing details about the findings of the study. Notably, this is a historic step by NASA as it has been quite hostile about discussing anything relating to UFOs for decades now.

Findings of the study

During the meeting, astrophysicist David Spergel, a former member of the NASA Advisory Council and chair of the study group compared the study of UFOs to that of Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs), which were initially thought to be anomalies but were powerful bursts of radio waves from distant galaxies.

“Sometimes anomalies are really interesting and point to novel physical phenomenon. And I think there's a number of interesting lessons learned there. You have to decide figure out ways in which you can do dedicated observations and optimize your observational strategy to be able to do that. And I think that's, as we think about UAPs, I think we're informed by previous successes and identifying anomalies,” Supergel told space.com.

During the opening hours of the meeting, the experts revealed that the biggest roadblock during the study of UAP was the lack of proper data. However, Daniel Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research within NASA’s Science Mission Directorate stressed that this study was crucial in understanding the world around us and it would help to make the skies safer.

“It's this nation's obligation to determine whether these phenomena pose any potential risks to airspace safety," Evans said.

This study is part of NASA’s vision to search for signs of life on other planets as well as research any signs of extraterrestrial life on Earth. The space agency is already using its various satellites and telescopes to find signs of life on other planets. From Hubble Telescope, Transiting Exoplanetary Survey Satellite to its brand-new James Webb Space Telescope, it seems NASA will not rest until it finds evidence of life on other planets.