[Reading Science] NASA's UFO Report to Be Released This Month

US NASA Investigation Committee Holds First Meeting
Lack of Information and Appeals Against Public Attacks
Official Report Scheduled for Release at the End of This Month

The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will release a report on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) by the end of this month. However, experts involved in the investigation are suffering from the government's lack of information disclosure and attacks from the public, raising doubts about whether the report will clearly resolve suspicions such as connections to extraterrestrials.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 31st (local time), NASA announced that the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Investigation Committee, composed of 16 civilian experts and others since June last year, held its first public meeting on that day and shared the research results so far.

At the meeting, experts stated that "lack of information" is the biggest obstacle to identifying the nature of UAPs and urged the U.S. government to disclose high-level intelligence. Nicky Fox, Deputy Director of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said, "(During the investigation) it is difficult to access high-quality data, but the problem is not the data itself but that the platform that acquired the data is classified." She appealed, "If a fighter jet took a picture of the Statue of Liberty, the photo would be classified and inaccessible not because of the subject but because of the fighter jet's onboard sensors that captured it." She urged, "High-quality classified data must be provided so that the investigation committee, the public, and scientists can all enhance their understanding of UAPs."

David Spergel, former NASA advisory board member and chair of the investigation committee, expressed agreement, pointing out that "current data collection efforts related to UAPs are unsystematic, fragmented among various agencies, and use unscientific tools." Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), also agreed, saying, "Most UAP reports we have identified are easily explained, but some unresolved suspicions are mainly due to lack of data."

Some investigation committee members have also appealed for measures, stating that they have been attacked by the public after participating in UAP research. In response, NASA stated, "Security personnel are actively working to resolve this," emphasizing, "We understand the high public interest, but it must be understood that any attacks on investigation committee members undermine the scientific process that requires openness and respect."

The investigation committee, composed of 16 members including astronomers, engineers, space ecologists, physicists, and astronauts, plans to compile their findings and publish a report around the end of this month. In particular, the committee is focusing research on about 5% of UAP phenomena whose causes and identities have not yet been confirmed in previous studies and investigations.