A Harvard astronomer known for challenging the scientific establishment has been chosen by the Trump administration to lead a team of handpicked scientists that will analyze potential national security risks posed by unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs).
Avi Loeb, a highly respected cosmologist who served as head of Harvard’s astronomy for nearly a decade, was appointed to helm the newly formed UAP Science Advisory Council. The panel will investigate origins of unidentified orbs and other mysterious objects reported by military officials in recent years.
Established to evaluate national security risks, the council will report to a higher-level UAP Governance Board overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The initiative is part of a broader push by the Trump administration to increase transparency and declassify information regarding the highly debated issue.
Also selected for the council is Timothy Gallaudet, an oceanographer and retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral who has previously advocated for disclosure regarding recovered craft, and Ben Lamm, a billionaire tech entrepreneur.
The establishment of the council comes amidst bipartisan congressional pressure on the White House for further disclosure, fueled by arguments from Republican lawmakers that elements of the federal government have historically suppressed evidence of extraterrestrial encounters. Nonetheless, the Pentagon office tasked with investigating UAPs has asserted that no definitive evidence of alien life has been discovered.
Loeb says he approaches the matter from a practical perspective rather than buying into sweeping cover-up theories.
“My impression is the government is baffled by not being able to infer the nature of some of these objects,” he stated.
The Israeli-American researcher has long theorized that extraterrestrial technology could already be on Earth, first capturing widespread public attention in 2017. At the time, he proposed that ‘Oumuamua — an interstellar cookie-shaped object passing through our solar system — showed signs of being an artificial alien artifact rather than a standard space rock.
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