NASA's 'UFO panel' to explain mysterious sightings for first time ever

A NASA panel investigating the "unidentified aerial phenomena" will soon hold its first public meeting on Wednesday, May 23. A report on such reported phenomena related to Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) is expected to be presented in the coming weeks.

NASA's 'UFO panel': Who are they?

It is a 16-member body consisting of experts from fields such as physics and astrobiology. It was formed in June 2022 to examine the unclassified UFO sightings and related data collected from the US federal government and commercial sectors.

The focus of Wednesday's four-hour public session "is to hold final deliberations before the agency's independent study team publishes a report this summer," NASA said whileannouncing the meeting.

NASA report on UFO sightings: What does it mean?

This is the first inquiry of its kind ever conducted by the US space agency on the subject that has stoked widespread curiosity worldwide.

The NASA study is separate from a newly formalised Pentagon-based investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, documented in recent years by members of the US military.

These efforts reflect a turning point for the government after decades of dodging the sightings ofunidentified flying objects, or UFOs, dating back to the 1940s.

The term UFOs, long associated with notions of flying saucers and aliens, has been replaced in the US government'spurview by the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP).

ALSO WATCH |NASA forms team to study unexplained UFO sightings

"There is no evidence UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin," NASA had said while announcing the panel's formation in June 2022.

But while announcing Wednesday's meeting, NASA said that it defines theUAPs "as observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective."

Meanwhile, Reuters reported the head of the Pentagon's newly formed All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) as saying thatthe existence of intelligent alien life has not been ruled out.

(With inputs from agencies)

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