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.
As breast cancer awareness month approaches, singer Sherly Crow dives into her personal experience with surviving the disease. Cheddar was also joined by Dr. DaCarla Albright, who emphasized the importance of annual mammogram screenings.
The Department of the Interior has approved an oil and gas leasing program within Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Joe Biden is calling for a nationwide mask mandate, citing health experts’ predictions that it could save 40,000 lives over the next three months.
Young people across the world are uniting, calling on policymakers to adress the climate crisis. 15-year-old Alexandria Villasenor, founder of Earth Uprising, talks launching the movement and an upcoming partnership with GAP Kids on a virtual rally, encouraging the youth to make their voices heard about issues they want fixed.
CuriosityStream CEO, Clint Stinchcomb, talks about the company's plan to go public as it expands its global reach and also explains what sets his platform apart from others.
Russia has become the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine for use among tens of thousands of its citizens.
Efforts have intensified in Mauritius to empty a stranded Japanese ship of an estimated 2,500 tons of oil before the vessel breaks up and contaminates the island’s Indian Ocean coastline.
With coronavirus affecting the senior population particularly hard, pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, is developing an COVID-19 antibody treatment meant to protect aging senior, particularly those in assisted living facilities.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Thursday increased its forecast for the number of named storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes this year to far above normal.
U.S. testing for the coronavirus is dropping even as infections remain high and the death toll rises by more than 1,000 a day.
