- UAP – or UFOs – are hard to study scientifically. “Sightings” are typically brief. They can’t be repeated for closer examination, as happens with most scientific studies.
- But some physicists believe the tools of science can help answer the question of unexplained UAP. They’re now reporting results from field test using new scientific protocols.
- The team used scientific instruments, including infrared cameras, radar weather data and AI. They were able to explain almost all the anomalies recorded during their testing, except for one.
Bringing UAP and science together
By their nature, UAP (unidentified anomalous phenomena), or UFOs, are difficult to study scientifically. Claimed sightings are often fleeting and can’t be reproduced for additional analysis. Various studies have attempted to glean as much information as possible, however, with varying degrees of success. Now, a new research team at the University at Albany (UAlbany) in New York has proposed new rigorous methods to study UAP. The physicists said on June 4, 2025, that the new work builds on previous studies from numerous other researchers. The researchers used infrared cameras, radar weather data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other instruments for their first tests on the California coast.
In addition, Jon Kosloski, who heads the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), provided a new interview to ABC News on June 4, 2025.
Governments and other organizations, including NASA, have been using the term UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) in recent years instead of UFOs (unidentified flying objects). They use it to describe unexplained phenomena not just in the sky but also near Earth in space or even the ocean.
These initial results are from testing during a field expedition in 2021 to Laguna Beach, California. This is close to where there have been numerous UAP reports off the California coast. This includes the famous Nimitz incident involving the Navy’s U.S.S. Nimitz warship in 2004. The testing was also featured in the documentary A Tear in the Sky (2022).
The research team published their peer-reviewed results in the journal Progress in Aerospace Sciences on June 1, 2025. The paper is one of a series in a special edition of the journal titled Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena.
AARO director Jon Kosloski spoke to ABC News on June 4, 2025. Watch the exchange in the player above or at ABC News.
1st field test
The researchers, including Matthew Szydagis, Kevin Knuth and Cecilia Levy at UAlbany, conducted their first field test in 2021 at Laguna Beach, California. The region has been a hotspot for UAP reports. They collected images of the sky in both visible light and infrared. In addition, they used radar weather data from the National Weather Service and radiation detectors. The idea was to collect in-situ, real-time data instead of just relying on eyewitness reports after a sighting has already occurred. Szydagis is the lead author and an associate professor of physics at UAlbany. He explained the group’s approach to studying UAP:
Following on the recent joint Congressional subcommittee hearing on unidentified anomalous phenomena, the study of UAP is slowly moving from the fringe to the mainstream of scientific study. As this process moves forward, it’s critical that future study of UAP follows a rigorous, repeatable method that can be tested and confirmed by other researchers. We aim to establish a roadmap for these efforts with this paper.
The team used the weather radar data to help corroborate observations from the other instruments. They also utilized coincidence timing between detectors to determine whether potential anomalies were simultaneously recorded by multiple instruments. That would help to establish when an anomaly is really there and not just a technical glitch with one of the instruments. In addition, the team used a tool called Cosmic Watch to try to detect any possible radiation. Radiation signatures have sometimes been detected in relation to UAP events in the past.
Analyzing infrared images with the help of AI
Szydagis and his team also used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to help analyze the images from the infrared cameras. With this in mind, they developed new software called Custom Target Analysis Protocol (C-TAP). The software studies the images frame by frame and pixel by pixel. It combines both AI and human verification to analyze the images. In this way, the researchers can distinguish actual objects or phenomena in the images from digital noise.
Then, the researchers used trigonometric calculations on the C-TAP data to help identify and exclude known objects in the sky at the time.
A team of physicists at #UAlbany has proposed scientifically rigorous methods for documenting & analyzing Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).The study builds upon the work of numerous past and present researchers in the field.
— UAlbany News (@ualbanynews.bsky.social) 2025-06-04T19:45:25.384Z
Most anomalies explained
The results showed all the recorded anomalies, except one that could be plausibly explained. This isn’t too surprising, since it has been long known that by far most UAP cases can be explained. But there are always some that can’t be resolved as easily. Szydagis said:
While we did not find evidence indicating that UAP have anything to do with non-human intelligence, we still cannot fully explain our one remaining ambiguity, or potential anomaly, which was a collection of bright white dots within a dark spot seen in multiple videos.
Review of global UAP studies
The researchers published the new paper in a special edition of Progress in Aerospace Sciences titled Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena. Knuth is the lead author of one of the other papers, which reviews global UAP studies, titled The new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP).
It covers over 20 historical government and privately funded projects and recent scientific research efforts in Ireland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the United States. Knuth said:
Given the longstanding, global nature of the UAP/UFO question, the air safety and security implications of their presence, and the potentially profound importance of their nature, studying and understanding these phenomena is of great and urgent importance.
AARO interview on ABC News
In related news, ABC News interviewed Jon Kosloski, the director of the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), on June 4, 2025.
The Pentagon established AARO in 2022 as a successor to the previous UAP Task Force. To date, AARO has reviewed over 1,800 reports of UAP. Most of these come from military personnel, including fighter pilots. For the Pentagon and military, the primary concern is national security and flight safety. As has always been the pattern, most cases are able to be explained, but not all. As ABC News reported:
More than 1,800 cases have been reviewed by the Pentagon so far, with the vast majority ultimately resolved as likely balloons, drones, debris or animals [i.e., birds] based on a comprehensive review of available data.
Kosloski says ‘several dozen’ cases remain anomalous even after rigorous analysis of evidence. They continue to receive new reports of anomalies by military service members and the general public every month.
His statements are similar to previous ones he’s made regarding “unknowns.” But while acknowledging those unknowns, he also downplayed claims of the U.S. government having crashed UAP – in whole or in part – in its possession. Such claims have circulated ever since the famous Roswell incident in 1947.
Secrecy and stigma
Former Associate NASA Administrator Mike Gold also weighed in, saying:
The issue is when we mix secrecy with a stigma, and that we create such a stigma around a phenomenon that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for agencies, for people to look at the issue seriously.
If we study UAP, not only can we help with national security, but even if we don’t discover something exotic, what’s the worst-case scenario? We discover an incredible new physical phenomenon?
Bottom line: Physicists from the University at Albany have published their first results of a new scientific study about UAP. It is an attempt to bring UAP and science together with more rigorous scientific methods.
Sources:
Initial results from the first field expedition of UAPx to study unidentified anomalous phenomena
The new science of Unidentified Aerospace-Undersea Phenomena (UAP)
Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena
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