NASA held its first public meeting on UFOs on Wednesday a study into unexplained sightings and insisted it含羞草研究社檚 not hiding anything.

The space agency televised the four-hour hearing featuring an independent panel of experts who vowed to be transparent. The team includes 16 scientists and other experts selected by NASA including , the first American to spend nearly a year in space.

含羞草研究社淚 want to emphasize this loud and proud: There is absolutely no convincing evidence for extraterrestrial life associated with含羞草研究社� unidentified objects, NASA含羞草研究社檚 Dan Evans said after the meeting.

Still, hundreds of questions from the public that poured in ahead of time were skeptical and veered into conspiracy theories.

NASA launched the study to probe what it calls UAPs 含羞草研究社� short for unexplained anomalous phenomena 含羞草研究社� in the sky, in space or under the sea.

Optical illusions can explain some of this, said Kelly, a former Navy fighter pilot. He recalled a Tomcat flight off Virginia Beach years ago during which his radar intercept officer in the back seat was convinced they含羞草研究社檇 flown past a UFO.

含羞草研究社淚t turns out it was Bart Simpson, a balloon,含羞草研究社� Kelly said. 含羞草研究社淎nd in my experience, the sensors kind of have the same issues as the people含羞草研究社檚 eyeballs.含羞草研究社�

Evans pointed out that the livestream of the meeting led to considerable trolling. That comes on top of 含羞草研究社渙nline abuse含羞草研究社� directed toward several committee members.

Harassment detracts from the scientific process and reinforces the stigma surrounding the topic, said Evans, adding that NASA security is dealing with it.

含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 precisely this rigorous, evidence-based approach that allows one to separate the fact from fiction,含羞草研究社� he said.

The group is looking at what unclassified information is available on the subject and how much more is needed to understand what含羞草研究社檚 going on in the sky, according to astrophysicist David Spergel, the committee含羞草研究社檚 chair who runs the Simons Foundation.

No secret military data are included, such as anything surrounding the suspected spy balloons from China spotted flying over the U.S. earlier this year.

The meeting was held at at NASA headquarters in Washington with the public taking part remotely.

A final report is expected by the end of July.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute含羞草研究社檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marcia Dunn, The Associated Press

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