NASA

UNIDENTIFIED ANOMALOUS PHENOMENA

Independent Study Team Report
Members of the NASA Unidentified Anomalous 

Phenomena Independent Study Team

Dr. Anamaria Berea

George Mason University

Dr. Federica Bianco

University of Delaware

Dr. Reggie Brothers

AE Industrial Partners 

Dr. Paula Bontempi

University of Rhode Island

Dr. Jennifer Buss

Potomac Institute of Policy Studies

Dr. Nadia Drake

Science Journalist

Mr. Mike Gold

Redwire Space

Dr. David Grinspoon

Planetary Science Institute

Capt. Scott Kelly, USN, Ret.

NASA Astronaut, Ret.

Dr. Matt Mountain

Association of Universities 

for Research and Astronomy

Mr. Warren Randolph

Federal Aviation Administration

Dr. Walter Scott

Maxar Technologies

Dr. Joshua Semeter

Boston University

Dr. Karlin Toner

Federal Aviation Administration

Dr. Shelley Wright

University of California, San Diego

Designated Federal Official

Dr. Daniel Evans

NASA Headquarters

Chair 

Dr. David Spergel

Simons Foundation

Front and back cover photos: views of the earth as photographed 

from the Earth-orbital Apollo 4 unmanned space mission. 

All photos are from NASA unless otherwise indicated.

Panelists
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

RESPONSES TO STATEMENT OF TASK

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

WORK PRODUCTS: DISCUSSION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Group Photo: Members of the NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team.

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This is a type of lightning known as a red sprite — a phenomenon that has rarely been photographed in this 

amount of detail. Some thunderstorms produce sprites, but most do not. Photo credit: Stephane Vetter (TWAN)
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The study of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) presents a unique 

scientific opportunity that demands a rigorous, evidence-based approach. 

Addressing this challenge will require new and robust data acquisition methods, 

advanced analysis techniques, a systematic reporting framework and reducing 

reporting stigma. NASA – with its extensive expertise in these domains and 

global reputation for scientific openness – is in an excellent position to contribute 

to UAP studies within the broader whole-of-government framework led by the 

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). 

NASA has a variety of existing and planned Earth- and space-observing assets, 

together with an extensive archive of historic and current data sets, which 

should be directly leveraged to understand UAP. Although NASA’s fleet of 

Earth-observing satellites typically lack the spatial resolution to detect relatively 

small objects such as UAP, their state-of-the-art sensors can be directly utilized 

to probe the state of the local earth, oceanic, and atmospheric conditions that 

are spatially and temporally coincident with UAPs initially detected via other 

methods. Thus, NASA’s assets can play a vital role by directly determining 

whether specific environmental factors are associated with certain reported UAP 

behaviors or occurrences.

Next, the U.S. commercial remote-sensing industry offers a potent mix of 

Earth-observing satellites that offer imagery at sub- to several-meter spatial 

resolution, which is well-matched to the typical spatial scales of known UAP. 

Although every point on Earth does not have constant high-resolution coverage, 

the panel finds nonetheless that such commercial constellations could offer 

a powerful complement to the detection and study of UAP when coincident 

collection occurs. 

At present, analysis of UAP data is hampered by poor sensor calibration, the 

lack of multiple measurements, the lack of sensor metadata, and the lack of 

baseline data. Making a concerted effort to improve all aspects is vital, and 

NASA’s expertise should be comprehensively leveraged as part of a robust and 

systematic data acquisition strategy within the whole-of-government framework.

Moving forward, NASA should contribute to a comprehensive, government-wide 

approach to collecting future data. The importance of detecting UAP with multiple, 

well-calibrated sensors is paramount, and NASA could potentially leverage its 

considerable expertise in this domain to utilize multispectral or hyperspectral 

data as part of a rigorous data acquisition campaign.

The panel finds that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are 

essential tools for identifying rare occurrences, potentially including UAP, 

within vast datasets. However, these powerful techniques will only work on 

well-characterized data gathered with respect to strong standards. NASA’s 

extensive experience in the application of state-of-the-art computational and 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

NASA is in an excellent position 

to contribute to UAP studies 

within the broader whole-ofgovernment framework.
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data-analysis techniques should therefore be leveraged to provide critical 

assistance. Once again, appropriate data collection, curation, and distribution 

are paramount; NASA, with its world-leading experience in these aspects is 

well-positioned to play a leading role.

Engaging the public is also a critical aspect of understanding UAP. The panel 

sees several advantages to augmenting data collection efforts using modern 

crowdsourcing techniques, including open-source smartphone-based apps that 

simultaneously gather imaging data and other smartphone sensor metadata 

from multiple citizen observers worldwide. NASA should therefore explore the 

viability of developing or acquiring such a crowdsourcing system as part of its 

strategy. In turn, the panel finds that there is currently no standardized system 

for making civilian UAP reports, resulting in sparse and incomplete data devoid 

of curation or vetting protocols. NASA should play a vital role by assisting 

AARO in its development of this Federal system. 

The negative perception surrounding the reporting of UAP poses an obstacle to 

collecting data on these phenomena. NASA’s very involvement in UAP will play 

a vital role in reducing stigma associated with UAP reporting, which almost 

certainly leads to data attrition at present. NASA’s long-standing public trust, 

which is essential for communicating findings about these phenomena to 

citizens, is crucial for destigmatizing UAP reporting. The scientific processes 

used by NASA encourage critical thinking; NASA can model for the public how 

to best approach the study of UAP, by utilizing transparent reporting, rigorous 

analysis, and public engagement.

Finally, the threat to U.S. airspace safety posed by UAP is self-evident. The 

panel finds that a particularly promising avenue for deeper integration within 

a systematic, evidenced-based framework for UAP is the Aviation Safety 

Reporting System (ASRS), which NASA administers for the FAA. This confidential and voluntary reporting system for pilots, air traffic controllers, and 

other professional aviation staff, receives approximately 100,000 reports per 

year. Although not initially designed for UAP collection, better harnessing it for 

commercial pilot UAP reporting would provide a critical database that would be 

valuable for the whole-of-government effort to understand UAP. In turn, NASA’s 

long history of partnership with the FAA should be leveraged to investigate how 

advanced, real-time analysis techniques could be applied to future generations 

of air traffic management (ATM) systems.
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An orbital sunrise photographed by an Expedition 40 crew member on the International Space Station.

FRAMEWORK OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Although AARO leads the whole-of-government response to UAP, the 

panel recommends that NASA play an essential role within that framework. 

NASA should leverage its core capabilities and expertise to determine 

whether it should take a leading or supporting role in implementing a 

given recommendation.

ORGANIZATION OF THIS REPORT

This report is organized as follows. We present a systematic response 

to the eight charge elements that formed the Terms of Reference that 

NASA provided to the Independent Study Team, followed by a detailed 

set of conclusions and recommendations. These responses stemmed 

from a series of sub-panel reports that the entire team deliberated in full 

at the public meeting held on May 31, 2023, all of which are included 

as work products toward the end of this report for full public transparency.
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The spectacular aurora borealis, or the “northern lights,” over Canada is sighted from the space station 

near the highest point of its orbital path.
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FOREWORD

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) are one of our planet’s greatest 

mysteries. Observations of objects in our skies that cannot be identified as 

balloons, aircraft, or natural known phenomena have been spotted worldwide, 

yet there are limited high-quality observations. The nature of science is to 

explore the unknown, and data is the language scientists use to discover our 

universe’s secrets. Despite numerous accounts and visuals, the absence of 

consistent, detailed, and curated observations means we do not presently have 

the body of data needed to make definitive, scientific conclusions about UAP. 

At NASA, we use data and the tools of science to explore the unknown in the 

atmosphere and space. In June 2022, NASA established an external independent

study team to find a way we can use our open-source data and resources to

help shed light on the nature of future UAP. Much like a team of peer reviewers, 

NASA commissions independent study teams as a formal part of NASA’s 

scientific process, and such teams provide the agency external counsel and 

an increased network of perspectives from esteemed scientific experts.

NASA’s UAP Independent Study Team is made up of 16 experts from diverse 

backgrounds in science, technology, data, artificial intelligence, space exploration, aerospace safety, media and commercial innovation. They were assigned 

to pinpoint the data available around UAP and produce a report that outlines 

a roadmap for how NASA can use its tools of science to obtain usable data 

to evaluate and categorize the nature of UAP going forward. This is not a review 

of previous UAP incidents.

