NASA released its UAP Independent Study Team Report on September 14, 2023 — the first formal NASA engagement with the UAP subject. The 16-member team was chaired by astronomer David Spergel (Simons Foundation president) and worked exclusively with UNCLASSIFIED data, as team members lacked security clearance to access classified military UAP files. The report found no evidence of extraterrestrial origin — but also concluded that current data quality makes any scientific conclusion impossible. Key findings: (1) THREAT CULTURE: NASA panel members received harassment and threats during the study. Dan Evans (NASA Science Mission Directorate) told reporters: “Some of them actually rose to actual threats. Science needs to be free.” NASA initially refused to release the name of its newly appointed Director of UAP Research specifically because of these threats — a NASA scientist was being protected from violence for studying UAP. (2) THE DATA GAP: “Analysis of UAP data is hampered by poor sensor calibration, the lack of multiple measurements, the lack of sensor metadata, and the lack of baseline data.” Of 800+ unclassified military sightings, only “a small handful cannot be immediately identified.” (3) ADMINISTRATOR NELSON’S ADMISSION: “We don’t know what these UAP are.” He added personally: “If you asked me, ‘Do I believe there’s life in a universe that is so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is?’ My personal answer is ‘yes.'” (4) HISTORIC SHIFT: Historian Greg Eghigian (Penn State) noted: “NASA, historically, wanted nothing to do with UFOs.” The creation of the independent study team represents what Eghigian called “a sea change” as “close to a majority of academics now believe that the study of UFOs warrants scholarly research.”