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Columnist and Space

Is the truth out there? Yes, but it doesn't involve aliens

A recent paper packed with delightful acronyms digs into where people report having seen UFOs, but finds no evidence of alien visitors, says Annalee Newitz

By Annalee Newitz

20 March 2024

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A hotspot analysis of reported “unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)” sightings from 2001 to 2020, taken from the paper “An environmental analysis of public UAP sightings and sky view potential”

R. M. Medina et al.

MY FAVOURITE subgenre of scientific papers is “let’s please take this thing seriously even though it’s usually associated with conspiracy theories and cheesy sci-fi movies”. And so it was with glee that I dived into a recent example with the highly technical title “An environmental analysis of public UAP sightings and sky view potential”. Translation: “We looked at where the most…

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