NASA conducts studies of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP). NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, explains.
Credit: Space.com | Animations provided by NASA/ESO/ M. Kornmesser/ L. Calçada/ SpaceEngine / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona /
LPG / CNRS /University of Nantes / Space Science Institute | edited by Steve Spaleta
Credit: Space.com | Animations provided by NASA/ESO/ M. Kornmesser/ L. Calçada/ SpaceEngine / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona /
LPG / CNRS /University of Nantes / Space Science Institute | edited by Steve Spaleta
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00:00I'll first say that, of course, part of our task at NASA is, given to us by the Congress,
00:08is not only to do fundamental research in the skies and so forth,
00:12but as part of that also to find life elsewhere.
00:15That's why we've built astrobiology programs in many disciplines across the summery field
00:20that looks at both extinct life on Mars, for example, but also looks at patterns
00:27of life elsewhere, perhaps in Europe, perhaps in Enceladus as we go forward,
00:34but also as we look at exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system,
00:38looking for the question whether certain environments are, in fact, part of kind of the,
00:45if you want, the ladder of life that got us to where we are.
00:50So the tools that we're using, whether it's in this field or also kind of in fields
00:54that then go towards kind of intelligent life, such as technosignatures,
00:58which we have programs for already, are the same tools that we use everywhere,
01:02the tools that we're, frankly, using here.
01:05And that is that we're commissioning a study to start early in the fall
01:09to examine unidentified aerial phenomena.
01:12The study will focus on identifying available data, how to best collect future data,
01:19and how NASA can use these data to move the scientific understanding of UAPs forward.
01:24A short way I would talk about that is take a field that is relatively data poor into a,
01:30make it into a field that is much more data rich and, therefore,
01:34worthy of scientific investigation and analysis.
01:37As its mission, of course, as I just said, is to explore the unknown in air and space.
01:43And we have access, frankly, as part of that, to a broad range of observations of Earth
01:48and space, and, frankly, that's the lifeblood of our scientific inquiry.
01:53We have the tools and teams who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown,
01:58and we are prepared to use these powerful tools of scientific discovery, in this case,
02:04as much as anything else, using exactly the same kind of approach that we always use.
02:12Unidentified phenomena in the atmosphere of interest for both, for many reasons, frankly,
02:18I think there's new science to be discovered.
02:21There's been many times where something that looked almost magical turned
02:24out to be a new scientific effect.
02:27But there's also national security and air safety issues that have been discussed elsewhere
02:33that, of course, relate to these observations.
02:35And establishing, you know, with events that are, whether they're natural or whether they are,
02:42you know, need to be explained otherwise, is very much aligned with NASA's goals that ensure,
02:48of course, you know, that we discover the unknown, but also ensures the safety of aircraft
02:53that, of course, are in that airspace that these phenomena occur.
02:58This independent study will be led by astrophysicist David Spergel,
03:02who is the president of the Simons Foundation in New York City,
03:06and has previously been the chair of astrophysics in the Department of Princeton
03:10and University of Princeton, New Jersey.
03:13Dan Evans, the assistant deputy associate administrator for research, is kind of,
03:17is really kind of the wheels on the bus, kind of really making sure that we're interfacing with this.
03:22Some people may ask why David, why Dan.
03:25First of all, Dan, with his tremendous experience, both as a researcher,
03:30but also as an enabler for research, his work that he did in the White House previously,
03:33I think has tremendous insight into kind of the cross-interagency aspect that relates
03:39to some of these discussions.
03:41And David Spergel, I think, to all of us in astrophysics really understand
03:45that he's one of the most trusted voices in so many questions, also a person
03:49who understands really the power of science and is willing and able to use that power
03:54of science kind of in areas where, I would say, kind of fall under what we would refer
03:59to as high-risk, high-impact kind of research, kind of areas that many
04:03of the scientists may be a little bit more timid to work in.