{"id":165309,"date":"2024-10-31T10:42:25","date_gmt":"2024-10-31T10:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/31\/why-are-scientists-suddenly-interested-in-ufos\/"},"modified":"2024-10-31T10:42:25","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T10:42:25","slug":"why-are-scientists-suddenly-interested-in-ufos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/31\/why-are-scientists-suddenly-interested-in-ufos\/","title":{"rendered":"Why are scientists suddenly interested in UFOs?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1878\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_marcel_roswell_debris.jpg?fit=1440,1878&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Why are scientists suddenly interested in UFOs?\" title=\"Why are scientists suddenly interested in UFOs?\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-component=\"video-embed\">\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text alignright\"\/>\n<p>In 2015, U.S. Navy pilots were flying training missions off the U.S. East Coast when they spied something highly unusual. An oval-shaped object appeared to skim across the top of the water. It moved at incredibly high speed and seemed to be rotating as it flew. Soon, the pilots realized there seemed to be many of them and started commenting to each other about what they were seeing.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cThere\u2019s a whole fleet of them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cMy gosh.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cLook at that thing, dude!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWow. What is that, man? Look at it flying!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Pilots had seen similar objects almost daily for months. These didn\u2019t look like typical aircraft. They had no visible engines. They didn\u2019t seem to give off exhaust. And they didn\u2019t just skim the sea. Some appeared 30,000 feet (more than 9 kilometers) in the air and moved at supersonic speeds.<\/p>\n<p>Hardly quacks or UFO fanatics, these were highly trained pilots. And they weren\u2019t newbies, either. One who reported the sightings was Lt. Ryan Graves, an F\/A-18 Super Hornet pilot. He had been in the Navy for 10 years. He and the others knew what normal aircraft looked like. They also knew how to keep their cool under pressure.<\/p>\n<p>The public only became aware of their sightings four years later. That\u2019s when <em>The New York Times<\/em> published an article about them. The online article included leaked video recorded by cameras on the Navy planes. In April 2020, the U.S. Navy confirmed those videos were real \u2014 and then officially released them.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"GnJKEd470-8\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pentagon releases videos showing &#039;unidentified aerial phenomena&#039;\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GnJKEd470-8?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In 2020, an international service shared these videos captured in 2015 by U.S. Navy pilots watching a UAP. The military only formally released the video in April of 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In recent years, these and other very credible sources have reported seeing UFOs \u2014 unidentified flying objects. Now they\u2019re called Unexplained Aerial Phenomena, or UAP. But whatever you call them, the U.S. government has lately begun taking these mystery objects seriously. Very seriously. And it\u2019s recruited a lot of scientists to investigate what\u2019s behind them (albeit quietly).<\/p>\n<p>We still don\u2019t know what the pilots and others have seen. But here\u2019s what\u2019s motivated the new and growing scientific interest in them.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The summer of UFOs<\/h2>\n<p>Military pilots reporting UFOs may be new. The public, however, has reported UFO sightings for decades. It began in the summer of 1947.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image  has-alignleft\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3145576\">In July 1947, Major Jesse Marcel inspects the debris recently found on Mac Brazel\u2019s ranch.  <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3145576\">Roswell Daily Record\u2019s Roswell Incident<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>On June 14 of that year, Mac Brazel\u00a0found some strange debris on his ranch. The ranch sits on the outskirts of Roswell, N.M. He thought the material might be a kite. However, he couldn\u2019t reassemble the bits of rubber, tinfoil, paper and wood strips into anything that looked like a kite.<\/p>\n<p>Brazel told the local sheriff what he\u2019d found. The ranch was near Roswell Army Air Field (RAAF), a military base. So the sheriff reported this to the Army.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Officers from RAAF went to the ranch for a look. They couldn\u2019t identify the wreckage, either. The next day, the Army base issued a press release saying that the military had found remnants of a flying saucer.<\/p>\n<p>The local newspaper even ran the headline: \u201cRAAF Captures Flying Saucer on Ranch in Roswell.\u201d A few days later, the Army changed its story. They said the debris came from a weather balloon. But it was too late to dampen the excitement about flying saucers. UFO fever had gripped the nation.<\/p>\n<p>And since then, it\u2019s never let go.