NASA has appointed Mark McInerney as director of unidentified anomalous phenomena research in an effort to expand the agency’s contribution to government initiatives seeking to understand such unusual aerial sightings.
The agency said Thursday that it created the new role in response to an independent study, which calls for NASA’s increased involvement in investigating the origin and nature of UAP moving forward.
McInerney most recently served as the space agency’s UAP liaison to the Department of Defense. HIs new responsibility will be to lead the creation of a comprehensive database for future UAP evaluation.
“NASA’s new Director of UAP Research will develop and oversee the implementation of NASA’s scientific vision for UAP research, including using NASA’s expertise to work with other agencies to analyze UAP and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to search the skies for anomalies,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained.
The independent study team, which consists of 16 UAP experts, had recommended that the agency help advance research and data collection by taking advantage of its resources, including open source systems, Earth observation and other technological assets, data analysis techniques, and partnerships with industry, as well as other government entities.
NASA is using the team’s report to formulate a roadmap for a more in-depth scientific approach to studying unidentified aerial or anomalous sightings.
