NASA launches new independent study of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UFOs

A team of scientists and experts on Monday began a new study into unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), formerly known as UFOs, NASA announced. The nine-month study will "lay the groundwork for future study on the nature of UAPs for NASA and other organizations," the space agency said.

The team, announced on Friday, includes former astronaut Scott Kelly along with 15 other scientists and experts in fields ranging from computational data science, physics, astrophysics, astronomy, oceanography and several other disciplines. NASA had announced in June that the team would be led by David Spergel, the president of the Simons Foundation and an astrophysicist who formerly chaired Princeton University's astrophysics department.