In June 2022 NASA commissioned an independent study team to look at unidentified anomalous phenomena from a scientific perspective. The team, chaired by astrophysicist David Spergel, published its final report on September 14, 2023. Its conclusions are less about any particular sighting and more about why UAP are so hard to study. This guide summarizes the report in its own terms.
NASA announced the study on June 9, 2022. According to NASA's UAP page, the study focused on "identifying available data, how best to collect future data, and how NASA can use that data." The team held a public meeting on May 31, 2023 and released its final report on September 14, 2023. The report lists Dr. David Spergel as chair and Dr. Daniel Evans as the designated federal official.
The study did not investigate individual cases, and it worked only with unclassified data.
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The report's central finding is that UAP analysis is "hampered by poor sensor calibration, the lack of multiple measurements, the lack of sensor metadata, and the lack of baseline data." It says detection of UAP "is often serendipitous," captured by sensors not designed for the purpose.
On the question most people ask, the report says: "To date, in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, there is no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for UAP." It describes extraterrestrial life as "the hypothesis of last resort."
The team recommended that NASA play a prominent role in the government-wide effort led by AARO. Its specific recommendations include:
• Use NASA's Earth-observing satellites to check environmental conditions at the time and place of UAP detected by other means. • Explore working with commercial remote-sensing companies, whose satellites offer imagery at sub-meter to several-meter resolution. • Use multiple, well-calibrated sensors, potentially multispectral or hyperspectral, in a deliberate data-collection campaign. • Apply AI and machine learning — but only to well-characterized data gathered to strong standards. • Explore a crowdsourcing system, such as open-source smartphone apps, to gather images and sensor data from multiple citizen observers. • Make better use of the Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), which NASA runs for the FAA and which receives about 100,000 reports a year, for commercial-pilot UAP reports.
The report treats stigma as a scientific problem, not just a cultural one. It says the negative perception of UAP reporting "almost certainly leads to data attrition," and that NASA's involvement can help reduce that stigma by modelling transparent reporting and rigorous analysis.
In a response included with the report, Dr. Nicola Fox, Associate Administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said NASA was still evaluating the findings and that it was "appointing a Director of UAP Research" to centralize communications and support the whole-of-government effort. NASA's UAP page remains the place to check for current contacts and updates.
Facts on this page were checked against the sources below on October 21, 2026 by Himanshu Singh. Spot an error? Email hello@nowdeclassified.com.
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Complete guide to the June 2021 ODNI Preliminary Assessment on UAP: what the report found, what it refused to conclude, why 143 of 144 cases remained unidentified, and how it triggered the legislative chain that produced AARO, NARA RG 615, and the PURSUE program.
Complete guide to AARO's 2024 Historical Record Report: the government's first systematic review of historical UAP programs, what it concluded about crash retrieval claims, and what the archive record shows.
AATIP director's first-person account of the Pentagon UAP program.
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