NASA’s Opens Up About UFO Data: Highlights From the Meeting

Last week, NASA held their first ever public meeting to discuss UFOs, or more accurately, as they call them, unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). 

These are defined as the unexplainable and unidentifiable, and as we explained prior to the meeting, NASA set up a taskforce in 2022 to help us to understand these phenomena. 

So, what did we actually learn from the meeting?

Most Sightings Aren’t Truly Unexplained

Just because something is reported to NASA as a UFO sighting doesn’t mean it is truly unexplained. About 2-5% of the reported sightings were described as “anomalous”.

One of the examples used in the meeting was a video that certainly looked eerie, showing some moving dots in the sky, but this simply turned out to be a commercial aircraft heading to its destination. 

This focus group is more interested in those that defy what appears possible within technology and nature. There’s not a lot that actually fits this description. 

The Taskforce Are Limited by Privacy

We did know previously that this UAP taskforce was not being given access to a lot of the evidence that has been collected, but the limits of privacy regulations were explained somewhat by Sean Kirkpatrick during the meeting.

“We can point the largest collection apparatus in the entire globe at any point we want,” he said.

“Most people…don’t like it when we point our entire collection apparatus at your backyard.”

Some Pilots Are Affected by Stigma

“One of our goals is to remove the stigma,” David Spergel, chair of Nasa’s UAP team also explained, “because there is a need for high-quality data to address important questions about UAPs.”

The stigma in society around those who report sightings that are unexplained, and the stigma towards scientists working in UFO and UAP fields, has led to a lot being reluctant to get involved or report their findings.

Sadly, the scientists involved in this focus group have been met with some harassment and abuse, which has proven to hinder the investigations. 

NASA Has No Intention of Hiding Findings

David Spergel was very keen to explain that the search for life is a priority for NASA. 

“The search for life is a really important thing. We haven’t found life beyond Earth yet,” he said. “But we are looking.”

Astrobiologist Dr David Grinspoon also explained during the Q and As that NASA would be keen to share their findings if they come across something that suggests extraterrestrial life. “If we discovered something, we would try to make sure we were right and then we’d loudly and proudly let the public know about it,” he said.

If you’re keen to watch the meeting again it is available here in its full, unedited, four-hour form.