Galileo Project: Using High-Powered Telescopes to Identify UFOs

“We can’t prove they are aliens, but we can’t rule it out either.”

That is the gist of the Pentagon’s recent report to Congress on the topic of UAP- Unidentified Area Phenomena (the official jargon for UFOs). The report analyzed 144 UAP documented since 2004 and were able to identify only one with confidence as a “deflating balloon”. The rest of the UAP remain just that: unidentified.

Harvard Professor Dr. Avi Loeb, one of the top astronomers in the word, believes that science may be able to provide answers to questions the government has left unanswered. Most of the data on UAP is anecdotal and a result of random, accidental occurrences. As a scientist, Loeb wants to study UAP in a more intentional and systematic way.

In order to bring the scientific method to bear on UAP research, Loeb and his colleagues have started the Galileo Project. This new initiative, named for the 16th century Italian scientist who boldly turned his telescope to the heavens and faced the wrath of contemporary authorities for challenging established dogma, will, “dare to look through new telescopes.”

Project Galileo will work to systematically and methodically study UAP, using state-of-the-art techniques and high-powered telescopes. The data will be collected transparently and available to the public.

“After the recent release of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), the scientific community now needs the determination to systematically, scientifically and transparently look for potential evidence of extraterrestrial technological equipment. The impact of any discovery of extraterrestrial technology on science and on our entire world view would be enormous,” said Loeb.

The Galileo Project will focus on three major areas of research:

1. Use high-powered telescopes to get detailed images of UAP

A big reason why UAP remain unidentified is because the images we have of them are grainy, blurry, or at a distance. The Galileo Project will set up a network of high-resolution telescopes equipped with an array of sensors and use algorithms and an AI to hone in on potential UAP. The goal is to get an image of a UAP detailed enough to identify and study.

2. Study interstellar objects

Loeb has hypothesized that the mysterious interstellar object that recently passed earth, Oumuamua, could have been a piece of alien technology due to its unusual characteristics. However, by the time scientists were able to spot it the object was already on its way out. The Galileo Project seeks to better anticipate and monitor future interstellar objects, and even be prepared to launch a craft to intercept one so scientists can study it more thoroughly.

3. Search for extraterrestrial technology orbiting earth.

There are countless objects orbiting our planet, everything from rocks to discarded rocket parts. Could there be extraterrestrial satellites orbiting the earth as well? The Galileo Project will use “advanced algorithmic and AI/DL object recognition and fast filtering methods” to find and identify objects orbiting the earth.

“Given the recently discovered abundance of Earth-Sun systems, the Galileo Project is dedicated to the proposition that humans can no longer ignore the possible existence of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations,” says Loeb. “Science should not dogmatically reject potential extraterrestrial explanations because of social stigma or cultural preferences, factors which are not conducive to the scientific method of unbiased, empirical inquiry. We now must ‘dare to look through new telescopes’, both literally and figuratively.”