NASA’s Meeting on UFOs
NASA doesn’t use the term UFO. They use the term UAP, which in the recent past stood for Unidentified Arial Phenomenon. Following a move by the federal government, the acronym now commonly means Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon, a term that covers phenomenon seen in space and in the ocean as well as in the sky.
Aside from making the acronym more vague, the change further distinguishes the acronym from UFO, a folk concept with a long history. As one of NASA’s panelists said in a Q&A, “The very term UAP is an attempt to get away from the assumptions and baggage of UFO. What we’re trying to do with this group is to be agnostic, objective.” Even a casual observer can read the subtext regarding UFO enthusiasts.
These comments were made during NASA’s public meeting on UAP on May 31. The panel consisted of the NASA UAP Independent Study Team, a group of 16 experts hired by NASA to act as an advisory board, as well as NASA officials and the head of AARO, the Department of Defense agency tasked with resolving UAP. Members of the Independent Study Team are leading experts in fields such as astrobiology, data science, oceonography, and astrophysics.
The goal of the Independent Study Team is to get NASA started on contributing to the DoD’s recent efforts to understand UAP. While the DoD’s and the intelligence community’s focus on UAP is geared toward national security, NASA, a civilian organization, will bring a scientific and research-based approach focusing on explaining UAP with scientific rigor. The Independent Study Team is in close collaboration with AARO.
The panel meeting was livestreamed by NASA and a few other news organizations on Youtube.
Over 800 UAPs but few are truly anomalous
In his presentation, Sean Kirkpatrick, head of AARO, stated that over 800 UAPs are being analyzed by AARO, going back to 1996. He estimated that between 2% and 5% of the 800 UAPs are unresolved by AARO, meaning that they remain anomalous.
Kirkpatrick stated that these unresolved cases are characterized by bad data. While AARO could not resolve these UAPs, neither could its analyses support that they displayed truly anomalous behavior, because important data, such as speed and flight path, were missing.
Cases that have better data, such as the famous GOFAST video, have been resolved by AARO. In the case of GOFAST, the object in question was going approximately 40 miles per hour, likely making it a weather balloon.
Orbs are being seen “all over the world”
The most common UAP according to AARO data are orb-shaped objects which travel with no visible exhaust. “We see these all over the world, and we see these making very interesting apparent maneuvers,” Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick presented a video of an orb-shaped object captured on an MQ-9 Reaper camera that AARO has yet to resolve. Like other unresolved cases, Kirkpatrick said that this UAP is characterized by insufficient data and that it “demonstrated no enigmatic technical capabilities.”
No evidence of extraterrestrials
Panelists were clear that there was no evidence that either extraterrestrials were responsible for the UAPs or that the UAPs were evidence of extraterrestrial life. Panelist David Grinspoon emphasized that in the field of astrobiology there is as yet no evidence of extraterrestrial life and opined that the study of UAP was not a promising avenue in that regard, favoring instead the study of exoplanets.
The public meeting seemed to be marked by a tension between the respectability of scientific study and the strong opinions that UAP elicit. While the elephant in the room seemed to be the question of extraterrestrial life, the panelists mostly skirted the topic. On the live Youtube chat, extraterrestrial life was the topic most commented on. A common claim in the chat was that the NASA meeting was part of a government cover-up on extraterrestrials.
“Is NASA hiding anything about this? No!” exclaimed David Spergel, chair of the Independent Study. Speaking on the question of extraterrestrial life, Spergel said that “answering this question is one of the things that NASA is excited about,” and that scientists and civilian organizations like NASA, operating outside the rigor of military agencies, have no reason to keep the truth from the public.
While AARO has access to classified military data on UAP, the NASA independent study only looked at unclassified UAP data, much of it declassified by AARO. Dan Evans, the NASA official in charge of the Independent Study, stated that using only unclassified data allowed the results to be shared with the public and be independently verified by scientists. In the Q&A, one journalist wondered if using only unclassified data prevented the team from seeing the whole picture.
Panelists are being harassed
When asked about future roadblocks, Spergel said that the Independent Study is “stuck between the rocks and the cyclone.” On one side are people convinced that studying UAP is a waste of money, and on the other are people convinced that UAP are extraterrestrial spaceships. Panelists also potentially face harassments from colleagues in their field of study because of the stigma associated with studying UAP.
“What we’re trying to do with this group is to be agnostic, to be objective,” said Mike Gold, emphasizing a distinction between the panelists and people that have already made up their mind about UAP.
While the panelists were vague about the harassment they’ve faced, the live Youtube comments made it clear what sort of harassment they can expect from the general public. Comments were polarized, some claiming that the Independent Study is a waste of money and effort and others saying that it is part of a larger government cover-up.
The Independent Study Team will publish a report this summer that will include their recommendations to NASA on how to proceed with the study of UAP.
