The possibility of encountering exotic phenomena makes life exhilarating. A monotonous routine, on the other hand, is about encountering the mundane. We want the exotic instead of the mundane. Because of this tendency, Richard Feynman warned: “We must be careful not to believe things just because we want them to be true. No one can fool you as easily as you can fool yourself.” This pearl of wisdom warns us not to get carried away by the interpretation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
Yesterday, a New York Post reporter sent me a video taken by a news crew from a helicopter over Manhattan, showing a rapidly moving ball of lithe during the day. He asked, “Do you believe it is an object or a camera or light phenomenon? Does it appear to be similar to other types of UAP that have been reported to be seen around the world?”
I thanked the reporter for sharing the intriguing video and explained that the moving spot was most likely an optical artifact from the glass of the helicopter in front of the camera, namely a brilliant spot created by the reflection of sunlight as the camera gradually changed its orientation relative to the sun and the earth. But even if it were a real object, its apparent speed is on the order of the speed of sound and is not extraordinary.
The Galileo project, which I lead, published a novel, comprehensive paper last week describing a detailed, careful analysis of the launch data of half a million airborne objects collected over a five-month period. The newspaper has been published this website. In the coming months, our research team will attempt to triangulate the outliers and determine whether they are exotic or ordinary based on the distances measured.
Two days ago, the novel director of the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Jon Kosloski, stated during a U.S. Senate hearing: “We have some very anomalous objects… Many of the reports involve ordinary objects such as birds, balloons and unmanned systems, while others lack sufficient data for comprehensive analysis…only a small percentage of reports received by AARO are potentially incorrect.” Kosloski mentioned a UAP observed in 2013 near Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
Infrared video recorded by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter shows the object flying over the ocean before disappearing into the ocean or possibly splitting in two. AARO assessed that the UAP was actually flying over the airport the entire time and disappeared in infrared images because it was the same temperature as the water behind it. The apparent splitting was caused by two separate objects that were close to each other and appeared and disappeared from view.
Kosloski also reported that AARO has clarified the well-known GOFAST video shot by a U.S. Navy fighter aircraft in 2016 off the coast of Florida. In this case, the apparent speed of the object in the recording was actually due to parallax due to the camera's perspective. In another case from 2018, a drone flying over Mount Etna “was actually 170 meters from the plume – it did not fly through it.”
AARO new report examines UAP cases from May 1, 2023 to June 1, 2024 and historical events that were not included in previous reports. AARO's ability to resolve cases “remains confined by the lack of timely and actionable sensor data.” AARO Report for 2022 examined 510 cases of UAP reported by government agencies and the U.S. military. Of these UAPs, AARO was unable to identify a minority of 171 objects and concluded, “Some of these uncharacterized UAPs appear to have demonstrated unusual flight characteristics or capabilities and require further analysis.”
The identification of most unidentified persons could be satisfactory for national security reasons. But even if one in a million object is exotic, this particular one could inspire a revolution in astronomy. That's why the Galileo project conducts careful, thorough, systematic surveys of the sky over many months, rather than relying on anecdotal reports from those who were in the right place at the right time. By summer 2025, we hope to have three operational observatories equipped with triangulation capabilities to determine the range of millions of aerial objects.
There is precedent for U.S. government data revealing exotic phenomena while remaining mundane, and as a result promoting new knowledge in astronomy. In 1967, Vela satellites discovered gamma-ray bursts, which searched for flashes of high-energy photons from secret nuclear weapons tests above the atmosphere.
After identifying the explosions as cosmic in origin, astronomers discovered their existence by: paper published in 1973 by a research team at Los Alamos National Laboratory. In 1997, the X-ray afterglow of gamma-ray bursts was associated with galaxies at cosmological distances. It is now known that long-duration flares, lasting longer than a few seconds, are emitted by relativistic jets that break through the envelope of massive stars as their core collapses and gives birth to a black hole.
The possibility that some UAPs could have been sent by intelligent cosmic neighbors is the reason for the public's fascination with their existence. Following Feynman's advice, we should let data guide us, not wishful thinking. The nature of the UAP will be revealed by scientists, not journalists or politicians.
Image Source: Pixabay.com
