NASA is ramping up its studies and investigations into unidentified flying object (UFO) sightings, also known as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs).

During a town hall meeting held by the agency's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) Wednesday, NASA reaffirmed to intensify its investigations into UFOs and UAPs.

The meeting comes after a recent announcement that NASA will fund studies to examine UFO sightings or events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or be explained by any known human or natural phenomena - from a scientific perspective.

During the meeting, Daniel Evans, assistant deputy associate administrator for research at NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), said they were "going full force" into the UFO sightings study.

Evans noted that this was really important to them, and they were placing a high priority on it. UFO sightings have generated immense public interest in recent times. NASA is also doing the study in the interest of air safety and national security.

According to Vice News, David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation, will be heading the study. Evans said Spergel will be working with "some of the world's leading scientists, data practitioners, artificial intelligence practitioners, [and] aerospace safety experts" to "tell us how to apply the full focus of science and data to UAPs."

NASA's SMD and Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate was tasked with selecting team members.

According to The Sun, the new study will focus on identifying available data, the best way to collect future data, and how to use that data to move the scientific understanding of UAPs forward. 

NASA said it was also exploring other possibilities, such as transforming satellites into alien seekers and probing unexplained sightings without having to launch new equipment.

READ NEXT: Pentagon Has Evidence That UFO Sightings Left Witnesses With Serious Ailments Like Brain Damage, Paralysis

UFO Sightings

In April 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense released three declassified videos of "unexplained aerial phenomena." The Pentagon reportedly released the videos to clear up any public misconceptions on whether the circulating footage was real or not.

The department determined that after a thorough review, the authorized release of the videos does not reveal any sensitive capabilities or systems. The Pentagon added that the aerial phenomena observed in the videos remain characterized as "unidentified."

The videos started circulating in the public domain after unauthorized release in 2007 and 2017. The three footages showed what the pilots saw during training flights 100 miles out into the Pacific Ocean in 2004 and 2015.

In the 2004 video, the pilots reportedly saw a round object hovering above the water and quickly flew away. One of the pilots said it accelerated like nothing he had ever seen.

The 2015 two videos showed objects moving quickly through the sky, with one of them seeming to spin in the air. A Pentagon report revealed that UFO sightings had left witnesses with serious ailments like radiation burns, paralysis, and amnesia.

The 2010 report was released to The Sun last April by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which serves as the Pentagon's top spy agency, as part of a Freedom of Information Act request from 2017.

The report, titled "Anomalous Acute And Subacute Field Effects on Human and Biological Tissues," investigates the adverse health effects or injuries on humans who have had paranormal experiences.

The documents compiled 42 cases of adverse effects from medical files and 300 from similar "unpublished" cases. The Pentagon report noted that exposure to "anomalous vehicles," meaning UFOs, especially airborne and in close proximity, could harm humans.

The report listed some adverse health effects from UFO sightings, such as heating and burn injuries from radiation, brain damage, headaches, damaged nerves, rashes, and paralysis. Heat, sexual encounters, and claimed ESP development were also reported as other effects.

The report was reportedly part of the more than 1,500 pages of DIA documents related to the Pentagon's secretive UFO program, the now-defunct Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP). 

The existence of the AATIP program, which was closed in 2012, was revealed by the whistleblower and former head of the program Luis Elizondo.

Private Space Company Rocket Lab Looking For Alien Life in Venus

It seems that it is not just NASA and the U.S. government that are looking into the possibility of alien life. Rocket Lab, a space company, aims to launch its first private mission to another planet.

Their target? Venus. And it seems they are not going there to sample rocks and soil. Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said the probe could blast off as early as May 2023, using the company's lightweight Electron rocket.

The spacecraft will carry just a two-pound instrument called an autofluorescing nephelometer to look for signs of life by sampling particles in the clouds.

Scientists have speculated for decades that high clouds on Venus could host life. The company also hoped that the Venus mission could open the door for more commercial opportunities, including a possible partnership with NASA and other civil space agencies.

READ MORE: Aliens & UFO Sightings: UFO Researchers Spot a 'Cigar-Shaped' UFO Near a Mexican Volcano [Watch]

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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