We thank the UAP Independent Study Team members for their service on the 

study and for their contributions towards the advancement of our nation’s 

understanding of UAP. While we are still evaluating the report and assessing 

the team’s findings and recommendations, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate

and the Agency are committed to keeping a clear and open pipeline for 

communication and resources with the Department of Defense’s AllDomain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to support its whole-of-government 

approach towards understanding and resolving UAP cases. NASA is appointing 

a Director of UAP Research to centralize communications and leverage 

NASA’s extensive resources and expertise to actively engage in the whole-ofgovernment UAP initiative. This individual will also ensure that the agency’s vast 

analytical capabilities, including its proficiency in data management, machine 

learning and artificial intelligence, are contributed to the government’s unified 

UAP effort.

At NASA, we are committed to openness, transparency, and scientific integrity 

and they are a central part of our operations. By setting up this independent 

study team, NASA gained important external perspectives from leading experts 

in our nation for how we can use our resources to advance the study of UAP 

data and explore the unknown in air and space for the benefit of all.

Dr. Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate
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A meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower.
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INTRODUCTION

Recently, many credible witnesses, often military aviators, have reported seeing 

objects they did not recognize over U.S. airspace. Most of these events have 

since been explained, but a small handful cannot be immediately identified as 

known human-made or natural phenomena. These events are now collectively 

referred to as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, or UAP1. 

A vital part of NASA’s mission is exploring the unknown using the rigorous 

process of the scientific method. This means scrutinizing our assumptions 

and intuition; transparently and diligently collecting data; reproducing results; 

seeking independent evaluation; and finally, reaching a scientific consensus 

about the nature of an occurrence. The scientific method challenges us to solve 

problems by impartially evaluating our own ideas, by being willing to be wrong, 

and by following the data. 

It is increasingly clear that the majority of UAP observations can be attributed to 

known phenomena or occurences. When it comes to studying such phenomena, 

our overarching challenge is that the data needed to explain these anomalous 

sightings often do not exist; this includes eyewitness reports, which on their 

own can be interesting and compelling, but are not reproducible and usually 

lack the information needed to make any definitive conclusions about a UAP’s 

provenance. Thus, to understand UAP, a rigorous, evidence-based, data-driven 

scientific framework is essential.

This report offers a vision of how NASA could contribute to understanding 

the phenomena and how the agency’s approach will complement the whole-ofgovernment effort to understand UAP.

1 At the time that this study was initiated, Congress 

defined UAP as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. 

After this study began, the term UAP was redefined 

as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
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A weather balloon sails into the sky after release from the Cape Canaveral weather station in Florida.
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NASA has a variety of existing and planned Earth- and space-observing assets, 

together with an extensive archive of historic and current data sets, which 

should be used to address the challenges of detecting and/or understanding 

UAP. NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites collect the most data within the 

Earth system, yet they typically lack the spatial resolution to detect relatively 

small objects such as UAP. However, they still should play a powerful supporting 

role to determine the environmental conditions that coincide with UAP. For 

example, the advanced sensors on the Terra and Aqua missions should be 

directly utilized to retroactively probe the state of the local earth, ocean, and 

atmospheric conditions that are spatially and temporally coincident with UAP 

initially detected via other methods. Thus, NASA can help determine whether 

specific environmental factors are associated with reported UAP properties 

or occurrences. 

There are other promising civilian capabilities that can be employed to scrutinize 

UAP. Assets such as the NEXRAD Doppler radar network (160 weather radars 

jointly operated by the FAA, U.S. Air Force, and National Weather Service) or 

the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites will be essential for 

distinguishing interesting objects from airborne clutter. Furthermore, forthcoming 

large-sky surveys enabled by ground-based telescopes such as the Vera C. 

Rubin Observatory will offer powerful complements in the search for anomalous 

objects beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA also has substantial experience in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), 

which can provide much higher angular resolution images of Earth, as well as 

confirm surface motion and change. The panel sees particular promise in future 

SAR-based Earth-observing satellites such as NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic 

Aperture Radar) mission, a partnership with the Indian Space Research Organization. The excellent resolution of NISAR will provide valuable radar data that 

will potentially be critical for examining UAP directly, in addition to their environmental context. SAR systems will also provide critical validation of any truly 

anomalous properties, such as rapid acceleration or high-G maneuvers through 

the Doppler signatures they produce.

Irrespective of the source of the observation, it is essential to note the pivotal 

role that structured data curation plays in a rigorous and evidence-based 

framework to better understand UAP. To date, UAP data often consist of 

observations initially acquired for other purposes, which often lack adequate 

RESPONSES TO STATEMENT

OF TASK

What types of scientific data currently collected and archived by NASA or 

other civilian government entities should be synthesized and analyzed to 

potentially shed light on the nature and origins of Unidentified Anomalous 

Phenomena (UAP)? 

1

FINDING 

NASA'S fleet of earth-observing satellites 

should play a powerful supporting role 

to determine the environmental conditions 

that coincide with UAP.

FINDING 

It is essential to note the pivotal role that 

structured data curation plays in a rigorous 

and evidence-based framework to better 

understand UAP. 
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metadata and are not optimized for systematic scientific analysis. Here, NASA 

– with its world-leading expertise in curation, archiving, and distribution of large 

volumes of data – can play a key role. NASA’s adherence to FAIR (Findability, 

Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability) data principles when generating 

curated data repositories enables both scientists and citizen scientists to 

conduct data-mining and meaningful analysis. In addition, due to the absence 

of a comprehensive system for gathering civilian UAP reports, there are inconsistencies in how data is collected, processed, and curated. The application 

of NASA’s rigor to UAP data protocols will ultimately be essential for a detailed 

understanding of these phenomena.

The U.S. commercial remote-sensing industry offers a potent mix of Earthobserving sensors that have the collective potential to directly resolve UAP 

events. For instance, commercial satellite constellations provide imagery at 

sub- to several-meter spatial resolution, which is well-matched to the typical 

spatial scales of known UAP. In addition, the high temporal cadence offered by 

commercial remote-sensing networks can substantially increase the likelihood 

of providing retroactive coverage of UAP events that are initially observed via 

other means. The limitation on this data is that at any given time most of the 

Earth’s surface is not covered by commercial satellites at high resolution — for 

a particular UAP event, we will need to be fortunate to obtain high-resolution 

observations from space.

Beyond this, the panel applauds the efforts undertaken in the private sector and 

U.S. academic community to employ one or more inexpensive ground-based 

sensors that are capable of surveying large areas of the sky. Such sensors, 

which could potentially be rapidly deployed to areas of known UAP activity may 

play a key role in establishing so-called “pattern-of-activity” trends, as well as 

potentially the physical characteristics of UAP themselves.

South Asian Object (Image 1)

Footage taken by an MQ-9 of an unidentified object in South Asia with an apparent 

atmospheric wake or cavitation, later assessed as a likely commercial aircraft by the 

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. The cavitation is likely a sensor artifact resulting 

from video compression. 

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

What types of scientific data currently collected and held by non-profits and 

companies should be synthesized and analyzed to potentially shed light on 

the nature and origins of UAP? 

2

FINDING 

The U.S. commercial remote-sensing 

industry offers a potent mix of Earthobserving sensors that have the collective 

potential to directly resolve UAP events.
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To improve our understanding of UAP, NASA should contribute to a comprehensive approach to collecting data within the broader whole-of-government 

framework to understand UAP. The importance of detecting UAP with multiple, 

well-calibrated sensors is paramount, and NASA should leverage its considerable expertise in this domain to potentially utilize multispectral or hyperspectral 

data as part of a rigorous campaign to acquire additional data on future UAP. 

In addition, forthcoming large-sky surveys enabled by Federal ground-based 

assets including the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will collect vast quantities of 

data, which can be directly used to search for anomalous objects beyond the 

Earth’s atmosphere.

Data signatures are vast, and theories that predict novel signatures help guide 

our searches. It is imperative to set clear evidence thresholds to avoid errors, 

especially with automated methods. Furthermore, purpose-built future sensors 

for UAP detection should be designed to adjust on millisecond timescales to aid 

better detection. In lockstep, alert systems should detect and share transient 

information quickly and uniformly.

