Nasa is to launch a landmark study into unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs.
The research comes after years of speculation about events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena.
In its announcement, the space agency stressed that there is “no evidence UAPs are extra-terrestrial in origin”.
But it said it was important to find out what they were in part because Nasa is required to ensure the safety of spacecraft.
The study will look at identifying available data, the best ways of collecting data, and how this will be used to move the understanding of unidentified flying objects forward.
It is expected to take nine months to complete, in collaboration with experts in the scientific, aeronautics, and data analytics fields. When it is completed, it will be shared publically.
“Nasa believes that the tools of scientific discovery are powerful and apply here also,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, the associate administrator for science at Nasa.
“We have access to a broad range of observations of Earth from space – and that is the lifeblood of scientific inquiry. We have the tools and team who can help us improve our understanding of the unknown. That’s the very definition of what science is. That’s what we do.”
The United States’ interest in unidentified aerial phenomena has grown significantly recently – although has not shed more light on the origins of mysterious lights in the sky.
The first congressional hearing on UFOs in decades, which took place last month, offered little new or conclusive information. Intelligence officials told lawmakers they still weren’t sure what the unidentified objects seen by military pilots actually are.
“We want to know what’s out there as much as you want to know what’s out there,” US Undersecretary of Defence for Intelligence and Security Ronald Moultrie, who oversees a new Pentagon program investigating UFOs, told lawmakers.
“We get the questions not just from you; we get them from family members and we get them night and day, not just in committee hearings. So finding what’s out there is important.”
