The UAP Science Advisory Council 

The Sol Foundation’s Participation in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s Scientific Advisory Body

Currently, the Sol Foundation primarily advises the United States government through its UAP Science Advisory Council, which interfaces with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to support the White House-led UAP transparency PURSUE initiative as well as the ODNI’s, FBI’s, and DoW’s investigations and analyses of UAP. Sol’s cofounders Garry Nolan and Peter Skafish are original members of the council, which is chaired and led by our advisory board member Avi Loeb. Our senior adviser, former acting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency administrator Admiral (ret.) Tim Gallaudet, and our advisory board member, Blue Marble Space cofounder and astrobiologist Jacob Haqq-Misra, are also original members. 

To learn more about the council, read its mission and work statement below.   

Mission and Work

The mission of the UAP Science Advisory Council is to support the President of the United States’ transparency initiative concerning Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) and the White House-supported efforts of the Department of War’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to analyze and understand UAP data. The Council fulfills its mission by advising the ODNI and AARO, and when appropriate, other relevant government components; undertaking new data collection efforts; conducting and publishing UAP-focused and other relevant scientific research; and providing independent scientific assessments and analyses of UAP data and events of interest to the US government.

Objectives

The Council’s objectives are as follows: (1) to determine conclusively, through scientific research and analysis, if any UAP are technologies and/or vehicles of nonhuman and possibly extraterrestrial provenance; (2) to determine if other UAP are natural phenomena of an unknown kind; (3) to determine if the testimony of retired federal government and private contractor personnel about classified U.S. government knowledge and programs concerning UAP is accurate; and (4) to demonstrate to academia,  related institutions and the public that UAP constitute a legitimate target for mainstream scientific inquiry as well as U.S. government interest and should be a national and international research priority.

Members and Participating Organizations

Members of the Council are scientists, social scientists, humanists, and technologists committed to the study of UAP. Participating Organizations are scientific research organizations committed to working cooperatively and jointly, both in the framework of the Council and beyond. Harvard professor Avi Loeb is head of the Council, and its members are Prof. Carol Cleland, Dr. Richard Cloete, Dr. Omer Eldadi, Dr. Tim Gallaudet, Dr. Anita Goel, Prof. Robin Hanson, Dr. Ravi Kopparapu, Rave Mehta, Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra, Ross Howard, Dr. Kevin Knuth, Ben Lamm, Dr. Devesh Nandal, Prof. Gary Nolan, Dr. Michael Shermer, Dr. Peter Skafish, Prof. Matthew Szydagis, Dr. Jennice Vilhauer, and Dr. Liberty Vittert.

Areas of Work and Outputs

To fulfill its mission and objectives, the Council undertakes three kinds of work, with three sets of corresponding outputs.

(1) Advisory Work. The Council provides scientific, social scientific, and humanistic advice to the ODNI, AARO and, when appropriate, the FBI, the Intelligence Community and other agencies supporting the White House’s UAP efforts, including the PURSUE releases of UAP footage and historical records. Such advice relies on scientific principles, research methodologies, data standards and may concern the difference between scientific research, intelligence analysis, and criminal investigation, proposed UAP measures or efforts, public federal government communications about UAP data and related historical records, and ODNI’s disclosure efforts. The Council’s advice is given both orally, as a group or by its head and/or individual member scientists and academics, and, when appropriate, in writing, on behalf of the Council as a whole. Advice expressed in written communications, including formal letters, constitute a record of the Council’s advice to government, positions on matters relevant to its mission and objectives, and a source of truth regarding any questions raised from within or outside government about its scientific integrity, relationship to government, and opinion on government data, actions, and records.

(2)  Research and Publication. As a body of individual scientists and scientific research organizations, the UAP Science Advisory Council undertakes joint research and publication projects that have inherent value to science and also serve to support and clarify the White House-supported UAP analyses and investigations of AARO, the FBI, ODNI, and the Intelligence Community; the broader PURSUE effort; and other disclosure efforts that may be initiated or ordered by the White House. The Council’s research is primarily in the natural sciences, based on instrument data or UAP materials, but it also encompasses social scientific and humanistic inquiry into UAP events, including those related to the U.S. government’s engagements with UAP, however defined. Council-endorsed publications can be peer-reviewed papers or, when appropriate to fulfilling the Council’s advisory mission, reports issued by the Council or by participating organizations, with a Council endorsement.

(3)  Scientifically Informed Assessments of UAP Events, Data, or Materials Previously Assessed by the US Government. When AARO, the FBI, the ODNI, or the Intelligence Community request such an assessment or accept the Council’s interest in performing one, the Council provides independent analyses of the government’s prior work. Assessments can be delivered in nonpublic communications as well as through publications and reports.

Commitment to Support Government Transparency

In keeping with its mission to support the President and White House’s UAP transparency initiatives, the UAP Scientific Advisory Council and its Members and Participating Organizations will not wittingly or willfully participate in, assist, or support disinformation, perception management, or similar efforts by the U.S. government intended to limit, undermine, or dilute public understanding of UAP and any U.S. government or government-related private sector programs or efforts to monitor and study UAP (including those alleged to engage in the detection, tracking, retrieval, and reverse engineering of UAP). The Council supports the U.S. government’s deliberate, controlled disclosure of its knowledge of and history of engagement with UAP.