Move Along, Nothing to See Here …
On Wednesday, 19 April 2023, the director of the Pentagon’s aerial phenomena research office summarily refuted the possibility that any Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) the office has investigated derive of extraterrestrial origin.
In the second Congressional hearing on UAPs in the last half-century, Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), spoke before the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on the topic of Emerging Threats and Capabilities pursuant his office’s investigations of UAPs.
Kirkpatrick made clear to lawmakers that not one of the 650-plus incidents under investigation since the AARO’s July 2022 inception were of alien derivation, stating: “AARO has found no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology, or objects that defy the known laws of physics.
Kirkpatrick added: “In the event sufficient scientific data [emerges] that a UAP encountered can only be explained by extraterrestrial origin, we are committed to working with our interagency partners at NASA to appropriately inform [the] government’s leadership of its findings.”
Following the publishing of a research paper in which he and Harvard University astronomy department chair Abraham Loeb hypothesized that extraterrestrial motherships and smaller probes may be visiting planets in the Sol system, Kirkpatrick faced numerous and impassioned questions pertaining to extraterrestrial life.
The paper, titled Physical Constraints on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, suggested extraterrestrial motherships and smaller probes might already be in the solar system. The pair’s theory offered the object ‘Oumuamua as a possible mothership-like entity.
Oumuamua is a small celestial object estimated to be between one-hundred and one-thousand meters long and 35 to 167 meters in both width and thickness. Despite having made a close approach to the Sun in 2017, ‘Oumuamua showed no signs of having a coma and exhibited non-gravitational acceleration, potentially due to outgassing or a push from solar radiation pressure. By July 2019, most astronomers concluded that ‘Oumuamua is a natural object; its exact characterization remains contentious, however, insomuch as a number of renowned astronomers have suggested Oumuamua could be a product of extraterrestrial technology.
Loeb attained a degree of notoriety in 2017 when he proposed ‘Oumuamua had traversed our solar system as an extrasolar visitor.
Loeb and Kirkpatrick wrote: “With proper design, these tiny probes would reach the Earth or other solar system planets for exploration, as the parent craft passes by within a fraction of the Earth-Sun separation—just like ‘Oumuamua did.”
Kirkpatrick noted during his Congressional address that the AARO is planning to develop a website at which members of the public may document experiences with UAPs.
Kirkpatrick somewhat hypocritically challenged critics who believe UAPs are of extraterrestrial origin to support their claims with scientific evidence rather than feed into conspiracies, contending: “I encourage those who hold alternative theories or views to submit your research to credible peer-reviewed scientific journals. AARO is working very hard to do the same. That is how science works, not by blog or social media.”
While Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) and UFO both describe unidentified objects in a state of fight or atmospheric suspension, important considerations differentiate the two terms. UAP is a more neutral term, the creators of which contend removes preconceived notions pertaining to the origins of aerial objects. Ergo, UAP connotes man-made or atmospheric phenomena. Contrariwise, UFO is historically, idiomatically, and culturally associated with the concept of otherworldly spacecraft and extraterrestrial life. The term UFO is generally used to describe a physical object, while UAP can refer to phenomena that may or may not be solid in nature.
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