- NASA will present its findings from a study into unidentified anomalous phenomena it commissioned last year.
- The presentation comes at the same time that two alleged alien fossils were presented to Mexican Congress.
- This week scientists also theorised – with evidence to back it up – that life may exist on an exoplanet.
There is a lot of talk about unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) previously known as unidentified flying objects (UFOs) of late. There was a hearing where military officers alleged the US government was hiding aliens. There are even reports that two fossilised bodies of alleged aliens were discovered in Peru and were presented to Mexican Congress.
Those two examples aren’t the best we’ll admit given that the testimonies of military officers were based on accounts shared by others and that the “alien bodies” remain unidentified.
Today, however, NASA will discuss the findings from an independent study commissioned in 2022 to investigate reports of UAPs. However, we don’t expect NASA administrator Bill Nelson to stand up and declare that aliens have visited Earth and the agency has proof based on a single sentence in a press release.
“NASA defines UAP as observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective. There are currently a limited number of high-quality observations of UAP, which make it impossible to draw firm scientific conclusions about their nature,” the agency wrote in a press release.
That doesn’t fill us with much hope that NASA will “show us them aliens”, but perhaps it can provide explanations for videos of UAPs that have surfaced in recent years.
Speaking of life outside of our solar system, there has been a development in that regard thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope.
While observing K2-18 b, an exoplanet 120 light years from Earth, scientists noted an abundance of methane, carbon dioxide, and a shortage of ammonia in the planet’s atmosphere. This supports the theory that the planet is home to a water ocean beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. Perhaps most excitingly was the discovery of dimethyl sulfide a compound that is only found on Earth because it’s produced by life.
Further observations are needed to confirm that what observers are seeing is indeed dimethyl sulfide but if it is, it could point to life existing on another planet.
The composition of K2-18 b’s atmosphere was measured by analysing the light that passed from the through atmosphere. When studied, scientists can determine what gases hindered the brightness of that light before it reached a telescope like JWST.
The NASA UAP briefing will start at 16:00 SAST today and you can watch it live on the space agency’s website.
[Image – Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash]