The panel notes that, at present, gathering data on UAP is hampered by sensor 

calibration challenges and a lack of sensor metadata. In short, calibration 

ensures that future data gathered are reliable and accurate, while gathering 

metadata – such as the time, location, and sensor observing modes – ensures 

that the contextual and environmental factors of a recorded UAP event are well 

Once more, however, robust data calibration is vital, and here NASA again can 

play an important advisory role. The calibration process ensures that information gathered from sensors and instruments is precise, dependable and devoid 

of any systematic errors or biases. In the case of UAP studies, where data 

often originates from instruments not specifically designed for detecting such 

objects, proper calibration becomes even more crucial. In turn, metadata, which 

provides contextual information such as sensor type, manufacturer details, 

noise characteristics and time of acquisition, must simultaneously be present 

for an accurate characterization of both a potential UAP as well as the sensor 

itself. Indeed, several apparent UAP have been demonstrated to be sensor 

artifacts once appropriate calibration and metadata scrutiny were applied. 

Although a substantial investment, the standardization of collected information 

via well-crafted calibration will make it possible to carry out a rigorous scientific 

investigation into UAP. NASA’s experience in this area will be essential.

What other types of scientific data should be collected by NASA to enhance 

the potential for developing an understanding of the nature and origins 

of UAP? 

3

FINDING 

The standardization of collected 

information via well-crafted calibration 

will make it possible to carry out a rigorous 

scientific investigation into UAP. NASA's 

experience in this area will be vital.

FINDING 

NASA should leverage its considerable 

expertise in this domain to potentially utilize 

multispectral or hyperspectral data as part 

of a rigorous campaign.
FINDING 

NASA’s expertise should be 

comprehensively leveraged 

as part of a robust and systematic 

data strategy within the whole-ofgovernment framework.

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known. Both, in turn, allow for systematic analyses of UAP events, and critically 

will enable the elimination of false positives due to sensor artifacts. Making a 

concerted effort to improve both aspects will be vital when gathering future data, 

and here NASA’s expertise should be comprehensively leveraged as part of a 

robust and systematic data strategy within the whole-of-government framework.

The panel also sees several advantages to augmenting potential data collection efforts using modern crowdsourcing techniques, including open-source 

smartphone-based apps that simultaneously gather imaging data and other 

smartphone sensor data from multiple citizen observers. NASA should therefore 

explore the viability of developing or acquiring such a crowdsourcing system 

as part of a future data strategy.

As stated above, NASA’s fleet of Earth-observing satellites must also play a 

key role in collecting future data on environmental conditions coinciding with 

UAP sightings. Despite the mismatch in spatial resolution between the present 

generation of satellites and typical UAP events, by gathering and analyzing 

future satellite data, we will undoubtedly gain insights into the typical environmental factors associated with UAP. Future missions, such as the NOAA/NASA 

Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite system, will provide 

even more robust data that will prove important in UAP analysis. NASA should 

also leverage sensors that expand its observational reach, such as penetrating 

deeper into the ocean or at the air/sea interfaces.

Next, collection efforts from radio and optical astronomy that are designed for 

technosignature searches should be expanded from the Earth's atmosphere to 

the whole solar system. Additionally, near-Earth objects (NEO) programs also 

have significant data collections about phenomena close to Earth’s atmosphere, 

which constitutes an untapped repository of data both for characterizing natural 

phenomena and anomalies. NASA should consider integrating these elements 

as part of a robust future-data strategy.

Finally, NASA’s very involvement in gathering future data will play an important 

role in reducing stigma associated with UAP reporting, which very likely leads 

to data attrition at present. NASA’s long-standing public trust, which is essential 

for communicating findings about these phenomena to citizens, is crucial for 

destigmatizing UAP reporting and scientific research. The scientific processes 

used by NASA encourage critical thinking; NASA can model for the public how 

to approach a topic, such as UAP, by applying transparent reporting and 

rigorous analyses when acquiring future data. 
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Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have proven to be essential 

tools for identifying rare occurrences within vast datasets. These methodologies, combined with NASA’s extensive experience and expertise, should 

be utilized to investigate the nature and origins of UAP by examining data from 

sources such as satellites and radar systems. However, the effectiveness of 

AI and ML in studying UAP depends critically upon the quality of the data used 

to train the AI and in subsequent analysis. At present, UAP analysis is more 

limited by the quality of data than by the availability of techniques. As a 

consequence, it is a higher priority to obtain better quality data than it is to 

develop new analysis techniques.

Once AARO and other agencies, including NASA, accumulate an extensive 

and well-curated catalog of baseline data, these can be used to train neural 

networks so that they can characterize deviations from normal. The panel finds 

that standard techniques that are routinely applied in astronomy, particle 

physics, and other areas of science can be adapted for these analyses.

When it comes to detecting anomalies – such as UAP – within datasets, there 

are two approaches. The first approach involves constructing a model that 

represents the expected signal characteristics then searching for any matches 

against this model. The second approach involves using a model of the background properties and searching for anything that deviates from that model. 

The panel notes that the first approach is difficult as we do not possess a 

consistent description of the physical characteristics of UAP. The second 

Which scientific analysis techniques currently in production could be 

employed to assess the nature and origins of UAP? Which types of 

analysis techniques should be developed? 

4

Middle East Object

Footage taken by an MQ-9 of an 

apparent silver, orb-like object in 

the Middle East. Due to limited data, 

the object remains unidentified.

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense 

(DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute 

DoD endorsement.

FINDING 

AI and ML, combined with NASA's 

extensive expertise, should be utilized 

to investigate the nature and origins 

of UAP.
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approach, on the other hand, requires an understanding of what is considered 

normal and known in a given search area, which can then be distinguished from 

what is unusual and unknown. AARO has already begun this task by studying 

what “normal” phenomena such as solar glint or balloons look like to military 

sensors. The program of systematically calibrating observations of “normal” is 

an essential step before starting to search for the abnormal.

A third potential avenue for scientific analysis is to cross-correlate NASA’s 

extensive databases with the locations and times of reported UAP events. 

Once an extensive list of UAP reports is made available, the panel regards this 

as a promising method for future analysis. Again, NASA's expertise in AI and 

ML will allow it to make a prominent contribution.

For any scientific analysis purposes, including UAP analysis, it is essential that 

the data used for AI and ML are collected according to rigorous standards. The 

data must be collected using calibrated instruments tailored to their respective 

use cases accompanied by metadata to facilitate calibration and contextual 

comprehension. Proper curation and integration of data are also critical for 

enabling scientific analysis. To establish a baseline understanding, an examination of known events with precisely calibrated instruments is also necessary. NASA, with its expertise in data calibration, management, and advanced 

analysis is well-positioned to take a central role in these efforts within the 

whole-of-government framework to assess UAP.

Observations of UAP to date are inconsistent and do not adhere to similar 

characteristics. As a consequence, it is difficult to put physical constraints on 

them at present, which provides a strong motivation for the rigorous, evidencebased framework articulated in this report. The strongest physical constraints 

are not on the anomalous events but on the conventional events: we know the 

range of velocities and accelerations that can be achieved by state-of-the art 

platforms, drones, balloons and planes. Deviations from this behavior, such as 

any well-characterized observation of velocities and accelerations outside of 

that range, are scientifically interesting for UAP assessment and analysis. The 

panel emphasizes that clearly determining distances is key to understanding 

and corroborating any claimed anomalous high-velocity and high-acceleration 

events, a fact borne out by AARO’s findings that the vast majority of UAP have 

prosaic explanations.

In considering the factors above, what basic physical constraints 

can be placed on the nature and origins of UAP?

5

FINDING 

NASA, with its expertise in data calibration, 

management, and advanced analysis is 

well-positioned to take a central role in 

these efforts.
17

Government agencies, including the FAA, gather civilian airspace data that can 

be analyzed to probe for UAP. These data include information obtained from 

air traffic control towers and radar systems. However it is essential to note that 

such data are not always optimized or suitable for rigorous scientific analysis 

of UAP. The observations almost always happen incidentally using instruments 

not specifically designed for detecting objects; furthermore, crucial contextual 

information in the form of metadata is often missing. Although civilian airspace 

data has been used by AARO to assist with the analysis of isolated UAP cases, 

the broad corpus of such data is unlikely to yield a global understanding of the 

size, movement, or nature of UAP.

Furthermore, at present, there is no standardized Federal system for making 

civilian UAP reports. While AARO is establishing a systematic mechanism for 

military and intelligence community UAP reports, current FAA guidelines instruct 

citizens wanting to report UAP to contact local law enforcement or one or more 

non-governmental organizations. As a result, the collection of data is sparse, 

unsystematic, and lacks any curation or vetting protocols.

