Nasa's UFO report reveals how public can help hunt for potential alien life


Sarwat Nasir
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A Nasa report on “unidentified anomalous phenomena”, popularly known as UFOs, has suggested ways for the US government to detect flying objects, including mobile apps through which the public can report sightings.

It is the first report published by the agency following the formation of a panel in June last year to examine the phenomena, after the US Defence Department released videos of UFOs during a congressional hearing.

Released online on Thursday, the 36-page document says that existing technology limits the way UFOs can be detected due to “poor sensor calibration and lack of multiple measurements”.

“This is the first time Nasa has taken concrete action to study UAP,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said during a briefing on the report.

“There are billions of galaxies and each of them, including our own, has billions of stars.

“If you ask me if there is life in a universe that is so vast it is hard to comprehend – my personal answer is yes.”

But he said that so far, there is no proof that UFOs have an “extraterrestrial origin”.

How the public could play a role

The report said that the public could form “a critical aspect of understanding UAP”.

It also suggested that mobile apps can be used to report sightings all over the world.

“The panel sees several advantages to augmenting data collection efforts using modern crowdsourcing techniques, including open-source smartphone-based apps that simultaneously gather imaging data and other smartphone sensor metadata from multiple citizen observers worldwide,” it said.

Nasa argued that it could use also a variety of existing and planned technology to study UFOs.

These include Earth observation satellites and remote-sensing technologies to detect mysterious objects.

Countless UFO sightings reported over the years

Nasa said that about 100,000 UFO sightings by pilots, air traffic controllers and other aviation staff are received per year.

Over the past 47 years, Nasa's Aviation Safety Reporting System has received a total of 1,940,000 reports.

Last year, a UFO was seen over Iraq and a declassified video of the sighting was released.

In the footage, an object can be seen moving near an MQ-9 drone, which attempts to follow the fast-moving object with its camera.

The object appears to be silver in colour and metallic.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

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Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.

Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en

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The Facility’s Versatility

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Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
 
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
 
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
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February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
 
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
 
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket

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Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

 

 

Updated: September 14, 2023, 5:50 PM`