Could A Massive Public UFO Database Eventually Help Explain Mysterious Sightings?

Soon after clicking around America’s new online database containing hundreds of thousands of historical UFO records, you may begin to wonder why the government has spent a lot of time and taxpayer dollars collecting data on a phenomenon that it doesn’t seem to believe in. As a casual observer taking a quick look at the database—an ongoing project of the National Archives, the government’s repository of historical documents—you’ll see many images of fake-looking flying saucers. You’ll hear recordings of military personnel talking at length about various sightings, concluding that there was no credible evidence that what was observed was a UFO. You’ll find a ton of grainy images and films of bright dots in the sky, as well as black-and-white 20th-century newsreel footage. But if you dig around the somewhat clunky database, you might also discover some intriguing records. For example, a 2013 blog post mentioning a Popular Mechanics news brief that same year about an Air Force project to build a flying saucer. Surely, that would pique your interest. “The Air Force, especially, has spent a significant amount of time trying to say ‘there is nothing here,’” and yet it and other government agencies have continued to investigate UAP reports, says Robert Powell, an engineer and author of UFOs: A Scientist Explains What We Know (And Don’t Know). “Why would you collect all that information if you did not believe there was something to at least a portion of it? … You’ll see some really interesting reports there in that data that indicate there’s something to the whole UAP subject, but you have to look for it,” says Powell, who is also co-founder of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), a nonprofit that includes scientists and researchers who apply scientific methods to the analysis of UFO sightings. [View in Browser]( [Popular Mechanics]( [SHOP]( [EXCLUSIVE]( [SUBSCRIBE]( [Could A Massive Public UFO Database Eventually Help Explain Mysterious Sightings?]( [Could A Massive Public UFO Database Eventually Help Explain Mysterious Sightings?]( [Could A Massive Public UFO Database Eventually Help Explain Mysterious Sightings?]( Soon after clicking around America’s new online database containing hundreds of thousands of historical UFO records, you may begin to wonder why the government has spent a lot of time and taxpayer dollars collecting data on a phenomenon that it doesn’t seem to believe in. As a casual observer taking a quick look at the database—an ongoing project of the National Archives, the government’s repository of historical documents—you’ll see many images of fake-looking flying saucers. You’ll hear recordings of military personnel talking at length about various sightings, concluding that there was no credible evidence that what was observed was a UFO. You’ll find a ton of grainy images and films of bright dots in the sky, as well as black-and-white 20th-century newsreel footage. But if you dig around the somewhat clunky database, you might also discover some intriguing records. For example, a 2013 blog post mentioning a Popular Mechanics news brief that same year about an Air Force project to build a flying saucer. Surely, that would pique your interest. “The Air Force, especially, has spent a significant amount of time trying to say ‘there is nothing here,’” and yet it and other government agencies have continued to investigate UAP reports, says Robert Powell, an engineer and author of UFOs: A Scientist Explains What We Know (And Don’t Know). “Why would you collect all that information if you did not believe there was something to at least a portion of it? … You’ll see some really interesting reports there in that data that indicate there’s something to the whole UAP subject, but you have to look for it,” says Powell, who is also co-founder of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), a nonprofit that includes scientists and researchers who apply scientific methods to the analysis of UFO sightings. Soon after clicking around America’s new online database containing hundreds of thousands of historical UFO records, you may begin to wonder why the government has spent a lot of time and taxpayer dollars collecting data on a phenomenon that it doesn’t seem to believe in. As a casual observer taking a quick look at the database—an ongoing project of the National Archives, the government’s repository of historical documents—you’ll see many images of fake-looking flying saucers. You’ll hear recordings of military personnel talking at length about various sightings, concluding that there was no credible evidence that what was observed was a UFO. You’ll find a ton of grainy images and films of bright dots in the sky, as well as black-and-white 20th-century newsreel footage. But if you dig around the somewhat clunky database, you might also discover some intriguing records. For example, a 2013 blog post mentioning a Popular Mechanics news brief that same year about an Air Force project to build a flying saucer. Surely, that would pique your interest. “The Air Force, especially, has spent a significant amount of time trying to say ‘there is nothing here,’” and yet it and other government agencies have continued to investigate UAP reports, says Robert Powell, an engineer and author of UFOs: A Scientist Explains What We Know (And Don’t Know). “Why would you collect all that information if you did not believe there was something to at least a portion of it? … You’ll see some really interesting reports there in that data that indicate there’s something to the whole UAP subject, but you have to look for it,” says Powell, who is also co-founder of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU), a nonprofit that includes scientists and researchers who apply scientific methods to the analysis of UFO sightings. [Read More]( [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [These Are the EDC Essentials Our Editors Use and Love]( [These Are the EDC Essentials Our Editors Use and Love]( We don’t leave home without them. [Read More]( [Have a Toast-to-Butter Morning With These Editor-Recommended Toasters]( [Have a Toast-to-Butter Morning With These Editor-Recommended Toasters]( Get the perfect crunch with these compact kitchen appliances. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [Extinct Volcanoes May Be the Answer to Our Rare Earth Metal Problems]( Extinct Volcanoes May Be the Answer to Our Rare Earth Metal Problems]( Let's just use mines we already have! [Read More]( [A Biblical “Healing” Plant, Lost for Centuries, May Have Been Revived By Science]( [A Biblical “Healing” Plant, Lost for Centuries, May Have Been Revived By Science]( A recently revived plant species could possibly be a source of Biblical medicine [Read More]( [Alternate text] [Alternate text] [Archaeologists Stumbled Upon a Message in a Bottle—from 200 Years Ago]( [Archaeologists Stumbled Upon a Message in a Bottle—from 200 Years Ago]( Two centuries later and we're still searching for the same things. [Read More]( [Alternate text] [POP Membership]( [LiveIntent Logo]( [AdChoices Logo]( [Need Assistance? Contact Us.](mailto:pmpmembership@popularmechanics.com) Follow Us [Visit Popular Mechanics on Facebook]( [Visit Popular Mechanics on X formerly Twitter]( [Visit Popular Mechanics on Instagram]( [Visit Popular Mechanics on YouTube]( [Unsubscribe]( | [Privacy Notice]( | [CA Notice at Collection]( Popular Mechanics is a publication of Hearst Magazines. ©2024 Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This email was sent by Hearst Magazines, 300 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019-3779