NASA releases UFO report

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA on Thursday said that studying UFOs will require “new scientific techniques, including advanced satellites as well as a shift in how unidentified flying objects are perceived,” according to The Associated Press.

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The report that came out Thursday was about 33 pages long and officials said that NASA should help to reduce any stigma around UAPs, the AP reported.

The independent study team for NASA recommended through the report that the agency should have a more prominent role in trying to understand UFO or Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). With that recommendation, NASA announced Thursday that it will be appointing a director for research of UAP.

The report has findings and recommendations to help NASA know what data is available to be collected and how NASA can help better understand the origin/nature of UAPs, NASA said.

“At NASA, it’s in our DNA to explore – and to ask why things are the way they are. I want to thank the Independent Study Team for providing insight on how NASA can better study and analyze UAP in the future,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “NASA’s new Director of UAP Research will develop and oversee the implementation of NASA’s scientific vision for UAP research, including using NASA’s expertise to work with other agencies to analyze UAP and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies. NASA will do this work transparently for the benefit of humanity.”

“If you ask me, do I believe there’s life in a universe that is so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is, my personal answer is yes,” Nelson said at a news conference, according to the AP.

Associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, Nicola Fox, said the director has had the position for some time but did not identify him, according to The New York Times.

The reason that NASA officials have kept the identity secret is because of “the harassment experienced during the period of the study by some of the 16 members of the independent panel, who included university professors, space industry officials and a science journalist,” the Times reported.

The full UFO report can be read on NASA’s website.