When it comes to its upcoming UFO investigation, NASA is serious. The organisation declared in June that it will begin a scientific investigation of UFOs, also known as UAPs, or “unidentified aerial phenomenon”.
The primary objectives, according to NASA officials at the time, will be to identify and characterise the UFO data that is currently available, outline the best methods for future observational gathering, and decide how the agency can use such data to advance our understanding of these confusing sky phenomena.
Astrophysicist David Spergel, head of the Simons Foundation in New York City, will serve as the study’s principal investigator. It is anticipated to start this fall, cost little more than $100,000, and endure for roughly nine months. During a “town hall meeting” on Wednesday (August 17) to address several programmes of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate, representatives from NASA said the agency is working hard to adhere to that schedule (SMD).
Daniel Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research at SMD, stated during the town hall on Wednesday that “we’re going full bore” on the UAP study preparations. “We are giving this a high priority because it is really essential to us.”
According to Evans, the study panel would be made up of 15–17 individuals. These people will include “some of the top scientists, data professionals, AI experts, and aerospace safety experts from across the world, all with a specific charge, which is to tell us how to apply the entire focus of science and data to UAP,” he stated.
After the town hall on Wednesday, Evans and his team intended to have NASA Administrator Bill Nelson interview their top picks for the panel. The process of officially appointing the panellists has now begun if Nelson provided his approval.
