The American space agency NASA on Friday announced it has selected 16 individuals to participate in the much-awaited study of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), also commonly referred to as unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The research, which will use unclassified data, will lead to a report which will be made available to the public next year.
In a press note, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said that the team will kick off the study on Monday and is scheduled to spend nine months reviewing previous observations and determining how to analyze data on future events. It added that the study will not determine if the past reports of UFOs were legitimate, however, it will pave the way for understanding what observations will be needed in future events to better understand the phenomena.
"Exploring the unknown in space and the atmosphere is at the heart of who we are at NASA," Thomas Zurbuchen, an associate administrator at NASA, said in a statement.
"Understanding the data we have surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena is critical to helping us draw scientific conclusions about what is happening in our skies. Data is the language of scientists and makes the unexplainable, explainable," Mr Zurbuchen added.
The selected research group include professors, scientists, an oceanographer and others who study space. Former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Nadia Drake, a science journalist, are also among the group's members, as per the press note.
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The US space agency stated that the study is designed to "lay the groundwork for future study on the nature of UAPs for NASA and other organisations". It added that some of this data will come from "civilian government entities, commercial data and data from other sources".
Notably, NASA originally announced news of this research in June. Back then, the agency said that the lack of existing research on UAPs "makes it difficult to draw scientific conclusions about the nature of such events".
NASA believes that studying unidentified objects is essential for both air safety and national security. But it also maintains that there is no evidence yet that connects UAPs to extraterrestrial life.
