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Nasa says it can’t explain some UFO sightings as our map reveals almost 1,000 unexplained objects that have been spotted above the UK in the last two-and-a-half years – including 22 in Kent.
The space agency has published a report into hundreds of unidentified flying objects, or UAPs – unidentified anomalous phenomena – as it calls them.
Releasing the findings, Nasa administrator Bill Nelson said: “The Nasa independent study team did not find any evidence that UAP have an extra-terrestrial origin.
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“But we don’t know what they are. That’s why I’m announcing that Nasa has appointed a Nasa director of UAP research. They are being tasked with developing and overseeing the implementation of Nasa’s vision for UAP research.”
He said the agency wants to “shift the conversation about UAP, from sensationalism to science”, and address some of the stigma around UFO sightings.
He added that new science techniques and artificial intelligence (AI) were needed to better understand them. The Nasa intervention comes as almost 1,000 unexplained objects have been documented in the skies above the UK between January 2021 and May this year by the UFO spotter website UFO Identified.
That includes 10 sightings above Kent in 2021, nine last year, and three between January and May this year. Sightings documented in Kent included:
- A “very large ‘V’ shaped craft” which “flew silently overhead” in Dartford in March 2021.
- A “shining sphere shape object rotating in itself and changing shapes” that was spotted above Margate in August 2021
- And an “American football-like object” that was seen moving slowly and silently above Cranbrook in June of last year which also may have caused a dog to act “strangely”.
You can see what UFO encounters have been reported where you live using our interactive map.
Just under half of all documented sightings (48%) include photographic or video evidence.
A quarter of all sightings (25%) were of a “star-like” object or objects, moving across the sky. The next most common sighting was of an unidentified object shaped like an “orb” (17%), “sphere”, (10%) and “cylinder” (9%).
Of all counties in the UK, more UFOs were spotted in skies of Greater Manchester than anywhere else, with a total of 54 documented sightings.
That was followed by Greater London (52), Cheshire (37), and West Sussex (34).
When it comes to towns and cities, more UFO activity was seen above Glasgow than anywhere else, with 22 encounters.
But while nearly 1,000 UFO sightings have been recorded in the last two-and-a-half years, Ash Ellis of UFO Identified believes many more were unreported.
He said: “Despite progress being made in recent years to de-stigmatise the topic, there is still an air of trepidation when approaching the subject as the fear of ridicule is very prevalent.
“There were almost 500 reported sightings in the UK last year, with likely many times that number going unreported showing that there is a genuine concern around unidentified phenomena being seen across the country.”
Now Nasa is hoping more people – and pilots in particular – will feel comfortable reporting sightings.
Dr Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at Nasa headquarters in Washington, said: “At Nasa we’re scientists, we love data. We love all data.
“And if there is something that needs to be reported, we want people to be able to feel that they can report that.”
