There’s a lot to hold your attention out there, but you may have missed the latest release on the prospect of UFOs and NASA’s hand in the search for answers. According to the BBC, NASA’s panel set up in 2022 to look into unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) found that the U.S. has looked into at least 800 reports and eyewitness accounts about UFOs over the years. It dropped right before the big Congressional testimony that raised even more issues with the current UFO fascination.
The panel’s first public meeting came at the start of June and left many around the globe puzzled at what is being kept secret. This first public briefing comes on the heels of a slew of reports out of Las Vegas about UFOs and unknown figures spotted in residential areas. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office’s director, Sean Kirkpatrick, noted that 50-100 new reports arrive each month, with maybe two to five percent standing as “possibly really anamalous.”
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The conference also referenced the Pentagon report from 2021 that reported that there were 144 sightings by military pilots since 2004, with all but one remaining unexplained. Still, with even all of this new information and disclosure, the NASA panel is limited by privacy and other issues.
“We can point the largest collection apparatus in the entire globe at any point we want. A lot of what we have is around the continental United States,” Kirkpatrick added. “Most people…don’t like it when we point our entire collection apparatus at your backyard.”
The panel’s goal, in the end, isn’t to deliver concrete answers about the origins of UAPs and UFOs, but instead to open the door for more data and more understanding for the public.
“One of our goals is to remove the stigma,” David Spergel, NASA’s UAP team chair, said. “Because there is a need for high quality data to address important questions about UAPs.”
The group addressed some of the harassment researchers and scientists have dealt with, while also revealing the dubious truth behind a few sightings and readings over the years. They shared about researchers in Australia reacting to some radio wave burst that turned out to be caused by a microwave used at lunchtime, while Scott Kelly revealed his own experience while flying near Virginia Beach. His co-pilot was convinced they saw a UFO, but Kelly revealed the truth. “I didn’t see it. We turned around, we went to look at it, it turns out it was Bart Simpson – a balloon.”
But the true nature of the panel becomes clear with a question revealed after the hearing. Someone stood up and asked, “What is NASA hiding?” Kudos to nobody yelling about NASA standing for “never a straight answer.”
