.jpg) David Spergel, chair of NASA's independent study on UAPs, answers a question during a public meeting of the team on May 31, 2023. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | May 24, 2022 |
| Dissolved | September 14, 2023 |
| Agency executives |
|
| Parent agency | NASA |
| Website | Official website |
The NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Independent Study Team (UAPIST) was a panel of sixteen experts assembled in 2022 by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and chaired by David Spergel to recommend a roadmap for the analysis of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs) by NASA and other organizations.
UAPs are defined as phenomena or observations of events in the air, sea, space, and land that cannot be identified as aircraft or as known natural phenomena. The acronym UAP seeks to provide separation from the assumptions about extraterrestrial life and other associations in popular culture with the older acronym UFO ("unidentified flying object"). UAP originally stood for "unidentified aerial phenomena", but was expanded at the end of 2022 to mean "unidentified anomalous phenomena". To complete their work, the independent NASA team identified how data gathered by civilian, commercial, and government entities as well as any other sources can most effectively be analyzed to shed light on UAPs.
The study team started work on October 24, 2022, and held its first public meeting on May 31, 2023. The team's report was released on September 14, 2023, and did not find evidence that extra-terrestrial life was responsible for the unexplained phenomena of UAP sightings. Unlike the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) under the United States Office of the Secretary of Defense, the NASA independent study team focused solely on unclassified data.