NASA held its first-ever public conference on UFOs Wednesday, exploring findings from an independent study team created last year to investigate what it calls “unidentified anomalous phenomena” or UAPs.
The space agency’s 16-member panel included experts and researchers from different sectors who presented preliminary results in a four-hour live-streamed session. The full report is expected to come later this summer.
DEBT LIMIT: HOW THE COMPROMISE COMPARES TO THE ORIGINAL GOP DEBT CEILING BILL
Here are four conclusions the panel took away from their research into UA
More resources are needed to study UAPs effectively
Members of the panel said one major theme that emerged over the course of their inquiry was a lack of reliable information.
“If I were to summarize in one month what we’ve learned, we need high-quality data,” David Spergel, an astrophysicist and panel chair, said at the conference. “The lesson of my career is you want to address important questions with high-quality data and well-calibrated instruments.”
Spergel said the space agency will try to destigmatize research on UAPs moving forward.
“One of our goals is to remove the stigma,” Spergel said. “Because there is a need for high-quality data to address important questions about UAPs.”
No evidence of extraterrestrial origin in UFO sightings
Addressing the widespread theory that UAPs are connected to extraterrestrial life, taskforce member and astrobiologist David Grinspoon said there is “by no means universal belief that there are extraterrestrial civilizations” within the scientific community.
Other members confirmed there is currently no evidence to associate the unidentified objects with extraterrestrial intelligence.
“There is absolutely no convincing evidence of extraterrestrial life associated with UAPs,” said Daniel Evans, NASA’s assistant deputy associate administrator for research for the Science Mission Directorate.
The majority of sightings can be explained
The panel concluded that most UAP reports the department receives can be identified, noting the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) obtains around 50 to 100 new reports each month.
Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the AARO, which is part of the Defense Department, said that some sightings are connected to satellite launches or other explainable events, pointing to the Chinese balloon seen last February.
Kirkpatrick added that only 2 to 5% of reported UAP sightings are deemed “possibly really anomalous.”
‘GoFast’ UAP declassified
In 2015, video recorded by a Navy fighter jet from the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt captured an unidentified object seemingly flying at an incomparable speed. The Pentagon released three short videos of the UAP, dubbed the ‘GoFast’ UFO.
The NASA panel studied the incident and found the object was traveling at around 40 miles per hour, debunking claims that the aircraft was moving very rapidly.
Josh Semeter, an engineering professor at Boston University’s Center for Space Physics, showed an analysis of the jet’s trajectory, using trigonometry to calculate the object’s altitude was 13,000 feet.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“In this case, this object moved about 390 meters in 22 seconds and that corresponds to a velocity of just 40 miles per hour.”
The panel will release an official report at the end of July, detailing its initial findings and recommendations to the government.
