Récemment, de nombreux témoins crédibles, souvent des aviateurs militaires, ont rapporté avoir vu des objets qu'ils n'ont pas reconnus au-dessus de l'espace aérien des États-Unis. La plupart de ces événements ont depuis été expliqués, mais une petite poignée ne peut être immédiatement identifiée en tant que phénomènes d'origine humaine ou naturelle. Ces événements sont aujourd'hui collectivement désignés comme Phénomènes Anormaux Non-identifiés, ou PAN n1At the time that this study was initiated, Congress defined UAP as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena. After this study began, the term UAP was redefined as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.
A vital part of NASA’s mission is exploring the unknown using the rigorous process of the scientific method. This means scrutinizing our assumptions and intuition; transparently and diligently collecting data; reproducing results; seeking independent evaluation; and finally, reaching a scientific consensus about the nature of an occurrence. The scientific method challenges us to solve problems by impartially evaluating our own ideas, by being willing to be wrong, and by following the data.
It is increasingly clear that the majority of UAP observations can be attributed to known phenomena or occurences. When it comes to studying such phenomena, our overarching challenge is that the data needed to explain these anomalous sightings often do not exist; this includes eyewitness reports, which on their own can be interesting and compelling, but are not reproducible and usually lack the information needed to make any definitive conclusions about a UAP’s provenance. Thus, to understand UAP, a rigorous, evidence-based, data-driven scientific framework is essential.
This report offers a vision of how NASA could contribute to understanding the phenomena and how the agency’s approach will complement the whole-ofgovernment effort to understand UAP.