NASA appoints director of UAP research to study, analyze unexplained aerial sightings

NASA should play a prominent role in the U.S. government's effort to understand "unidentified anomalous phenomena" — popularly known as UFOs — by leveraging its expertise in an evidence-based approach rooted in the scientific method, according to a report released Thursday morning.

And the agency has appointed a director of UAP research, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a media briefing.

"We want to shift the conversation about UAPs from sensationalism to science," Nelson said.

In June 2022, NASA commissioned a independent team of 16 scientific experts to study UAP. These are defined as "observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective," a press release said.

Nelson said the study team marked the first time NASA has taken concrete action to seriously look into UAP.

“We will use NASA's expertise to work with other agencies to analyze UAP. We will use AI and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies, as we have been searching the heavens. And we'll continue to search the heavens for habitability. And NASA will do this transparently," Nelson said.

NASA officials did not divulge the director of UAP research's identity during Thursday's media briefing, citing harassment and threats received by the study team. Thursday afternoon, the agency reversed course and issued a press release announcing Mark McInerney as the appointee.

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According to the 36-page NASA-commissioned report, peer-reviewed scientific literature shows that "there is no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for UAP."

"There is an intellectual continuum between hypothesizing that faraway extraterrestrial civilizations might produce detectable technologies, and looking for those technologies closer to home. But in the search for life beyond Earth, extraterrestrial life itself must be the hypothesis of last resort — the answer we turn to only after ruling out all other possibilities," the report said.

"As Sherlock Holmes said, 'Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth,' ” the report said.

UAP congressional testimony

UAP discussion has departed the world of science fiction and entered mainstream American politics. In July, a House Committee on Oversight and Accountability subcommittee heard UFO testimony from three former military officers.

Then last month, six U.S. House members sent a letter to Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Thomas Monheim seeking answers: Which intelligence community members, positions, facilities, military bases, or others are involved with UAP crash retrieval programs and reverse-engineering programs?

The Aug. 21 letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Tim Burchett, R-Tennessee; Jared Moskowitz D-Florida; Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida; Nancy Mace R-South Carolina; Eric Burlison, R-Missouri; and Andy Ogles, R-Tennessee.

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Two weeks ago, the Department of Defense launched an All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office website featuring UFO reporting trends and information on "resolved UAP cases as they are declassified and approved for public release."

The AARO was created in July 2022. The DoD defines UAP as "anything in space, in the air, on land, in the sea or under the sea that can't be identified and might pose a threat to U.S. military installations or operations," a press release said.

The AARO lists common objects frequently reported as UAP: airborne clutter, commercial or scientific balloons, commercial or military aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones, space launches, satellites and celestial objects.

NASA initially declines to identify UAP director

NASA officials did not divulge the identify of the director of UAP research during the morning media briefing.

Why? Some members of the UAP study team have received threats and harassment that are “beyond the pale, quite frankly,” said Dan Evans, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate assistant deputy associate administrator for research.

“We at NASA take the sanctity of the scientific process, and the security and safety of our team, extremely seriously. And yes, that's in part why we are not splashing the name of our new director out there," Evans said.

“Because science needs to be free. Science needs to undergo a real and rigorous and rational process. And you need the freedom of thought to be able to do that," he said.

McInerney previously served as NASA’s liaison to the Department of Defense covering limited UAP activities for the agency, the post-briefing press release said. Since 1996, he has served positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and the National Hurricane Center.

MUFON researcher expects 'slow drip' of info

Bob Spearing is the Mutual UFO Network's international director of field investigations. MUFON bills itself as the world’s oldest and largest civilian UFO investigation and research organization, and it maintains a database of more than 132,000 alleged sightings and cases over the decades.

Spearing said he will be surprised if NASA officials make any announcements confirming the existence of aliens.

"Whatever's going on is going to be a very slow drip, in my opinion. Whenever the government's involved in releasing information in a slow drip, you have to watch what the government's doing with one hand — and what they might be doing with the other hand," Spearing said.

"Congress is definitely trying to get to the bottom of whatever's going on," he said, citing Burchett and Rep. André Carson, D-Indiana, who chaired the first open Congressional hearing on UAP in 50 years in May 2022.

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NASA's UAP media briefing was preceded by Tuesday's presentation of two alleged "non-human" bodies by UFO researcher Jaime Maussan during a Mexican Congress hearing. He presented his "wild" claims without third-party evidence, USA Today reported, generating global media coverage.

"The UFO researcher, who appears regularly in Mexican media to present his purported findings, has previously been associated with claims of discoveries that have later been debunked," USA Today reported.

Titusville UFO/UAP conference scheduled

On Sept. 30, Spearing will join a panel of speakers a conference titled "UFOs/UAPs — Threat or Hope?" at the Titusville High auditorium. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets cost $25.

The speaker lineup includes Spearing; Jason Dezember, an author and UFO-alien abduction researcher from Huntington Beach, California; Guy Malone, an author and researcher on the 1947 event in Roswell, New Mexico; and Joe Jordan, a UFO field investigator from Titusville and director of MUFON's Brevard County chapter.

Spearing said the national media should pay more attention to the mysterious octagon-shaped object that a U.S. F-16 fighter jet shot down with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile Feb. 12 about 20,000 feet above Lake Huron near the Canadian border. That incident was preceded days earlier by the downing of a Chinese spy balloon and two other objects across North America.

He questioned why the military made no announcements regarding recovery of the wreckage. Five days after the object was shot down, the New York Times reported that the search had been called off.

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"The Titan submersible that (imploded) going to the Titanic: The search field was the size of Connecticut — 12,000 feet deep — and they found it," Spearing said.

"You can't find an object that was shot down in Lake Huron?" he asked.

Spearing said MUFON's database includes an Oct. 13, 2021, eyewitness sighting of an unexplained hexagonal object near St. Ignace, Michigan, a small community on Lake Huron on the Upper Peninsula.

"It had to be the same object, or one of similar construction, doing whatever it's doing up on Lake Huron," Spearing said.

Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA appoints a director of UAP research to study aerial sightings