NASA has recognized that observations of anomalous phenomena in the atmosphere are an enigma and urges to collect more data to be able to systematically study them and clarify their nature and origin.
“We want to shift the focus of the conversation from sensationalism to science,” said Bill Nelson, director of NASA. The space agency has appointed a director of research on Anomalous Unidentified Phenomena (FANI, or UAP), formerly called UFOs. “This is the first time that NASA takes concrete actions to seriously analyze unidentified anomalous phenomena,” added the agency's director.
Nelson made these statements during the press conference in which he presented the report on FANI that he commissioned in June 2022 from a committee of independent NASA experts. They were mandated to analyze FANI from a scientific perspective and create a roadmap to advance their research.
After fifteen months of work, the committee of experts “has not found any evidence that FANI have an extraterrestrial origin,” declared the director of the space agency. “But we don't know what they are. NASA's mission is to discover the unknown. “We will be transparent about what we find.”
The committee has recommended that NASA study anomalous phenomena observed in the atmosphere with Earth observation satellites, with a systematic record of observations made from airplanes and with a record of observations made by citizens from the surface. Experts propose analyzing the enormous amount of data that could be generated with artificial intelligence techniques.
“We have a limited number of observations, a limited amount of data and a lack of data quality,” said astrophysicist David Spergel, president of the expert committee. “I think that many observations will end up being conventional phenomena like balloons or drones. Discovering an anomaly is like finding a needle in a haystack. To find the needle, we need to know what the straw looks like to discard it.” For that, Spergel has argued, it is necessary to record data from a large number of observations.
NASA defines FANIs as phenomena observed in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or scientifically explained by known natural phenomena. The term FANI replaces the previously used UFO and includes phenomena observed underwater or in space, in addition to those observed in the atmosphere.
While the term UFO has been associated in the popular imagination with extraterrestrial intelligences, the term FANI does not presuppose that the phenomena are the work of non-human life forms.
The committee that prepared the report on FANI is made up of 16 experts from areas related to methods for studying anomalous phenomena. Its members include astronaut Scott Kelly, specialists from the aviation and aerospace industry, academic researchers and a science journalist.
