NASA-based panel examining UFOs addresses some of its biggest obstacles
Experts say the stigma surrounding strange sightings seems to be fading and more people are reporting UAPs.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- For the past year, a NASA-based panel has been examining reports of unexplained aerial activity, once referred to as UFOs, and earlier this week, the group held its first public meeting to discuss its findings.
Despite hundreds of reports, NASA's Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena study team so far has found no proof of extraterrestrial visits to Earth.
"To make the claim that we've seen something that is evidence of non-human intelligence, it would require extraordinary evidence," said astrophysicist David Spergel. "We have not seen that."
But that's not stopping NASA from continuing its investigations into mysterious videos and images, showing objects moving through the skies.
"It's now our collective responsibility to investigate these occurrences with the rigorous, scientific scrutiny they deserve," said Daniel Evans of NASA's Science Research department.
After a year of poring over videos and images, the panel addressed some of its biggest obstacles, including a lack of access to classified reports and the broad field of potential subjects.
"We're not looking for a needle in a haystack," said former NASA administrator Mike Gold. "We're looking for an anomaly in a haystack. We don't even know that we're looking for a needle."
Meanwhile, experts say the stigma surrounding strange sightings seems to be fading and more people are reporting UAPs.
"The FAA in February had 68 UAP reports," said UFO investigator Jeremy Corbell, co-host of the podcast "Weaponized."
"This is more than they ever had in a month."
Corbell said although NASA's panel members have yet to find anything that indicates "non-human" technology, that doesn't diminish the seriousness of sightings.
"There are machines of unknown origin, and we don't know who made them or how they operate, what the intent is," Corbell told Eyewitness News. "They represent a technology that we are unaware of. We are unaware of as
Americans, we are unaware of in the Department of Defense, how they operate.
Government officials have said that a mix of weather balloons, airborne clutter and foreign surveillance could explain most UAP sightings.
However, some events just can't be explained.
Corbell said the U.S. government currently has more than 800 active and unexplained UAP cases to date. The NASA panel set to release a report this summer.