Here, once more, NASA can provide important assistance to the whole-ofgovernment effort to understand UAP. With its world-leading expertise in data 

curation and organization, NASA is well-positioned to advise on the best 

methodologies for establishing repositories of civilian airspace data.

What civilian airspace data related to UAPs have been collected by government agencies and are available for analysis to a) inform efforts to better 

understand the nature and origins of UAPs, and b) determine the risk of UAPs 

to the National Air Space (NAS)? 

6

If the whole-of-government framework to understanding UAP – with NASA 

playing a crucial role – were to implement the preponderance of steps 

prescribed above, then the panel regards placing physical constraints on UAP, 

together with the suite of plausible natures and origins, as being within reach. 

If all unidentified events move at conventional speeds and accelerations, this 

likely points towards a conventional explanation for these events. Convincing 

evidence of verified anomalous accelerations and velocity would point towards 

potentially novel explanations for UAP.

FINDING 

The panel regards placing physical 

constraints on UAP, together with the 

suite of plausible natures and origins, 

as being within reach.

FINDING 

With its world-leading expertise 

in data curation and organization, 

NASA is well-positioned to advise 

on the best methodologies for 

establishing repositories of civilian 

airspace data.
18

It is clear to the panel that establishing a more robust and systematic framework and data repository for UAP reporting is essential. This particularly 

applies to civilian reporting of UAP: current FAA guidelines suggest that 

citizens wanting to report UAP contact their local law enforcement or one or 

more non-governmental organizations, which is inadequate for drawing scientific 

inferences. Although such eyewitness reports are often interesting and compelling, they are insufficient on their own for making definitive conclusions about 

UAP. Thus, their effective corroboration within a robust reporting and follow-up 

framework based on systematically gathered data (including the ATM system) 

can provide a useful tool for understanding UAP. 

A particularly promising avenue for deeper integration within a systematic, 

evidenced-based framework for is the NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System 

(ASRS), which NASA administers for the FAA. This system is a confidential, 

voluntary, non-punitive reporting system that receives safety reports from pilots, 

air traffic controllers, dispatchers, cabin crew, ground operators, maintenance 

technicians, and UAS operators that provides a unique data source for emerging UAS safety issues. ASRS receives reports describing close-calls, hazards, 

violations, and safety-related incidents. With 47 years of confidential safety 

reporting, ASRS has received more than 1,940,000 reports, averaging approximately 100,000 per year. Reports are received from all aspects of aviation 

operations. Although the system resides at NASA Ames and involves NASA 

employees, the ASRS program is solely funded by FAA and it is not part of 

NASA’s Aeronautics activity. Although not initially designed for UAP collection, 

leveraging this system for commercial pilot UAP reporting would provide a

critical database that would be valuable for the whole-of-government effort 

to understand UAP, and here NASA should provide technical assistance.

South Asian Object (Image 2)

Footage taken by an MQ-9 of an unidentified object in South Asia with an apparent 

atmospheric wake or cavitation, later assessed as a likely commercial aircraft by 

the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. The cavitation is likely a sensor artifact 

resulting from video compression. 

The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.

What current reporting protocols and air traffic management (ATM) data 

acquisition systems can be modified to acquire additional data on past 

and future UAPs?

7

FINDING 

Leveraging the Aviation Safety 

Reporting System for commercial 

pilot UAP reporting would provide 

a critical database.
19

NASA’s deep experience in researching and developing air traffic management 

tools, together with its strong partnership with the FAA, will be pivotal to 

designing future ATM systems to acquire UAP data. At present, surveillance 

instruments are not designed to detect anomalous objects, and associated 

metadata are often absent. NASA should begin by developing new concepts 

and ideas for ATM systems, which enable these systems to assist in the effort 

to better understand UAP.

NASA should leverage its expertise by reviewing and demonstrating passive 

sensing techniques. NASA should also consider platforms that include new types 

of data such as imaging data and even multispectral or hyperspectral data. In 

turn, NASA could conduct research to see whether machine learning algorithms 

could be incorporated into future ATM systems to detect and analyze UAP in 

real-time. This research would represent a complex undertaking whose outcome 

could allow for substantial and systematic gathering UAP data as well as a robust 

characterization of the background. Once again, NASA’s experience and expertise in these areas would allow it to provide critical assistance in identifying and 

evaluating new safety systems.

What potential enhancements to future ATM development efforts can 

be recommended to acquire data concerning future reported UAPs to 

assist in the effort to better understand the nature and origin of the UAPs?

8

FINDING 

NASA’s strong partnership with 

the FAA will be pivotal to designing 

future air traffic management systems 

to acquire UAP data.
20

This NASA Space Shuttle STS-100 image captures naturally occuring von Karman vortices forming in clouds 

near Rishiri-to island in Japan, caused by a stable, low-cloud atmosphere flowing over a tall obstacle.
21

We recommend that NASA play a prominent role in the whole-of-government effort to 

understand UAP by leveraging its extensive expertise to contribute to a comprehensive, 

evidence-based approach that is rooted in the scientific method. We specifically recommend that NASA utilize its existing and planned Earth-observing assets to probe the local 

environmental conditions associated with UAP that are initially detected by other means. 

In so doing, NASA can directly probe whether certain environmental factors are coincident with known UAP. We further recommend that NASA explore enhancing collaborations 

with the U.S. commercial remote-sensing industry, which offer powerful constellations of 

high-resolution Earth-observing satellites.

At present, the detection of UAP is often serendipitous, captured by sensors that were not 

designed or calibrated for this purpose, and which lack comprehensive metadata. Coupled 

with incomplete data archiving and curation, this means that the origin of numerous UAP 

remain uncertain. The importance of detecting UAP with multiple, well-calibrated sensors 

is thus paramount, and accordingly we recommend that NASA leverage its considerable 

expertise in this domain to potentially utilize multispectral or hyperspectral data as part 

of a rigorous data acquisition campaign. 

In turn, the panel finds that sophisticated data analysis techniques, including artificial 

intelligence and machine learning, must be used in a comprehensive UAP detection 

campaign when coupled with systematic data gathering and robust curation. Here, we 

recommend that NASA’s expertise in these key areas be contributed to the whole-ofgovernment UAP effort.

The panel finds that public engagement in the effort to better understand UAP will be vital. 

NASA, by lending its name to UAP studies, is already helping to reduce stigma associated 

with reporting. Beyond this, we recommend that NASA explore the viability of developing 

or acquiring a crowdsourcing system, such as open-source smartphone-based apps, to 

gather imaging data and other smartphone sensor data from multiple citizen observers 

as part of a wider effort to more systematically gather public UAP reports.

Lastly, we recommend that the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) for commercial 

pilot UAP reporting be better leveraged, providing a critical database for the whole-ofgovernment effort to understand UAP. The agency's long history of partnership with the 

FAA should also be capitalized to investigate how advanced, real-time analysis techniques 

could be applied to future generations of air traffic management (ATM) systems.

In conclusion, NASA is uniquely positioned to contribute to a robust and systematic 

approach to studying UAP, furthering its mission of advancing scientific knowledge, 

technical expertise, and exploration. When considering the above recommendations, and 

according to budget priorities, NASA should leverage its core capabilities and expertise 

to determine whether it should take a leading or supporting role in implementing a given 

recommendation. The positioning of NASA’s role should further be situated within the 

context of the broader whole-of-government approach to understanding UAP.

OVERALL CONCLUSIONS 

AND RECOMMENDATIONS
22

Sunset over the Indian Ocean, photographed by an Expedition 23 crew member on the International Space Station.
23

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The compilation of this report has been a significant task, made possible only 

through the collective efforts of a dedicated team of professionals. We would 

like to take a moment to acknowledge and express our gratitude to those who 

have been instrumental in this endeavor.

At the forefront, our profound appreciation goes to NASA for their unwavering 

support and commitment. We are deeply grateful to NASA Administrator 

Sen. Bill Nelson for his visionary approach, recognizing the importance of 

NASA's involvement in this initiative. Dr. Daniel Evans, our Designated Federal 

Official, has provided exceptional leadership and guidance throughout this 

study. Our gratitude extends to Science Mission Directorate Associate 

Administrator Dr. Nicky Fox and her predecessor, Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, 

for their invaluable advice. Additionally, a special mention must be made of 

NASA's Earth Science Division for graciously hosting this activity under the 

Earth Science Advisory Committee.

