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In recent weeks, the United States has reportedly shot down four unidentified flying objects (UFOs), one of which was believed to be a Chinese spy balloon. However, aerospace experts say that the most recent sightings appear to be of new objects. Joshua Semeter, the director of Boston University’s Center for Space Physics and a member of a panel researching unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), explains that the term UAP has replaced UFO because of the latter’s association with extraterrestrial activity.
Semeter’s panel studies UAP objects from a NASA perspective and has found that recent pilot accounts of UAP sightings are similar to those reported by Navy pilots in recent years. In Semeter’s opinion, the most recent UAP sightings are too small to hold enough gas to be a balloon at their altitude, and a report from The Associated Press claims that the objects are octagonal in shape. Semeter suggests that the design of the objects may suggest that they are terrestrial adversarial technologies that are not yet known, such as technologies of our adversaries or even technologies of our own government.
“All of this points to technologies on the cutting edge that we may not know about yet,” says Semeter. “It could be technologies of our adversaries or even technologies of our own government. A sort of right hand is not communicating with the left.”
Semeter’s panel is interested in studying UAPs that exhibit unexpected flight characteristics, focusing on objects with rapid acceleration, velocity, or maneuverability. “A vast majority of these UAPs have an explanation,” says Semeter. “They are either abandoned balloons, drones, or aerial space junk. Our panel is focused on the small subset of events that tends to exhibit unexpected flight characteristics.”
It is worth noting that commercial airline pilots have also reported seeing objects that look like the type described in recent UAP sightings. These sightings have been captured in random photographs from commercial airline pilots.
Semeter’s panel is not working on classified information and is open to the public. They are focused on researching UAPs with abnormal flight patterns or locations, aiming to understand more about these objects that are difficult to explain. With the possibility that these sightings could be terrestrial adversarial technologies or even technologies of our own government, the research being conducted by Semeter and his team is crucial in unlocking the mysteries of these unidentified objects in our skies.
