NASA plans to put together a team of scientists to examine "unidentified aerial phenomena" - commonly called UFOs. This is the latest sign of the seriousness of the US government in dealing with the UFO problem.
The US space agency said the team's focus will be on identifying available data and how best to collect similar data in the future.
This team of scientists will also think about how to use that information to advance scientific understanding of the issue.
NASA appointed David Spergel, former head of Princeton University's department of astrophysics, to lead the scientific team. Daniel Evans, a senior researcher at NASA's Science Mission Directorate, was appointed to organize the research.
The team of scientists will be formed in the fall and will have nine months to develop a public report on their findings, Evans said. NASA will spend a maximum of $100,000 on the effort, Evans added.
The announcement comes a year after the US government issued a report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence with a Navy task force, detailing observations by mostly Navy personnel of "unidentified aerial phenomena," or UAPs.
Two Pentagon officials testified on May 17 at the first congressional hearing on UFOs in half a century.
"We're looking at Earth in a new way, and we're also looking in another direction, to the sky, in a new way," Thomas Zurbuchen, head of NASA's science unit, told reporters on a conference call.
"What we're really trying to do here is start an investigation without thinking about the outcome."
US officials have described STEAM as a national security issue. "Unidentified phenomena in the atmosphere are of interest to national security and air safety," NASA said in a news release.
Reports last year said US intelligence and defense analysts did not have sufficient data to determine the nature of the vapors observed by military pilots.
Whether the UFO phenomenon is an advanced technology of the world, atmosphere, or extraterrestrial origin.
Both Pentagon officials last month acknowledged many observations were still beyond the government's ability to explain. But NASA itself said in a news release, "There is no evidence that the STEAM is of extraterrestrial origin."
The agency's engagement is aimed at providing more data to leverage NASA's scientific talent, satellites and sensors tasked with monitoring Earth's climate or observing atmospheric conditions, Zurbuchen said.
"The first step is to find out what data is there," Evans said.
NASA's involvement in the Pentagon's efforts to characterize UAP has previously been acknowledged by US officials.
The Pentagon has published several videos of the mysterious object that demonstrates speed and maneuverability beyond known flight technology and has no visible means of propulsion or flight control surface.
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