NASA has named a new head of UFO research.
Mark McInerney was appointed director of UAP Research, a role in which he will oversee the agency’s investigations into unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP, a new term that includes both UFOs in the sky and unexplained objects or events seen underwater perceived. in space or that appear to travel between any of these domains.
McInerney previously served as the agency’s liaison to the U.S. Department of Defense. In this new role, McInerney will coordinate NASA’s communications and studies on UAP to “establish a robust database for evaluating future UAP,” according to a NASA official. rack. In addition, NASA’s new UAP chief will help the agency provide expertise in artificial intelligence and space-based Earth observation satellites to help the U.S. government collect data it hopes will help explain the UFO phenomenon.
Related: NASA UFO report finds no evidence of ‘extraterrestrial origin’ for UAP sightings
In a information on Thursday (September 14) held at the first public report of the independent UAP study team, NASA leaders initially stated they would not publicly appoint the director. It’s unclear why the agency reversed that decision, but comments during the briefing suggested that members of NASA’s UAP study group had received online threats and harassment.
“That’s partly why we’re not announcing the name of our new director, because science has to be free, science has to go through a real, rigorous and rational process, and you need the freedom of thought to be able to do that.” Dan Evans, principal deputy associate administrator for research in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, said. “Some of the threats and intimidation were, quite frankly, incomprehensible to some of our panelists. And yes, it is important that science is free as part of that process.
Despite the harassment NASA’s UAP study team has faced, agency leaders are optimistic that this new stance will help ensure UFOs receive the serious scientific attention the topic deserves. In the statement announcing McInerney’s appointment, Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said the new UAP Research position director “is a critical addition to the NASA team and provides leadership, guidance and will provide operational coordination for the agency and the federal government to use as a pipeline to help identify the seemingly unidentifiable.”
In their report released Thursday (Sept. 14), NASA’s UAP study team concluded that current analysis of the UAP phenomenon is limited by poor quality data, a lack of multiple measurements or even basic baseline data.
“NASA’s independent research team has not found any evidence that UAP has an extraterrestrial origin, but we do not know what these UAP are,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said during a briefing Thursday after the report’s release. “The most important conclusion of the study is that there is still much more to learn.”
