WASHINGTON DC – Nasa announced it was appointing a director of UFO research after admitting that there were still unexplained objects in the skies that could be a threat to US airspace.
The US Space Agency released a new report today following a 15-month inquiry into Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), warning that the data was too limited to make “definitive scientific conclusions”.
The independent team concluded that the majority of UFOs were natural phenomena – mostly aeroplanes, balloons, drones, weather phenomena or an issue with the recording instrument.
It also ruled out the USS Theodore Roosevelt “Go Fast” video from 2015, in which a Navy fighter jet pilot described an object skimming across the ocean at high speed. The team concluded there was no evidence of a propulsion system, and most likely the object was drifting on the wind.
But the report authors also warned that some UFOs were still unexplained, and advised that satellite data and crowdsourcing should be harnessed to try and get to the bottom of the mystery.
Nasa administrator Bill Nelson, a former space shuttle astronaut and US senator, said there was no evidence that any of the phenomena had an extraterrestrial source, but said he could also not rule out an alien origin.
Speaking at a media briefing after the publication of the report, Mr Nelson said: “The Nasa independent study team did not find any evidence the UAPs have an extraterrestrial origin, but we don’t know what these UAP are.
“The mission of Nasa is to find out the unknown. We don’t know what the UAP are, but we are going to try to find out.”
Asked if Nasa would be open if they did find evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence, Mr Nelson said: “You bet your boots we will say that we deal openly and we will be transparent.
“In a universe that is so vast, could there be replication of life on Earth elsewhere in another Solar System? Of course I believe that.
“It would have to be a very advanced civilisation, and the distances (involved) – hundreds of light years, billions of light years. But whatever we find we’re going to tell you.”
