On Thursday, NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is set to publish the findings of a long-awaited study report on unexplained flying objects in Earth’s skies.
The US space agency reported last year it was examining evidence concerning unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs — which has substituted the term “UFO” in official terminology.
The topic has long fascinated the people but was shunned by mainstream science.
An independent team of 16 researchers shared their initial observations in May, uncovering that existing data and observer reports are inadequate to attract firm findings while calling for more systematic collection of high-quality data.
It’s improbable Thursday’s report will modify that bottom line — but it could ultimately usher in the start of a new mission for the agency.
While NASA’s investigations and rovers explore the solar system for any fossils of ancient microbes, and its astronomers examine for indications of intelligent civilizations on faraway planets, its historic stance has been to “debunk” sightings on our home planet.
During the May meeting, the authors of the report said that there have been more than 800 “events” gathered over 27 years, of which two to five percent are thought to be perhaps anomalous.
Team member Nadia Drake said that these described as these are defined as “anything that is not readily comprehensible by the operator or the sensor,” or “something that is doing something bizarre.”
The US government has started taking the case of UAPs more seriously in recent years, in part due to thoughts that they are connected to foreign surveillance.