Handling media inquiries with finesse and professionalism, Katherine Rohloff, 

NASA's UAP Press Secretary, has been an essential pillar in our communication 

strategy. Her dedication to ensuring accurate and effective communication 

of our findings to the public has been commendable.

Our sincere thanks go to Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the Director of AARO. His 

expertise and collaboration have been invaluable, enriching our understanding 

and providing a solid foundation for our committee's work.

Last, but certainly not least, the staff of NASA Research and Education Support 

Services (NRESS) have been the unsung heroes behind the scenes, ensuring 

that every logistical detail was meticulously addressed. We would like to 

extend our heartfelt gratitude to Renee Atkins and Sharon Smallwood for their 

dedication and unwavering support.

To all mentioned and the countless others who have contributed behind the 

scenes, we extend our deepest gratitude. Your commitment, expertise, and 

passion have been the driving force behind this report, and we are profoundly 

thankful for your contributions.
24

WORK PRODUCTS: DISCUSSION

The panel's responses to the eight charge elements in the Terms of Reference, as well as the panel's overall recommendations and conclusions, all stemmed from a series of sub-panel reports that the entire team deliberated in full 

at the public meeting held on May 31, 2023. The reports are included in this section for full public transparency. 

UAP in a Scientific Context

On June 9, 2022, NASA announced an independent study of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), with a 

focus on identifying how the Agency could address the question scientifically. Recently, many credible witnesses, 

often military aviators, have reported seeing objects they did not recognize over U.S. airspace. Most of these events 

have since been explained, but a small handful cannot be immediately identified as known humanmade or natural 

phenomena. These events are now collectively referred to as UAP. But are these objects real or are they sensor artifacts? Are they a threat to aerospace safety? Are they a threat to U.S. national security? Are they unknown natural 

phenomena? What else could they be? 

This report outlines several approaches NASA could take if the Agency chooses to address the question of UAP.

A vital part of NASA’s mission is to explore the unknown. Often, the most exciting aspect of exploration is discovering unexplained phenomena. After discovery, the next step in charting the unknown requires applying rigorous 

scientific approaches to understand an observation. This means scrutinizing our assumptions and intuition; transparently and diligently collecting data; reproducing results; seeking independent evaluation; and finally, reaching a 

scientific consensus about the nature of an occurrence. It was Thomas Jefferson who, in an 1808 letter, wrote: 

“A thousand phenomena present themselves daily which we cannot explain, but where facts are suggested, bearing 

no analogy with the laws of nature as yet known to us, their verity needs proofs proportioned to their difficulty.” 

Today, we summarize Jefferson’s conclusion as “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” This is especially true when it comes to claims that could profoundly change how we view our place in the cosmos. Over millennia, 

we’ve developed ever more powerful instruments to study the universe and each time we’ve looked at the sky—or our 

planet—in a different way, we’ve observed surprising and perplexing phenomena that at first defied explanation.

For example, in 1967, astrophysics graduate student Jocelyn Bell-Burnell discovered a pulsing cosmic radio source. 

Its pulses were so regular—just like a ticking clock—that it at first seemed artificial in origin. But she eventually 

discovered that her confoundingly periodic cosmic object was a rapidly rotating neutron star: a pulsar. Today, 

scientists know of thousands of pulsars, and they can harness their clock-like rotation to probe everything from 

nuclear physics to gravitational waves produced by colliding supermassive black holes. In the 1960s, satellites also 

detected mysterious gamma-ray bursts. These initially looked like evidence for covert Cold War-era nuclear tests. 

Now, astronomers know that these tremendously energetic explosions are caused when massive stars cataclysmically collapse and die, and when stellar corpses violently collide. 

Science has also solved mysteries that originated much closer to home, including the mechanisms behind bioluminescence and glittering atmospheric “sprites”—beautiful orange-red flashes of light that were reported for more than 

a hundred years but only scientifically explained recently. The crucial steps in understanding these events were the 

systematic collection of data, the rigorous testing of hypotheses, the development of new observational techniques 

to study unknowns, and an open and transparent scientific discussion. 

The scientific method challenges us to solve problems by stringently evaluating our own ideas, by being willing 

to be wrong, and by following the data into unknown territory—wherever it may lead us. As Carl Sagan wrote in 

The Demon-Haunted World, “science carries us toward an understanding of how the world is, rather than how 

we would wish it to be.” 
25

Science is a process that reveals reality rather than sculpts it—no matter how unsatisfying or confusing that reality 

might be. 

That includes the question of whether UAP have an extraterrestrial origin. There is an intellectual continuum between 

hypothesizing that faraway extraterrestrial civilizations might produce detectable technologies, and looking for those 

technologies closer to home. But in the search for life beyond Earth, extraterrestrial life itself must be the hypothesis 

of last resort—the answer we turn to only after ruling out all other possibilities. As Sherlock Holmes said, “Once you 

eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

To date, in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, there is no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial 

origin for UAP. When it comes to UAP, the challenge we have is that the data needed to explain these anomalous 

sightings often do not exist; this includes eyewitness reports, which on their own can be interesting and compelling, 

but aren’t reproducible and usually lack the information needed to make any definitive conclusions about a 

phenomenon’s provenance. 

This report offers a vision of how NASA could contribute to understanding the phenomena and how the agency’s 

approach might complement efforts by other federal entities. Congress has made the Department of Defense’s 

All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) the lead Federal organization for resolving these anomalies. With its 

emphasis on open scientific inquiry, NASA can complement AARO’s work. 

The following sections highlight the information provided to the panel, and our conclusions, over seven months of 

fact-finding. 

What is NASA’s Role?

NASA is a science-driven agency committed to exploring and understanding air and space. That mission includes 

tackling unknown phenomena, whether in the farthest reaches of the universe or closer to home, as well as here 

on Earth. For more than 60 years, the Agency has focused on astronomy, astrophysics and aeronautics; it also 

uses space-based assets to study our home world’s aquatic, atmospheric, cryospheric, and terrestrial systems. 

As a result of NASA’s long and storied history of space (and space-based) research, the Agency has amassed a 

robust and rigorous scientific arsenal for investigating unexplained observations, which will be crucial for studying 

UAP. The Agency has a variety of existing and planned assets—plus a trove of historic and current data sets—that 

could be used to address the challenges of detecting and/or understanding UAP. NASA research also employs 

a wide range of observation and analytical methods, using calibrated sensors, advanced data analysis, modeling, 

and cutting-edge computational and data visualization tools. As such, NASA’s missions, data, and technical 

expertise in science and engineering could help to investigate and understand reported UAP. 

The panel considered how existing and/or planned NASA missions, data, experience, or studies might contribute to 

the understanding of UAP using global satellite and suborbital observations. Chiefly, NASA’s scientific discoveries, 

results, and databases are public. Already, an extensive data archive from NASA satellites and foreign partner space 

agencies is openly available, ensuring transparency as well as the opportunity for citizen scientist participation. 

In Earth science, NASA’s core mission is to understand and protect our home planet. Passive radiometric Earthobserving missions, such as NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, currently employ a range of sensors that collect 

information about Earth’s land, ocean, atmosphere, and other components. These data sets could help to identify 

weather, ocean, and other environmental characteristics coincident with UAP observations. New Earth-observing 

missions, such as NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), a partnership with the Indian Space Research 

Organization, will provide valuable radar data that could be helpful for examining UAP directly, in addition to their 

environmental context. 
26

These newer observations live within a historical context. For more than 50 years, global time series data gathered 

by NASA (with partners including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA]) have allowed 

researchers to examine trends within and across components of Earth’s systems. Such long-term data sets help 

scientists better understand the evolving Earth, while also identifying natural and anthropogenic variability in the 

Earth system. Knowing that baseline allows researchers to detect and examine Earth’s environment for anomalies. 

Examples of naturally occurring anomalies include events such as harmful algal blooms, hurricanes and typhoons, 

changes in the jet stream, drought and fire conditions, and bioluminescence in the ocean. Understanding the origins 

of such large-scale phenomena is at the heart of NASA’s Earth science mission. 

NASA has a long and successful record of partnering with other Federal agencies. In the study of UAP, the 

establishment of a NASA/AARO liaison will be an important step towards enabling interagency cooperation.

In addition to the Agency’s Earth science research programs, NASA also supports programs in astrobiology. Some 

of these programs investigate life in extreme environments on Earth—with the hypothesis that such organisms and 

conditions could be analogs for habitable environments elsewhere in the universe. Other programs investigate the 

possibility that extraterrestrial life exists.

