The science fiction "force fields" that were used in all of the "Star Trek" TV shows and films has now become a science fact. Scientists have discovered what they are calling a natural "force field" that is seemingly surrounding and protecting the Earth.

Based on research and studies that were gathered from a space probe, findings that were released late last month have so far concluded that the Earth has some kind of natural force field. The force field is not close enough to cause damage to any organic life and inorganic objects.

The Earth's force field is made of up of radiation and light. According to researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and MIT, as well as others, the field is made of radiation in the form of electrons that exist in the outermost band of the Van Allen radiation belts. They move almost as fast as the speed of light, Tech Times reported.

The scientists found these so-called "ultrarelativistic electrons," which produce intense energy, but not particularly harmful to the Earth's surface. They exist 6,800 miles above Earth but, for some head-scratching reason, something stops these electrons cold, Tech Times reported.

"It's almost like these electrons are running into a glass wall in space," Daniel Baker, the study leader and director of CU-Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, said, according to Tech Times. "Somewhat like the shields created by force fields on 'Star Trek' that were used to repel alien weapons, we are seeing an invisible shield blocking these electrons. It's an extremely puzzling phenomenon."

In layman's terms, the Earth is encased in some sort of invisible force field. The shield is powerful enough to block the aforementioned high energy electrons that threaten astronauts and satellites. The team had originally surmised that the highly charged electrons that loop around the Earth at more than 100,000 miles per second would slowly drift downward into the upper atmosphere, Huffington Post reported.

But the scientists, with the help from the Van Allen probes that were launched in 2012, determined that the electrons within the Van Allen belts are stopped before they can get any closer.

Earth's own natural magnetic field is also supporting the invisible force field. This type of phenomenon has been dubbed by the researchers as "plasmaspheric hiss," which is a low-frequency electromagnetic wave that has been detected in the Earth's upper atmosphere, Tech Times reported. It is made up of a cloud of cold, electrically charged gas.

"It's a very unusual, extraordinary, and pronounced phenomenon," John Foster, the associate director of MIT's Haystack Observatory, said, according to Tech Times. "What this tells us is if you parked a satellite or an orbiting space station with humans just inside this impenetrable barrier, you would expect them to have much longer lifetimes. That's a good thing to know."

The data was gathered and analyzed by twin spacecraft from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Van Allen Probes. They were orbiting inside the harsh radiation belts in order to record the high-energy electrons, Tech Times reported.

The Van Allen belts themselves were detected in 1958. After decades of research and analysis, the scientists have found that the inner belt stretches from 650 km to 9,650 km above the Earth's surface. The newest data captured from the Van Allen probes also indicates that it is much larger: approximately 11,500 km in altitude, Sci-News.com reported.

While scientists have discovered this "force field" around the Earth, they have not determined how it was created. They have found that it is not connected to magnetic fields or human-generated radio signals. And scientists are not entirely convinced that it is caused by the aforementioned "plasmasphere," Huffington Post reported.

"Things we thought in the past were true simply are not correct," Baker said, according to Huffington Post. "It is for this reason that I cite the great American philosopher Yogi Berra, who said, 'You can observe a lot just by looking.' Our new instruments allow us to look in ways we never could before."

"I think the key here is to keep observing the region in exquisite detail, which we can do because of the powerful instruments on the Van Allen probes," Baker said.