Team Tackles Unexplained Aerial Phenomena

NASA has decided it’s time to get to the bottom of the well-publicized reports of unusual aerial occurrences in the past few years and beyond. It’s formed a 16-member team of government officials, industry reps, academics and—at least one man who has actually been an extraterrestrial—got to work Oct. 24 to try to determine what, if anything, is to the plethora of unexplained objects that have surfaced especially over the last few years. NASA has also insisted that whatever it is they’re studying be called Unexplained Aerial Phenomena (UAP) rather than the acronym most of us grew up with. Whatever they call them, NASA says it’s taking a stab at explaining the unexplained for safety, security and maybe even natural human curiosity reasons. Among the members is retired astronaut Scott Kelly, who most recently spent a full year on the International Space Station.

“Exploring the unknown in space and the atmosphere is at the heart of who we are at NASA,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Understanding the data we have surrounding unidentified aerial phenomena is critical to helping us draw scientific conclusions about what is happening in our skies. Data is the language of scientists and makes the unexplainable, explainable.” The study will last nine months.