NASA chief Isaacman: UAPs could be a 'Sputnik Moment'

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman compared the recent increase in unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) sightings to the Cold War alarm that followed the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, Space.com reports. In a Sept. 25 interview on NewsNation's "The Hill," Isaacman said the agency needs to keep an open mind.

"If it's aliens, I think NASA should have a seat at the table for sure," Isaacman told host Blake Burman, referring to the White House's new system for releasing UAP files, known as PURSUE.

Isaacman said the objects could be natural phenomena or, possibly, advanced technology from an adversary. He pointed out that NASA has barely explored its own solar system, noting that moons like Saturn's Enceladus and Jupiter's Europa have oceans with complex chemistry.

"We couldn't tell you conclusively that there isn't life in our own backyard," Isaacman said, "let alone the billions of other stars in the Milky Way galaxy."

Separately, the U.S. Department of War issued a legal waiver in early September that it said would allow military personnel to disclose once-protected UAP information. But Robert Powell, an executive board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, told Space.com the waiver is not new. A 2023 law already let whistleblowers report to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, and this waiver only adds a second agency, PURSUE.

Powell said the waiver does not authorize talking to the press, researchers, or the public. It also does not clearly waive criminal statutes like the Espionage Act. And if someone claims an alien spacecraft is held at a military base, Powell asked, how is that verified?

"To date, Congress has not seemed willing to use its subpoena powers to force a military branch to provide information," Powell told Space.com. "It just remains 'he said, she said.'"

• Jared Isaacman
• NASA
• PURSUE
• Robert Powell
• Sputnik Moment
• UAP
• UFOs