On Thursday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued a report that laid out the direction in which they will be conducting research on Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs), now often referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
The report by the US government space research agency came as a result of many external advisors who urged NASA to take a more 'prominent role' in the current and ongoing research on UFOs that is being conducted by the federal government.
According to reports, a panel of external advisors encouraged NASA to effectively use its scientific knowledge and the existing technology and instruments at their disposal to collect better data on UAPs.
NASA administrator and former senator of Florida, Bill Nelson, said in a statement that the agency wants to change the discussions on UFOs from 'sensationalism' to 'science.'
He further added that an independent body at NASA that studied UAP did not find any evidence of extraterrestrial origins. He also said that they didn't know 'what these UAP are,' and it's NASA's mission 'to find out the unknown.'
Reports state that NASA has conducted active research on potential life forms on other planets, the moon, the solar system, and beyond but has not spent much time thinking about aliens in general.
In this new report, NASA has offered a roadmap for how the agency will conduct research on UFOs while also introducing the new position of director of UAP research, who will be guiding, coordinating, and leading the agency's research.
NASA, at first, did not reveal the name of the person who would be the director of UAP in the report. With regards to the same, Dan Evans, NASA's assistant deputy associate administrator, said that they didn't want to name the person because they wanted to partly protect them from being bothered by UFO enthusiasts.
However, later on Thursday, NASA revealed the name of the director, Mark McInerney. McInerney previously held the position of the agency's liaison to the Department of Defense (DOD) for limited activities connected to UAP.
The report states that although NASA's Earth-observing satellites can't identify small objects, they can be used to understand whether specific environmental conditions intersect with strange sightings.
Additionally, the report displayed some gaps in the data, such as the deficiency of a standard system that would allow civilian pilots to make reports on possible UFO sightings. As of this moment, civilians have to report such sightings to local law enforcement authorities, which results in 'sparse, unsystematic' data collection. It also added that NASA could guide other government agencies on how to collect data appropriately.
With this report, the DOD can now reach out to a new office at NASA for tabling discussions on aliens and other extraterrestrial life forms, a topic that gained national importance after the hearing at Congress earlier this year.