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"910\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord.png\" alt=\"an image showing the front page of a newspaper from 1947, the Roswell Daily Record. In the top right half the headline 'RAAF Captures Flying Saucer On Ranch in Roswell Region'\" class=\"wp-image-3145575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord.png 910w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord-545x383.png 545w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord-640x450.png 640w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord-264x186.png 264w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord-768x540.png 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/910_UFO_mysteries_1947_RoswellDailyRecord-825x580.png 825w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 910px) 100vw, 910px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3145575\">Here\u2019s how one local newspaper reported the Army\u2019s report on analysis of debris found at the Brazel farm in 1947.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3145575\">Roswell Daily Record\u2019s Roswell IncidentHere\u2019s how one local newspaper reported the Army\u2019s report on analysis of debris found at the Brazel farm in 1947.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The government comes clean<\/h2>\n<p>UFOs are real. There\u2019s no question about that.<\/p>\n<p>The term simply means the witnessed object is unknown and moving through the air. If you see something in the sky that you can\u2019t identify, then by definition it\u2019s a UFO. But when people ask if UFOs are real, what they usually mean is: \u201cAre we being visited by aliens?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And science certainly has no answers yet for that.<\/p>\n<p>After Roswell, people started reporting <em>lots<\/em> of UFOs. Some witnesses made wild claims they couldn\u2019t back up. Someone might say they\u2019d encountered an alien. Some even claimed to have been abducted by aliens. But there was never any physical evidence to support such statements.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image  has-alignleft\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"968\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic.png\" alt=\"a page from a black and white comic strip, with the headline 'SAUCERS OVER WASHINGTON, D.C.'\" class=\"wp-image-3145582\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic.png 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic-269x383.png 269w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic-316x450.png 316w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic-131x186.png 131w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic-407x580.png 407w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/680_UFO_mysteries_UFO_comic-545x776.png 545w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3145582\">This comic strip from the 1950s shows how much UFOs influenced popular culture.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3145582\">NAID: <a href=\"https:\/\/catalog.archives.gov\/id\/595553\" rel=\"noopener\">595553<\/a>\/U.S. National Archives<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Soon conspiracy theories started circulating. People said they\u2019d heard an alien spaceship had crashed in Roswell. They shared rumors that the government had stashed away bodies of aliens who\u2019d died in the crash. Those bodies were allegedly kept in a secret installation in Nevada known as Area 51.<\/p>\n<p>These stories were ridiculous. But still they spread.<\/p>\n<p>The government didn\u2019t help much. It had secrets of its own that had nothing to do with aliens. Eventually, the government admitted it had been hiding something \u2014 it just wasn\u2019t little green men. A 1995 Air Force report tried to put the hidden-aliens story to rest. It said the debris that landed on the Brazel ranch had not been a weather balloon after all.<\/p>\n<p>It was part of <a href=\"https:\/\/muller.lbl.gov\/teaching\/physics10\/Roswell\/USMogulReport.html\" rel=\"noopener\">Project Mogul<\/a> \u2014 a secret program to develop balloons that could identify and track Soviet missile launches. (Remember, this happened in 1947, during the Cold War. At that time, the United States and the Soviet Union were stockpiling nuclear weapons in case of another world war.)<\/p>\n<p>The Air Force also explained away the alien \u201cbodies\u201d that people thought they had seen. These were crash-test dummies used to test ejection seats in experimental aircraft.<\/p>\n<p>Coming clean about Roswell didn\u2019t end the conspiracy theories, however. Wild tales continued. And for years the government didn\u2019t say much more about UFOs.<\/p>\n<p>But when the story about the 2015 Navy pilot sightings broke, the government began to talk more openly about UFOs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group cheat-sheet-cta\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\">Do you have a science question? We can help!<\/h2>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/forms.gle\/YbhPosFTMqjbSNnV7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Submit your question here<\/a>, and we might answer it an upcoming issue of\u00a0<em>Science News Explores<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Congressional hearings and government reports<\/h2>\n<p>In 2021, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dni.gov\/files\/ODNI\/documents\/assessments\/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">the government released a brief report<\/a>. It had turned up no evidence of aliens. It did admit, however, that many UAP sightings have been recorded since 2004. And they remain unexplained.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean these were craft built or piloted by aliens, of course. There are probably several explanations, the report said. Some might be birds. Others might be trash, such as escaped party balloons. Some could be secret military projects. And some might be new technology developed by other countries.<\/p>\n<p>That last one is what concerned many members of Congress and the military.