It is curious that the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) should appoint a director to look to lead research on what has been called Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), another name for the well-known Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) of popular imagination.

NASA has already come to the conclusion that the link between the UFOs and extra-terrestrial civilisations or intelligence is non-existent. But the UFO has haunted the imagination of science enthusiasts who are fed on science fiction which talks of superior civilisations in other parts of the universe to that of the earth. And the UFOs have been identified with huge spaceships as seen in Steven Spielberg’s 1980s fantasy drama, “ET” or the other fantasy about aged people getting rejuvenated by extra-terrestrial force in “The Cocoon”.

Many people, especially solo pilots, have reported and described in detail their experience of sighting a UFO. But nothing could be established through reliable evidence which is generally used for verification in scientific research. But the UFOs have persisted in the Western psyche, especially that of the Americans. A sociological explanation would be that the modern West had rid itself of old superstitions and it got trapped in a new one. UFO is one of the new superstitions.

NASA seems to be taking special care not to rule out anything which could be out there though not yet proved, and which could like any unknown object pose a threat to the earth and humanity. It is a known fact that objects from outer space did crash on earth’s surface millions and thousands of years ago, and which caused huge species destruction, including climate change.

These were the meteorites, small objects full of minerals which fly through the space at high speeds, and then crash into planets. The other flying object is that of the comet which is known to carry space debris and incendiary material, again flying at a high speed. The comets have entered the literary imagination and 16th -17th centuries English playwright Shakespeare noted it in his play, “Julius Caesar” when he wrote, “When beggars die no comets are seen. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.” And meteorites have entered the literary imagery of the English language when a person’s sudden spurt in fortunes is described as a “meteoric rise”.

It seems that NASA wants to set the record straight on the UFOs. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson wants to shift the focus on UFOs from “sensationalism to science”. He is aware that the UFO is an issue of popular curiosity and even obsession, and that the idea behind the UFO is that it is a sign of an extra-terrestrial legislation. He said, “If you ask me if there’s life in a universe that’s so vast that it’s hard for me to comprehend how big it is, my personal answer is ‘Yes’”.

The UFO, which will now be referred to as UAP, is a continuation of the search for an extra-terrestrial civilisation because scientists seem to believe that it is impossible that only human beings on a tiny planet like earth can exist in the vast universe. So, NASA would be leading the hunt for one. But it would be a huge mistake to confuse the sightings, which seem to be optical illusions, of the UFOs as a sign of the alien civilisation in other parts of the universe.

It is surprising that NASA is not saying with firmness its own finding that the UFOs are imaginary, and that this does not come in the way of the assumption that there could be other intelligent beings in the universe. Renaming the UFOs as UAP does not really help. It looks like that NASA does not want to disappoint people. Now, this is nothing more than playing to the gallery.