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00:00 more science and less stigma.
00:02 NASA says we need to change the way we perceive
00:05 unidentified flying objects or UFOs.
00:08 The space organization released a year-long study
00:11 into UFOs on Thursday, saying that negative predispositions
00:15 pose an obstacle to collecting data.
00:17 However, the big question, which everyone will want to know,
00:20 are we alone in the universe?
00:22 Well, that's still up for debate.
00:24 To help us unearth this report, I'm
00:26 joined now by Avi Loeb, professor of science
00:29 at Harvard University.
00:30 Avi, thank you so much for joining us.
00:33 Obviously, a big report.
00:35 It's taken a year to release.
00:37 What were the key findings?
00:39 Thanks for having me.
00:42 The study looked at the open data.
00:45 And frankly, the most exciting data
00:47 may be classified by US government,
00:49 because if it was collected by sensors
00:52 that the US does not want adversaries to be aware of,
00:56 the data itself is classified.
00:58 The NASA committee basically established the rules
01:02 for scientific inquiry into the nature
01:05 of these unidentified objects.
01:07 And obviously, we want instruments
01:10 that are fully calibrated, under control, to look into it.
01:15 A couple of years ago, I established the Galileo Project
01:18 at Harvard University, which is already doing that.
01:21 And so the hope is that in the coming years,
01:24 we'll be able to figure out what all these anomalous objects
01:28 are.
01:28 And that would be good, because then if they are just
01:32 human-made, we can move on.
01:34 If there is one in 1,000 of them that
01:36 is from outside of this Earth, that
01:40 will change the future of humanity.
01:43 Of course, that goes back to the old quote,
01:45 "Either we are alone in the universe,
01:47 or we are not, both are equally as terrifying."
01:52 Why does it matter what we know out there?
01:56 Because most civilizations that preceded us
02:01 had more time to develop their science and technology.
02:04 And we could learn from their advances
02:07 about our future, technological future.
02:10 It could inspire us to reach out to the stars.
02:14 It could also change our priorities.
02:17 Instead of engaging in conflicts here on this rock
02:20 that we were born on, we might venture into space.
02:23 So altogether, I see it as a very important step forward
02:27 for humanity, demonstrating that we are intelligent.
02:30 And I describe it in my new book, which just came out,
02:33 called "Interstellar."
02:35 Very aptly named, Professor Loeb.
02:42 Now, you mentioned that, obviously, there
02:44 could be confidential information.
02:47 If NASA were to find something of importance,
02:50 would they ever actually tell us if we weren't alone?
02:55 Yeah, anything interstellar should be shared by all humans.
03:00 Because such an object started the journey when
03:04 humans did not exist on Earth millions or billions of years
03:08 ago.
03:09 And moreover, from a distance, any sender
03:13 does not care about how we split the land on Earth.
03:17 So it's not a matter of national security.
03:20 It should be scientific knowledge
03:22 that is shared by all humans.
03:24 And hopefully, we'll get to the bottom
03:26 of the nature of these objects.
03:28 The sky is not classified.
03:30 The oceans are not classified.
03:32 I just came back from an expedition
03:34 to the Pacific Ocean to look at the first interstellar meteor.
03:38 And we found that the composition
03:39 is of something that came from outside of the solar system.
03:43 So we can make progress using the scientific method
03:47 and stay tuned.
03:48 We might find something.
03:50 We might find something.
03:52 I'm just curious, because there was only $100,000
03:55 put towards this particular report.
03:58 Do you envisage more future research similar to this,
04:03 where we will get bigger budgets, bigger funding,
04:05 and we might actually find more things?
04:08 Well, actually, the expedition we had to the Pacific Ocean
04:11 cost $1.5 million.
04:13 The funding came from a private donor.
04:15 So I'm not waiting for the government
04:19 to make the decision to fund this heavily.
04:22 There are lots of people in the public that are curious.
04:25 And we can pursue this scientifically
04:29 using new observatories, because astronomy
04:33 was focused on looking through telescopes
04:36 in a very narrow field of view.
04:39 We have to look at the entire sky.
04:41 We might need to use microscopes if we
04:43 find interstellar meteors at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
04:46 So altogether, we shouldn't just wait for government
04:50 to do the right thing.
04:52 We can pursue it ourselves.
04:53 This subject belongs to the mainstream of science,
04:57 because the public cares about it,
04:58 and now the government cares about it.
05:01 They care, absolutely.
05:02 Thank you so much, Professor, for joining us.
05:04 That's Professor Avi Lobb, senior professor of science
05:07 at Harvard University.