By Marcia Dunn
NASA held its first public meeting on UFOs Wednesday a year after launching a study into unexplained sightings.
The space agency televised the hourslong hearing featuring an independent panel of experts. The team includes 16 scientists and other experts selected by NASA including retired astronaut Scott Kelly, the first American to spend nearly a year in space.
Several committee members have been subjected to “online abuse” for serving on the team, which detracts from the scientific process, said NASA's Dan Evans, adding that NASA security is dealing with it.
“It’s precisely this rigorous, evidence-based approach that allows one to separate the fact from fiction," Evans said.
The study is a first step in trying to explain mysterious sightings in the sky that NASA calls UAPs, or unidentified aerial phenomena.
The group is looking at what unclassified information is available on the subject and how much more is needed to understand what's going on in the sky, according to astrophysicist David Spergel, the committee's chair who runs the Simons Foundation.
No secret military data are included, such as anything surrounding the suspected spy balloons from China spotted flying over the U.S. earlier this year.
The meeting was held at at NASA headquarters in Washington with the public taking part remotely.
A final report is expected by the end of July.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Will Goodman, Managing Editor at Rockets Are Cool, says that's an aspirational goal and doesn't think it's going to happen.
When a sibling was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, Doctor Onikepe Adegbola was surprised by how difficult it was to eat following an IBS diet. That is why the doctor has launched Casa de Sante, a "FODMAP" approved food brand.
At this point, most of us feel we couldn't live without our smartphones. And this dependence is enabled by addictive apps and feedback mechanisms called intermittent variable rewards.
Hundreds of people took to Twitter over the weekend to post pictures of what looked like a UFO over California. Unfortunately for alien enthusiasts, the object in question was just one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets.
Pop Science Associate Editor Mary Beth Griggs explains the mysterious plume that accompanied SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch last week.
Tara Bosch was 22-years-old when she decided she was tired of sugar-filled snacks and candy and wanted to do something about it. The entrepreneur is now 23 and the founder of SmartSweets, a gummy bear candy that is healthier than any alternative on the market.
This Changes Things: Advice for the executives and leaders of tomorrow, powered by American Express OPEN. On Between Bells: The year ahead in politics, the best cars of 2018, and why you should eat your feelings. With Salon, Cultura Colectiva, The Drive, and Fast Company.
Plenty is known about marijuana's health and medicinal benefits, but there's less attention being paid to advancements in psychedelics. Writer and performer Adam Strauss, along with Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (M.A.P.S.) Executive Director Rick Doblin, join us to discuss the new show that tracks one man's quest to use mushrooms to cure his severe OCD.
Ever wonder how a dolphin sleeps while still swimming? Or how a giraffe sleeps while standing up? Cara Santa Maria, Narrator of Smithsonian Earth's "The Secret World of Animal Sleep" joins Cheddar to explore the wild world of sleeping animals.
The Pentagon has admitted there are UFOs...well soft of. It has admitted that a program called The Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program ran from 2007-2012 with the mission to explore life outside of Earth.
