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 want to first say that, of course, part of our task at NASA is given to us by the Congress is not only to do fundamental research in the skies and so forth, but as part of that also to find life elsewhere.
00:14That's why we've built astrobiology programs in many disciplines across the summary field that looks at both extinct life on Mars, for example, but also looks at the patterns of life elsewhere, perhaps in Europe, perhaps in Enceladus as we go forward, but also as we look at exoplanets, planets outside of our solar system, looking for the question whether certain environments are, in fact, part of our solar system.
00:44Kind of the, if 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, are also kind of in fields that then go towards kind of intelligent life, such as techno signatures, which we have programs for already, are the same tools that we use everywhere, the tools that we're, frankly, using here, and that is that we're commissioning a study to start early in the fall to examine unidentified aerial phenomena.
01:12This study will focus on identifying available data, how to best collect future data, and 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 and to make it into a field that is much more data rich and therefore worthy of scientific investigation and analysis.
01:36NASA's mission, of course, as I just said, is to explore the unknown in air and space, and we have access, frankly, as part of that, to a broad range of observations of Earth and space.
01:48And, frankly, that's the lifeblood of our scientific inquiry.
01:52We have the tools and teams who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown, and we are prepared to use these powerful tools of scientific discovery, in this case, as much as anything else, using exactly the same kind of approach that we always use.
02:09On identified phenomena in the atmosphere of interest for both, for many reasons, frankly, I think there's new science to be discovered.
02:21There's many times where something that looked almost magical turned out to be a new scientific effect.
02:26But there's also national security and air safety issues that have been discussed elsewhere that, of course, relate to these observations.
02:35And establishing, you know, with events that are, whether they're natural or whether they are, you know, need to be explained otherwise, is very much aligned with NASA's goals that ensure, of course, you know, that we discover the unknown,
02:51and it also ensures the safety of aircraft that, of course, are in that airspace that these phenomena occur.
02:57This unabandoned study will be led by astrophysicist David Sporgo, who is the president of the Simons Foundation in New York City,
03:05and has previously been the chair of astrophysics in the Department of Princeton and the University of Princeton, New Jersey.
03:12Dan Evans, the Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for Research, is kind of 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 but also as an able 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 to some of these discussions.
03:40And David Sporgo, I think, to all of us in astrophysics, really understand that he's one of the most trusted voices in so many questions.
03:48It's also a person who understands really the power of science and is willing and able to use that power of science kind of in areas where, I would say,
03:57kind of fall under that what we would refer to as high-risk, high-impact kind of research,
04:01kind of areas that many of the scientists may be a little bit more timid to walk into.