By: Jayden Yao

Recently, NASA scientists began diving deeper into the studies of UFOs, or Unidentified

Flying Objects. NASA has been researching flying objects all around the globe, and the

scientists believe there are many mysteries to be uncovered.

A report issued last year cataloged more than 140 flying objects. However, officials

were unable to identify them, and were not able to prove that these flying objects were

developed by countries like Russia.

David Sergel, the president of Simons Foundation and the previous chair of

the astrophysics department at Princeton University is leading the hunt for UFOs.

Sergel says, “There’s a wide range of what may be accounting for these events…This is

a phenomenon we don’t understand. And we want to collect more data on the

phenomenon,” clearly showing his interest in this project.

Ronald S. Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security, says,

“We are committed to an effort to determine their [UFOs] origins.” Moultrie, just like

Sergel, has a large interest in these UFOs. He notes that service members have

encountered strange objects that appear to defy the laws of physics in the sky.

Sergel and Moultrie are not the only ones excited about the UFOs. NASA Administrator

Bill Nelson and former member of the Senate remarked, “The hair stood up on the back

of my neck.” after seeing the report.

NASA’s head of science mission directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, says, “It’s clear that in

a traditional type of science environment, talking about some of these issues may be

considered a kind of selling out, or kind of talking about things that are not actual

science.” Zurbuchen also believes that studying UFOs will improve the national security

of the United States. Zurbuchen states, “There are potential national security and

counterintelligence [impacts], that that’s not what we do for a living. And we’re not going

to get into that at NASA.”

NASA taking on this controversial project is a major deal, as they are the most likely, out

of the dozens who have tried, to find out more about these mysterious flying objects.

Quotes:

“We know that our service members have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena.

We are committed to an effort to determine their origins.” – Ronald S. Moultrie

“There are potential national security and counterintelligence [impacts], that that’s not

what we do for a living. And we’re not going to get into that at NASA.” Thomas

Zurbuchen

“It’s clear that in a traditional type of science environment, talking about some of these

issues may be considered a kind of selling out or kind of talking about things that are

not actual science.” – Thomas Zurbuchen

Additional Facts:

More than 140 flying objects have been spotted

Zurbuchen believes that, although this isn’t mainstream science, it is still something to

research about.