In astrophysics and space sciences, NASA is focused on understanding the universe. Looking for anomalies in both 

air and space will likely lead to novel discoveries; some might reveal entirely new physics, while others will be interesting and important even if their explanations lie in conventional physics. In time-domain astrophysics, researchers 

are increasingly interested in identifying unusual, transient events. At radio wavelengths, this includes the recent 

discovery of fast radio bursts, which astronomers are still struggling to understand. Recently, most innovation has 

been accomplished by combining information from multiple observatories that operate at different electromagnetic 

wavelengths, from radio and optical telescopes on the ground to ultraviolet and gamma-ray telescopes in space, 

and even with different messengers: neutrinos and gravitational waves. Observatories with extensive sky coverage 

and dense time coverage are ideal for spotting near-Earth objects with large proper motions and phenomena 

with anomalous time evolution. For example, the NASA Planetary Defense Coordination program is dedicated to 

leveraging NASA and partner astrophysical research assets to identify and classify near-Earth objects—such as 

asteroids—that move rapidly across the sky.

In addition to its extensive Federal and international partnerships, NASA is also uniquely capable of leveraging 

public and private partnerships—for example, working with commercial partners in Earth-observing satellite data. 

These collaborations could result in new technologies that may be useful in observing and understanding UAP. 

Partners, including other Federal agencies such as NOAA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), may collect 

data that could help to understand UAP. Moreover, NASA has a strong record of international collaboration, which 

could be beneficial, as the study of these phenomena would benefit from global cooperation and data sharing. 

Given NASA’s experience with long-term scientific projects and missions, the Agency is well equipped to handle 

the extensive and ongoing study that UAP investigation likely requires.

Many scientists and aviators consider the study of UAP to be “fringe” at best. The panel heard a first-hand account 

of the type of stigma that may come from reporting UAP, which almost certainly leads to attrition in reporting. 

Recently, the DoD began encouraging military aviators to disclose anomalies they encountered, which resulted 

in a significant increase in UAP reports: Between March 5, 2021, and August 30, 2022, DoD received a total of 247 

new UAP reports, according to an analysis published by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) 

in 2022. In contrast, 263 reports had been filed in the 17 years prior to March 2021. Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick reported at 

this panel’s public meeting that AARO has now collected more than 800 reported events. This includes the addition 

of data from the FAA. AARO and ODNI assess that the observed increase in the reporting rate is partially due to a 
27

better understanding of the possible threats that UAP may represent—either as flight safety hazards or as potential 

adversary collection platforms. This is partially due to reduced stigma surrounding UAP reporting.

The negative stigma that impacts reporting rates in turn impacts the study of UAP. In testimony before the Senate 

Commerce, Science and Technology Committee on February 15, 2023, the Acting FAA Administrator was asked 

about the process for civilian reporting of balloons. The Administrator, who is also a pilot, indicated that the protocols 

and reporting of balloons may be spotty. Thus, even as such reports are being encouraged, there are still barriers 

to reporting observations. For example, how or where should someone make a report? Will the reporter be believed 

or shamed? Will any action be taken to understand the event?

NASA could play an important role in destigmatizing the UAP reporting process. NASA’s long-standing public trust, 

which is essential for communicating findings about these phenomena to the public, is also crucial for destigmatizing UAP reporting. The scientific processes used by NASA encourage critical thinking and skepticism; within this 

framework, there should be no credulous acceptance of unlikely reports with unlikely explanations. NASA can model 

for the public how to approach a topic, such as UAP, by applying transparent reporting and rigorous analyses.

Further, the NASA brand is trusted, global, and positive, representing science, curiosity, and technological achievement in the face of adversity. NASA serves as an example of professionalism and leadership in technological 

advancement. The NASA logo is enough to generate interest and credibility; studies of things that were previously 

fringe moved into the mainstream when NASA became involved. Prominent examples of NASA's involvement in 

public life include slogans like “NASA is with you when you fly,” which promote aviation safety. In turn, every U.S. 

commercial aircraft and every U.S. air traffic control tower has NASA-supported technology on board.

NASA’s public announcement of its UAP Independent Study Team membership was met with interest and spurred 

both positive and negative feedback. At least one scientist serving on the study team reported receiving negative 

(hate) mail from colleagues due to their membership. Others were ridiculed and criticized on social media. Study 

Team members also noted firsthand knowledge of colleagues who were warned to stay away from research in areas 

like extraterrestrial technosignatures, which could damage their scientific credibility and promotion potential. These 

experiences further confirm the negative stigma associated with studying unusual or unexplained phenomena. Such 

criticism, either by detractors or by proponents of the extraterrestrial hypothesis, are anathema to the scientific 

method, which NASA always has and will continue to promote in an objective and open-minded fashion.

As a Federal agency, NASA can make it safer for researchers to explore data within the civilian aerospace domain 

by starting that work within the Agency itself. NASA can look at how civil data is shared, study how reporting can 

be incentivized, and help to engage the community. For example, NASA can rally the civil space community through 

requests for information, by convening conferences, by offering grand challenges, and other activities.

Many Federal, state, local, private, and other domestic and international partners collect data and observations 

that could be relevant for understanding UAP. As an example, NASA’s potential to study the universe is enhanced 

through partnerships with other agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of 

Energy (DoE), which are currently building facilities such as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory that will generate data 

that may be useful for understanding UAP in space. NASA’s ability to study Earth is enhanced through partnerships 

with NSF, which supports Antarctic research. The Antarctic is a superb environment for collecting meteorites. With 

its low level of human activity, it is a low “clutter” environment for identifying anomalies. Such sparsely occupied 

airspaces may offer a low background environment for UAP searches; however, it is unclear as to whether or not 

constraining the search geographically would exclude their presence, or whether environmental phenomena could 

also be a significant, location-dependent source of noise.

The Federal partnership between AARO and NASA already provides a foundation for a collaborative examination 

of UAP events. In addition, NASA and AARO should engage other agencies, as appropriate and as needed. 
28

The circled numbers in the image provide the information needed to estimate the object’s 

altitude and velocity. This information includes (1) elevation angle of the camera (negative 

= downward), (2) azimuth angle of the camera, (3) target range in nautical miles, (4) the 

aircraft’s altitude in feet, (5) time reference in seconds, and (6) indicated air speed in knots. 

Using items 1, 3, and 4, plus a bit of trigonometry, we calculate that the object is at an 

altitude of 13,000 feet, and 4.2 miles from the ocean behind it (see middle panel). Given 

that the aircraft’s groundspeed is about 435 mph, we may conclude that the impression 

of rapid motion is at least partly due to the high velocity of the sensor, coupled with the 

parallax effect.

We can use other information from the display to place some limits on the true velocity of 

the object. This analysis is summarized in the right-hand panel, which depicts an overhead 

view of the encounter during a 22-second interval. The jet was banking left at about 15° 

during this time, which corresponds to an approximate turning radius of 16 kilometers. 

We know the range and bearing of the object at the start (t=0s) and end (t=22s) times. 

Using the calculated true air speed (TAS) and a bit more trigonometry, we find the object 

moved about 390 meters during this 22-second interval, which corresponds to an average 

speed of 40 mph. This is a typical wind speed at 13,000 feet.

Our calculation has neglected wind effects on the aircraft, and thus there is uncertainty in 

this result. But the analysis reveals that the object need not be moving at an extraordinary 

velocity. Note also that the object appears bright against a dark ocean for these display 

settings. This indicates that the object is colder than the ocean. There is thus no evidence 

of heat produced by a propulsion system. This further supports the conjecture that the object 

is most likely drifting with the wind. The availability of additional data would enable a more 

firm conclusion about the nature of this object.

Original GoFast video, released by the Department of Defense: 

https://www.navair.navy.mil/foia/documents

A well-known UAP event is the “GoFast” video, recorded by navy aviators from 

the USS Theodore Roosevelt. A still frame from this video is shown in the Figure 

below, where the infrared camera has locked onto a small object in the center. 

The video gives an impression of an object skimming above the ocean at a great 

velocity. But analysis of the numerical information on the display reveals a less 

extraordinary interpretation.
29

U.S. Federal agencies that could support the effort to understand UAP include the DoD, Department of State, 

the FAA, the Department of Commerce (DoC) and major agencies within DoC including NOAA, the National Institute 

of Standards and Technology, and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, plus the DoE and NSF.