<\/p>\n<p>The next spring, in May 2022, Congress held a public hearing on UFOs. High-ranking officials from the military testified. They said 400 more unexplained sightings had been reported <em>since<\/em> the 2021 report. Still, nothing pointed to aliens.<\/p>\n<section class=\"newsletter-signup__wrapper___lZ0W1 wp-block-house-ads wp-block-newsletter-signup\">\n<picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@1x.png 1x,&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module@2x.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 768px)\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@1x.png 1x,&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png 2x\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"newsletter-signup__background___Eym8W\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/themes\/sciencenews-sns-child\/client\/src\/images\/cta-module-sm@2x.png\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n<\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__container___srNOL\" data-component=\"newsletter-signup\">\n<h3 class=\"newsletter-signup__heading___0EHmb\">\n\t\t\tEducators and Parents, Sign Up for The Cheat Sheet\t\t<\/h3>\n<div class=\"newsletter-signup__message___pemaq\">\n<p>Weekly updates to help you use <em>Science News Explores<\/em> in the learning environment<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup__thankyou___K6GGN\">Thank you for signing up!<\/p>\n<p class=\"newsletter-signup__error___hCsJI\">There was a problem signing you up.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>Scott Bray testified at the hearing. Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence at the time, he explained why the government wasn\u2019t saying much about these sightings: \u201cWe do not want potential [military enemies] to know exactly what we are able to see.\u201d (Bray now works in intelligence for NATO, an international military alliance.)<\/p>\n<p>Then, in July 2022, the Pentagon created AARO. That stands for All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. Its job is to investigate UFOs. Again, the government doesn\u2019t call them that anymore. Their term is UAP. In fact, that name change was an attempt to remove some of the stigma associated with the study of UFOs.<\/p>\n<p>The military now wants to know if these objects are a threat. Science will settle for a simpler answer: What are they?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat.jpg\" alt=\"Telescope and night sky\" class=\"wp-image-3086775\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat-680x383.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat-330x186.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/040720_mt_seti_feat-1028x579.jpg 1028w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3086775\">Astronomers are enlisting new technologies in the quest to answer one of the most intriguing research questions of all: Are we alone in the universe?<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3086775\">zhengzaishuru\/iStock\/Getty Images Plus<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Scientists step up<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s reason to think we probably aren\u2019t alone in the universe. Earth is 4.5 billion years old. The earliest life on Earth is 3.5 billion or maybe 4 billion years old, explains Seth Shostak. This astrophysicist is senior astronomer at the SETI Institute. That\u2019s in Mountain View, Calif. (SETI stands for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/life-beyond-earth\">Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Life on Earth emerged fairly quickly. This suggests, Shostak says, that it wasn\u2019t hard for life to begin. And if it quickly started on Earth, life probably could have started in many other places throughout the cosmos, too.<\/p>\n<p>And there are plenty of other places.<\/p>\n<p>There are a trillion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/lets-learn-about-exoplanets\">planets<\/a> in the Milky Way alone. And that\u2019s just our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-galaxy\">galaxy<\/a>. There may be more than a trillion habitable planets in the universe, Shostak says. \u201cSo yeah,\u201d he adds, \u201cthere\u2019s plenty of opportunity for life.\u201d But that still doesn\u2019t mean that aliens have been visiting Earth.<\/p>\n<p>Julia DeMarines\u00a0is an astrobiologist. She studies how life might evolve on other planets. DeMarines works at the University of California, Berkeley and is a former SETI observer. SETI researchers look for signs of life elsewhere in the universe. They don\u2019t study UFOs. Few scientists do.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p><div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"_LbwILE2bDk\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"National Geographic Capstone Video - Julia DeMarines\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_LbwILE2bDk?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Astrobiologist Julia DeMarines describes her favorite research \u2014 the search for life beyond Earth \u2014 and how she tries to identify signatures of possible extraterrestrials.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Until recently, DeMarines says, most scientists described the study of UFOs as pseudoscience. No surprise, then, that scientists who <em>are<\/em> interested in UAP have seldom talked about it. They didn\u2019t want other scientists to think they\u2019re kooks.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s changing.<\/p>\n<p>In June 2022, NASA assembled a team of scientific experts. Their mission: Figure out how NASA can help study UAP.<\/p>\n<p>As Bill Nelson, the space agency\u2019s administrator, put it: \u201cNASA searches for the unknown in air and space. It\u2019s in our DNA.\u201d One of the goals of the new team, he said at a news event, would be to \u201cshift the conversation about UAP from sensationalism to science.