Sat Dec 6 2025

Researchers say they have serious questions about UFOs, aliens

$This handout image released by ESA, NASA, CSA, Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) shows a mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, captured with the James Webb Space Telescopes Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), displaying the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. Scattered among them are still-embedded stars, appearing red, yet to emerge from the dusty cocoon of the nebula. NIRCam is able to detect these dust-enshrouded stars thanks to its unprecedented resolution at near-infrared wavelengths. To the upper left of the cluster of young stars, and the top of the nebulas cavity, an older star prominently displays NIRCams distinctive eight diffraction spikes, an artifact of the telescopes structure. Following the top central spike of this star upward, it almost points to a distinctive bubble in the cloud. Young stars still surrounded by dusty material are blowing this bubble, beginning to carve out their own cavity. Astronomers used two of Webbs spectrographs to take a closer look at this region and determine the chemical makeup of the star and its surrounding gas. This spectral information will tell astronomers about the age of the nebula and how many generations of star birth it has seen. Farther from the core region of hot young stars, cooler gas takes on a rust color, telling astronomers that the nebula is rich with complex hydrocarbons. This dense gas is the material that will form future stars. As winds from the massive stars sweep away gas and dust, some of it will pile up and, with gravity's help, form new stars.$

A group of researchers wants to make the study of UFOs an academic discipline. Experts call them unidentified anomalous phenomena (or UAPs).

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