The scientists behind this research group claimed to feel stigmatized by their studies in search of answers about UFOs , also called UAPs .
NASA held its first panel discussion on Wednesday with 16 experts on sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena ( UAP ), the name by which UFOs are officially known .
The debate, led by astrophysicist David Spergel, serves as a preview of the government report to be published at the end of July. And in the conversation, very interesting points were exposed.
Lack of quality data
While the term UAP can technically apply to any unexplained sighting on land and sea or in space, the panelists said that all reports so far have come from Earth’s atmosphere at altitudes flown by military and commercial aircraft.
“In recent years, subjects of unidentified aerial phenomena, now referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAPs , have captured the attention of the public, the scientific community, and the government alike,” said Dan Evans, assistant administrator for research at the NASA . who presented the panel. “It is now our collective responsibility to investigate these events with the rigorous scientific scrutiny they deserve.”
The problem, however, is that there is still a lack of quality data that can be rigorously investigated. At the moment, “existing data and eyewitness reports alone are insufficient to provide conclusive evidence about the nature and origin of each UAP event , ” Spergel said.
According to the space entity, more than 90% of sightings can be explained with “mundane interpretations”. From 2 to 5% of cases still do not find a consistent argument of existence.
“The vast majority of what’s been reported and we have data on, a little less than half now, are orbs, round spheres,” said panelist Sean McMorrow, associate director of mission support at the Research Center. Armstrong Flight Command .
Experts did not give any explanation for the phenomena and said the agency’s role is not to “resolve the nature of these events.” Despite this, journalists and some specialists suggested that it should be their role.