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The team made some specific recommendations. For instance, it said NASA should use its enormous body of space data for this study of UAP. And it should work with other government agencies to investigate reported sightings. The team also emphasized that all UAP studies must stay focused on evidence and data.<\/p>\n<p>Avi Loeb agreed. And he wanted to help. Loeb is an astrophysicist at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. \u201cTo study those things,\u201d he argues, \u201cis the duty of scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1080\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of Avi Loeb, a smiling older man standing on a boat, holding two small bits of space debris in his hands\" class=\"wp-image-3145581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-511x383.jpg 511w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-248x186.jpg 248w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-773x580.jpg 773w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-1035x776.jpg 1035w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-263x197.jpg 263w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Avi_Loeb-560x420.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3145581\">Avi Loeb of Harvard holds a few of bits of debris from a space object of unknown origin and type: a UFO. Some melted bits have a very unusual composition. They appear to be materials never before seen in our solar system.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3145581\">Galileo Project, led by Professor Avi Loeb (Harvard)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In 2021, Loeb started <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.iq.harvard.edu\/galileo\/home\" rel=\"noopener\">the Galileo Project<\/a> to scientifically investigate UAP. It doesn\u2019t collect stories about UAP. It doesn\u2019t rely on accidental sightings. Instead, it scans the skies with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-telescope\">telescopes<\/a> in an observatory at Harvard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe basically take a movie of the sky,\u201d explains Loeb. Then <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-artificial-intelligence-definition-pronunciation\">artificial intelligence<\/a> helps analyze the data. Two more observatories are in the works. Loeb hopes to have 10 eventually. More than 100 scientists are already involved.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignfull are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-1 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1030\" height=\"771\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of several scientists carefully examing a magnetic sled\" class=\"wp-image-3145579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled.jpg 1030w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-512x383.jpg 512w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-601x450.jpg 601w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-248x186.jpg 248w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-768x575.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-775x580.jpg 775w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-263x197.jpg 263w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1030_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_sled-560x420.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1030px) 100vw, 1030px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3145579\">The Galileo Project used a magnetic sled to recover from the seafloor remnants of debris from a mystery object that fell into the ocean near Papua New Guinea in 2014. They\u2019re viewing some of the bits here. U.S. Space Command confirmed the object came from outside Earth\u2019s solar system.<\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3145579\">Galileo Project, led by Professor Avi Loeb (Harvard)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"a photo of a laptop screen showing bronze metal spheres\" class=\"wp-image-3145580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-600x450.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-511x383.jpg 511w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-248x186.jpg 248w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-773x580.jpg 773w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-1035x776.jpg 1035w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-263x197.jpg 263w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres-560x420.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_Galileo_Project_spheres.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"caption wp-caption-3145580\">Computer display of spheres retrieved by the Galileo Project from a mystery space object that fell into the Pacific. The bits do not appear to be from our solar system. Scientists still do not know what they are or where they\u2019re from. As such, they\u2019re remnants of a UFO. <\/span><span class=\"credit wp-credit-3145580\">Galileo Project, led by Professor Avi Loeb (Harvard)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>This is different from what AARO is doing, says Loeb. \u201cTheir job is to protect national security. I\u2019m trying to figure out the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loeb and his team are not the only ones. NASA\u2019s involvement changed things, says Greg Eghigian. He\u2019s a historian at Penn State University in University Park. He wrote a book titled <em>After the Flying Saucers Came: A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon<\/em>. NASA\u2019s involvement was a signal to scientists that talking openly about UAP is OK, Eghigian says. It allowed scientists to discuss ideas that had been taboo.