The tracking of UFO or “unidentified flying objects,” have become the stuff of science fiction, pseudo science and stories of aliens from outer space.
Per NPR: While unearthly-seeming sightings in the sky aren’t uncommon, the report says that the “vast majority” can be attributed to mundane airborne objects like airplanes, drones, and weather balloons.
Still, not all can be easily explained, and the NASA advisors say that any sightings that appear to deviate from known technology’s constraints on velocities and accelerations “are scientifically interesting.”
A panel of outside advisors urged NASA to use its scientific expertise, as well as its existing and planned instruments that observe space and the Earth, to better gather data related to what’s now often called “unidentified anomalous phenomena,” or UAP.
The report was not designed to explain these sightings or to determine whether aliens are real, panelists emphasized throughout a news conference that was held in conjunction with the study’s publication. “It is essential to clarify, based on our current findings and methodology, that we find no evidence to suggest that UAP are extraterrestrial in origin,” said David Spergel, an astrophysicist and president of the Simons Foundation, who chaired the NASA-commissioned effort. “Our focus is on understanding the phenomenon, however, regardless of the source.”
Scientific American
“We want to shift the conversation about UAPs from sensationalism to science,” says NASA administrator Bill Nelson, a former senator from Florida who once flew in the space shuttle Columbia.