Data on UAP

Status of Existing Data

NASA collects an enormous amount of data using highly-calibrated, validated equipment from a variety of environments and domains across the entire Earth. Could NASA bring this same approach of rigorous science to UAP?

Before we can apply the scientific method to understanding an unusual phenomenon, the relevant data must first 

meet standards for data-driven approaches. Many such standards have been codified over time, including the FAIR 

data principle—an acronym for Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability2. We followed these and 

other similar principles when reviewing the current status of data on UAP, and that analysis led to the findings and 

recommendations in this report.

UAP data are rarely, if ever, collected in a concerted effort to understand the phenomenon; they are usually 

coincidental observations. Often, observations of UAP are made using instruments or sensors that have not 

been designed or calibrated to detect anomalous objects, and to constrain their movement parameters. Metadata 

(meaning sensor type, manufacturer, noise characteristics, time of acquisition, instrument sensitivity, information 

about the data storage such as bit-depth, location of the sensor, conditions of the sensor such as temperature, 

exposure characteristics, and so on) are often absent, making calibration and a thorough understanding of context 

difficult. So, there is correspondingly limited information associated with many of the unresolved UAP reports—

even if several reports are accompanied by photographic or videographic evidence. 

As a result, existing observations are neither optimized for studying UAP nor are they suited for a systematic 

scientific analysis. 

In addition, much of the data collected by military sensors or intelligence satellites are classified—often because 

of what the imagery could reveal about U.S. technical capabilities to our adversaries, and not because of what 

is actually in the images. While essential for security, these classified observations enhance the sense of mystery 

and conspiracy surrounding UAP, and they present an obstacle to scientific inquiry.

For many events, the data and metadata did not enable a conclusive characterization of the size, motion, or nature 

of the UAP. Yet, where it did, such as in the “GoFast” UAP video, the apparent anomalous behavior of the UAP can 

often be explained by the motion of the sensor platform3.

In contrast, NASA observations are made using well-calibrated instruments that have been designed for their 

specific use cases. This is how NASA can scientifically approach the study of Earth- and space-based phenomena.

In science, data need to be reproducible, and hypotheses falsifiable—the scientific method works by systematically 

analyzing data with the intent to falsify a hypothesis.

As a general principle, the data should support measurement that can rule out specific explanations or interpretations, 

leaving us with no choice but to embrace its opposite. In the case of UAP, the hypothesis we seek to reject (or “null 

hypothesis”) is that the UAP have phenomenology consistent with known natural or technological causes. Eyewitness reports should be considered along with corroborating sensor data in the study of UAP as reports may 

reveal patterns (for example, clusters in time or location). Yet, without calibrated sensor data to accompany it, 

no report can provide conclusive evidence on the nature of UAP or enable a study into the details of what was 

witnessed. While witnesses may be inherently credible, reports are not repeatable by others, and they do not allow 

a complete investigation into possible cognitive biases and errors (such as accuracy in perception, or misperception 

caused by environmental factors, errors in the recording device, judgment or misjudgment of distance or speed, for 

2 https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201618 

3 Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick’s presentation to this committee, May 31, 2023
30

example). Therefore, the reports do not alone constitute data that can support a repeatable, reproducible analysis, 

and the hypothesis that what was witnessed was a manifestation of known natural or technological phenomena 

cannot be falsified.

Collecting New Data

The instrumental characteristics of the equipment that can potentially capture UAP data are important information 

that should be available for researchers studying the observations. This is essential for a data- driven study of UAP. 

These characteristics may include lab-measured (rather than field-reported) error rates of sensors that are routinely 

used by both civilian and military aircraft; modeling of optical “ghosting” in the images due to scattering of solar 

and lunar glints within the camera system; solar or bright star glints from oceans’ surfaces; and noise sources 

intrinsic to the sensors themselves.

Multisensor platforms are important for providing a complete picture of a UAP event. An object’s motion should be 

recorded, as well as its shape (imaging data), color (multispectra or hyperspectral data) and any sounds and other 

characteristics. Crowd-sourced observations that are standardized can also offer important metadata information 

that can be used to filter and classify events.

The panel sees an advantage to augmenting potential data collection efforts using modern crowd-sourcing 

techniques, including open-source smartphone-based apps. Using open-source software is consistent with NASA’s 

commitment to transparency. From multiple near-simultaneous observations with smartphones, imaging and sound 

data could be collated, and metadata used to triangulate an object’s location and estimate its velocity and size. 

Such a database could be developed through a partnership involving AARO, NASA, and commercial partners. The 

collected data would need to meet the standards described above, so platform developers would need to focus on 

constructing a data architecture that would support such collection. NASA can use its experience in citizen science 

projects to help minimize data noise, systematic errors, and cognitive biases related to human observed events 

(as opposed to sensors). 

Once an anomalous signal is identified, new discovery infrastructure may be needed to characterize it in full. Collecting

additional data on a rapidly evolving phenomenon of interest has become a common practice in astrophysics, 

but collection of what in astrophysics is referred to as “follow-up data” requires a high level of automation in the 

collection, reduction, (real time) analysis of the discovery data, and robotization of follow-up facilities. While NASA 

has historically paved the way for this mode of observing by developing and supporting the General Coordinates 

Network (GCN) that enables rapid coordination of observations from ground and space assets, consideration of 

developing such an infrastructure should follow after careful planning of the discovery data as outlined above as 

such a plan is significantly resource-intensive. If systematic studies of these events continue to reveal anomalies, 

then future studies may consider optimizing such a system of follow-up observations.

Data Curation and Integration

There is no standardized Federal system for making civilian UAP reports. While the DoD is establishing a systematic 

mechanism for military UAP reports, current FAA guidelines instruct persons wanting to report UAP to contact local 

law enforcement or a non-governmental organization such as the National UFO Reporting Center4. This results in 

inhomogeneously collected, processed, and curated data. 

Integrating NASA’s open, civilian dataset with DoD’s more focused, restricted information would take some effort. 

Additionally, data integration opportunities exist with NOAA. Assets such as the NEXRAD Doppler radar network 

(160 weather radars jointly operated by the FAA, U.S. Air Force, and National Weather Service) or the Geostationary 

Operational Environmental Satellites may be very useful for distinguishing interesting objects from airborne (windborne) clutter. 

4 https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/atc_html/chap9_section_8.html
31

5 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0094576522000480

Commercial remote sensing systems could be another source of high-quality UAP-relevant data, as high-resolution, 

high-cadence imagery captured by dense satellite constellations could resolve UAP events. For instance, commercial 

constellations provide daily (or more frequent) cadence imagery, at sub- to several- meter spatial resolution. However, 

integrating anomalous events across platforms, including radar data and commercial downward looking satellites, 

is an expensive exercise. 

In addition to integration, data curation is also an important part of the scientific approach. Currently, studying even 

a single UAP event requires a heavy lift in retrieving data (and metadata, when available), which at the moment 

is entirely manual. It cannot be automated due to the poor organization and curation of the data. Organized data 

repositories are needed to facilitate automation in retrieving UAP data—and therefore, to facilitate the systematic, 

scientific approach to studying UAP. NASA’s extensive experience in data calibration, cleaning, curation, management, and distribution, and its practice of making all of its data accessible to the public, could be leveraged to set 

up curated data repositories for the study of UAP. These repositories could include data from NASA assets that are 

suitable for the study of UAP, as well as crowd-sourced data from NASA-related platforms. 

Curated public repositories of UAP data would facilitate data mining (or knowledge discovery from data) by scientists 

and citizen scientists. Several platforms built for analyzing scientific data have led to historical scientific discoveries. 

For example, the Galaxy Zoo, a platform that collects astrophysical data and enables citizen-scientist projects, led 

to the discovery of Boyajian’s Star—a star with unique and peculiar fluctuations in brightness that at one point was 

considered a potential signature of alien technology. Years later, the star’s behavior was understood to be the work 

of a disk of disrupted comets. 

A strategy that encourages citizen analysis of UAP data would bring an element of transparency to the field that 

could help combat biases, preconceived skepticism, and mistrust of authorities. Opening the analysis to a large 

audience would also improve robustness: Multiple competing but independent teams, working on solving science’s 

biggest questions, provide an additional layer of verification. As an example, the unexpected finding that the 

universe is expanding at an accelerating rate (because of the mysterious force that we now call “dark energy”) 

is a good example of how that might work. In the 1990s, two independent teams simultaneously found evidence 

for the accelerating cosmos using data that had been collected and analyzed independently.

