Key facts
- Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb will lead a new White House scientific advisory council on UFOs.
- The council will investigate unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and their national security risks.
- The initiative is part of President Donald Trump's directive for greater transparency on the issue.
- Loeb's team includes scientists and UFO activists, with a request made to the Pentagon for UAP-related documents.
- Loeb has begun his work with the assumption that UAP are human-made, approaching the task from a national security perspective.
A controversial Harvard University cosmologist, Avi Loeb, known for his theories about alien life, is leading a new secretive scientific advisory panel on national security risks posed by unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), formerly known as UFOs. Loeb and his hand-picked committee have begun investigating the origins of mysterious flying craft and have requested dozens of videos, images, and documents from the Pentagon. The panel will report its findings to the White House, which has been opening government UFO files. Loeb stated his appointment is an opportunity to educate the administration on potential logical explanations for UAP, but he is approaching the task from a national security perspective, initially assuming UAP are human-made.
Loeb's unconventional thinking and fringe theories have led some analysts to question his leadership. Steve Desch, a professor of astrophysics, expressed doubt about the effectiveness of Loeb's leadership in answering UAP questions. Loeb himself has dismissed criticism as jealousy that suppresses innovation. Concerns have also been raised about the composition of Loeb's team, which includes retired Navy Rear Admiral Timothy Gallaudet, who claims to have recovered crashed nonhuman intelligence aircraft, and billionaire entrepreneur Ben Lamm. Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist who previously investigated UAP at the Pentagon, noted that Loeb is not viewed favorably in the scientific community and lacks national security experience, suggesting the White House is prioritizing fringe theories over hard science.