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More mysteries<\/h2>\n<p>Now that science is on the job, what can we expect to learn about UAP and maybe even alien life? One possibility is that science may be able to explain the previously unexplained.<\/p>\n<p>DeMarines says UAP could be due to some unusual weather conditions. For example, spacecraft launched from Earth around sunset can create weird effects. When the sun is setting, she explains, gases expelled by the spacecraft will reflect only that light reaching the upper atmosphere. What\u2019s more, she adds, \u201cThey stay reflective for a long time. So it looks unexplainable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Or UAP could be an effect caused by light bouncing off communications satellites, Loeb says. And, of course, it could be technology not from another planet, but from another country on this one.<\/p>\n<p>But what about aliens? Could UAP really be alien spaceships?<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/lets-learn-about-the-hunt-for-alien-life\">Let\u2019s learn about the hunt for alien life<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Garrett Graff is a historian and author. He wrote the 2024 book <em>UFO: The Inside Story of the US Government\u2019s Search for Alien Life Here \u2014 and Out There<\/em>. While doing research for it, he noticed something people often get wrong when they think about aliens and UAP. \u201cWe expect first contact with alien life to be like it is in movies, like <em>Independence Day<\/em> or <em>Contact<\/em>,\u201d he says. But in real life, he notes, it might not be that obvious.<\/p>\n<p>Our first encounter with aliens, Graff says, might not be meeting them. It might be finding remnants of their tech.<\/p>\n<p>For example, we might find a piece of space trash that doesn\u2019t come from our world. Graff compares this to spotting an empty plastic bag blowing through our cosmic backyard. We look at it and think: \u201cThat\u2019s not from <em>our<\/em> Walmart.\u201d We\u2019ll know it didn\u2019t originate on Earth, but we won\u2019t know where it did come from.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/will-we-know-alien-life-when-we-see-it\">Will we know alien life when we see it?<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>One reason we may not see the aliens themselves is that they may no longer exist. In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake came up with a way to estimate how many alien societies could be broadcasting signals. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/cool-jobs-reaching-out-et-numbers-game\">It\u2019s called the Drake Equation<\/a>. It accounts for several factors. These include the rate at which stars form and the number of planets with an environment that might support life \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-goldilocks-zone\">the \u201cGoldilocks zone<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the last factor in Drake\u2019s equation is very interesting, says DeMarines. It\u2019s represented by the letter \u201cL.\u201d That stands for the length of time technological civilizations produce signs of their existence. These could be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/scientists-say-radio-waves-definition-pronunciation\">radio waves<\/a>, pollution from industry or even city lights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>DeMarines points out that our civilization has been technologically advanced for little more than 100 years. And that\u2019s in a universe <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/what-happened-since-big-bang-physics-universe-cosmic-timeline\">that\u2019s almost 14 billion years old<\/a>. Her point is that the timing might not overlap. There may have been many other civilizations like ours. And there may be many more to come. But the chances that ours and theirs occur at the same time aren\u2019t terribly good, she says.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"wp-block-sciencenews-inline-related-post alignleft\">\n<h4><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/cool-jobs-reaching-out-et-numbers-game\">Cool Jobs: Reaching out to E.T. is a numbers game<\/a><\/h4>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Shostak, however, thinks it won\u2019t be long until we find alien life, or at least evidence that it\u2019s out there somewhere. \u201cThere have been 10,000 generations of <em>Homo sapiens<\/em>,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd the people reading this article are probably members of the first one in which we learn that there\u2019s life in outer space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So what about UAP? Is there evidence that alien life is visiting Earth? Science is on the case.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"sn-conversion rich-text\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/article\/why-scientists-now-studying-ufos\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2015, U.S. Navy pilots were flying training missions off the U.S. East Coast when they spied something highly unusual. An oval-shaped object appeared to skim across the top of the water. It moved at incredibly high speed and seemed to be rotating as it flew. Soon, the pilots realized there seemed to be many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165310,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.snexplores.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/1440_UFO_mysteries_marcel_roswell_debris.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[606],"tags":[5803,601,39544,90552],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165309"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165311,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165309\/revisions\/165311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}