Analyzing UAP Data

When searching for a signal in data, scientists often have to separate and extract it from a complex background of 

signals produced by unrelated phenomena—commonly referred to as simply “background,” noise, or clutter. Therefore, 

when looking for rare and unusual events, a common strategy is to search where there is little background noise. For 

example, neutrino experiments are often conducted underground (e.g. the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, 

IceCUBE in Antarctica); most particles cannot reach those depths because they are absorbed by the Earth. Meteorite 

hunters are often most successful in Antarctica—any rock found on top of a glacier is an interesting object. 

In contrast, the airspace near military sites is a challenging place to search for UAP: human aircrafts, drones, 

balloons, and other objects, are all significant sources of background. 

Geographically, sparsely occupied airspaces—such above the South Pole—may offer a low background environment 

for UAP searches. But UAP are poorly understood, and it’s not clear whether limiting the search geographically 

would exclude their presence, or whether environmental phenomena could also be a significant, location-dependent

source of noise. Another background-limiting strategy would be to examine astronomical plates for satellites prior 

to 1959, when Sputnik, the first artificial satellite of Earth5 launched. (Although, if something unusual were to be found 

in historical astronomical plates, it would be difficult to verify its nature with additional data, as historical records may 

be incomplete, lost, intractable, not reproducible, and at best laborious to cross-reference.)
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Fortunately, modern analytical techniques have improved our ability to find extremely rare signals within a sea of clutter, 

whether that is one Higgs event in 1010 collisions with the Large Hadron Collider, or a small number of photons from an 

exoplanet hiding in a billion stellar background photons. If the background cannot be minimized, it has to be characterized in detail and completely; detailed knowledge of the signatures (morphological, spectroscopic, kinematic) of all 

known airborne events need to be incorporated to eliminate spurious detections of known phenomena. This requires 

an extensive study of known events with accurately calibrated instruments. 

There are numerous balloons and drones in the air at any moment. Observers may report some of these conventional objects as anomalies. The DoD already has the responsibility of alert response to unexplained aircraft in U.S. 

airspace. NASA could be a partner in the search for aerospatial events by enabling cross-identification with anomalies in the Earth-space environment. Since NASA data are already public and offered to the world in well-curated 

repositories accessible programmatically, the Agency’s portfolio is set up to enable cross-referencing with NASA 

data and contribute to this characterization.

A database that supports the characterization of background signals should include information about the launch 

rate of balloons (weather, scientific, commercial, hobbyist, and military—where allowed by national security 

considerations); number of aircraft in the sky across the United States and the globe; daily drone launch rate 

within U.S. airspace; as well as characteristics of the appearance and motion capabilities of these items. 

There are two approaches to detecting anomalies in large datasets. If you are looking for a needle in a haystack, 

one approach is to have a detailed model of the properties of needles and look for anything that looks like a needle. 

The other approach is to have an accurate model of the properties of hay and look for anything that looks different 

from hay.

In the first approach, if one knows the signal to expect, a model (or simulations) can be developed to look for that 

signal in large datasets. While we may be able to anticipate the sorts of signals produced by physical systems that 

adhere to known laws of physics, we cannot comprehensively envision all possible signals that could explain UAP, 

or that come from new technology or new physics (were it adversarial, extraterrestrial, or a naturally occurring but 

as-of-yet unknown phenomena). 

The alternative approach to detecting anomalies requires a deep and thorough knowledge of what is normal and 

known, which can subsequently be separated from what is anomalous and unknown. 

Machine learning has emerged as a powerful tool for the search for rare events, such as the creation of a Higgs Boson 

at an accelerator, the detection of rare cancer types, or the detection of fraudulent credit card charges to intrusions in 

cyber infrastructure. Machine learning and AI can play a role in the study of UAP, but not until the data both meet the 

standards described above and enable an extensive characterization of known and anomalous signals. 

A recommendation about which methodologies specifically should be applied to this problem cannot be given at this 

time, as that selection depends on the nature of the data to be analyzed. Thus this question should be asked after 

(or ideally together with) the questions pertaining to UAP observing platforms and curated repositories for UAP data. 

Once the nature of the data is established, selecting algorithms for their analysis can be completed.

However, in the broad and lively domain of anomaly detection it is likely that methodologies for studying UAP 

already exist or can be adapted from analytical methods developed in other fields. Developing entirely new methodologies will likely be unnecessary and even a waste of resources, though adapting existing methods will still require 

some amount of dedicated effort. NASA could leverage its name, broad reach, and popularity to encourage and 

support an extensive review of existing methods for anomaly detection in the context of multidisciplinary conferences, workshops, and data challenges with mock datasets.
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6 Community Report From the Biosignatures Standards of Evidence Workshop - https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.14293

7 National Academies Independent Review of the Community Report from the Biosignature Standards of Evidence Workshop: Report Series Committee on Astrobiology 

and Planetary Sciences (2022) - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26621/independent-review-of-the-community-report-from-the-biosignature-standards-ofevidence-workshop

Observations Beyond Earth’s Atmosphere

Even if all of the UAP events have conventional origins, the search for signs of life beyond Earth is a compelling scientific 

quest. For many years, researchers in astrobiology and SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, have focused 

on developing the techniques and methods needed to spot life’s signatures in the cosmos. To do that, they must first 

identify an anomalous signature—perhaps something suggestive of life—and then determine if that signature has an 

explanation based on known phenomena or if it reveals previously undetected biological or even technological activity. 

These NASA-supported scientific communities have relevant experience in first determining and then communicating 

whether observations that might at first appear extraordinary actually justify making extraordinary claims6,7. 

Many of NASA’s science missions are, at least in part, focused on answering the question of whether life exists beyond 

Earth. Those investigations include missions looking for biosignatures, perhaps on Mars or the icy moons orbiting 

Jupiter and Saturn—as well as farther afield, in the ratios of molecules present in exoplanet atmospheres. 

Searching for signs of alien technology is a natural extension of those investigations. In 2017, Jill Tarter, one of the 

pioneers in the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence, coined the term “technosignatures” to capture the 

breadth of technologies that might be detectable. Today, we consider technosignatures to be the fingerprints of an 

advanced civilization in the same way that we consider metabolic byproducts, or ratios of atmospheric gases, to be 

the fingerprints of biology. 

NASA funded short-lived searches for radio technosignatures decades ago. More recently, the agency funded a study 

of potential atmospheric technosignatures on exoplanets; it also supported a survey for the waste heat generated by 

Dyson spheres in existing infrared data. Such surveys provide useful astrophysical data even in the absence of a 

technosignature discovery. In addition, solar system exploration offers multiple possibilities for technosignature 

searches at modest additional costs. These studies could provide scientifically useful results whether or not they 

identify technosignatures.

NASA is the lead agency for solar system exploration. It already has an active program of detecting objects in our solar 

neighborhood using both ground-based and space-based facilities, and it could leverage those capabilities to search 

for objects in space with anomalous motion or trajectories. For example, we are capable of launching spacecraft that 

can escape Earth’s orbit—and even escape the Sun’s gravity. A more advanced civilization could be capable of building crafts that can travel much faster than the 45 km/s escape velocity from Earth’s orbit, or even the 600 km/s escape 

velocity from our Galaxy. Interstellar travel would likely require such speeds and may entail travel at relativistic velocities. Searching for high velocity objects moving through our solar system is an example of a high risk of failure/high 

value of return study. In addition to looking for anomalous velocities in new or existing datasets, search programs 

could target objects with unusual light curves, acceleration, spectral signatures, or other relevant anomalies. 

Currently planned or existing NASA missions can widen their scope to include searching for extraterrestrial technosignatures in planetary atmospheres, on planetary surfaces, or in near-Earth space. These searches generally wouldn’t 

require changes in hardware or data acquisition, but may simply require new directions in data analysis. For example, 

high sensitivity studies of the stable Earth-Moon Lagrange points might conceivably find technosignatures but would 

likely have a high scientific payoff, such as possibly finding remnants of the collision that formed our Moon. 

At this point there is no reason to conclude that existing UAP reports have an extraterrestrial source. However, if we 

acknowledge that as one possibility, then those objects must have traveled through our solar system to get here. 

Just as the galaxy does not stop at the outskirts of the solar system, the solar system also includes Earth and its 

environs. Thus, there is an intellectual continuum between extrasolar technosignatures, solar system SETI, and 

potential unknown alien technology operating in Earth’s atmosphere. If we recognize the plausibility of any 

of these, then we should recognize that all are at least plausible.