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.
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Jeff Bezos blasted into space Tuesday on his rocket company’s first flight with people on board, becoming the second billionaire in just over a week to ride his own spacecraft.
A Dutch 18-year-old is about to become the youngest person in space. Blue Origin announced that instead of a $28 million auction winner launching with founder Jeff Bezos on Tuesday, runner-up Oliver Daemen will be on board.
Amazon founder and soon-to-be-space traveler Jeff Bezos is donating $200 million to the Smithsonian Institution to boost its National Air and Space Museum.
Johnson & Johnson says it is recalling five of its sunscreen products after some samples were found to contained low levels of benzene, a chemical that can cause cancer with repeated exposure.
Officials in Minnesota say they’re finding more giant goldfish in waterways, prompting a plea to citizens to stop illegally dumping their unwanted fish into ponds and lakes.
Hawaii officials will hold a lottery to distribute invasive goats that are overrunning an important historical and cultural site.
Firefighters are working in extreme temperatures across the U.S. West and struggling to contain wildfires as another heat wave baked the region, straining power grids.
Indian officials say lightning has killed at least 38 people across two states over the past 24 hours.
More manatees have died already this year than in any other year in Florida’s recorded history, primarily from starvation due to the loss of seagrass beds.
"Uranium bulls," a small but devoted group of investors, see an opportunity in the metal commodity that makes nuclear power possible.
