Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the former head of AARO, [just today published a UAP study](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-49527-x) in Nature, widely regarded as the leading scientific journal in the world. The title of the study is “An environmental analysis of public UAP sightings and sky view potential.”
**Abstract of that that research study below:**
>Sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) have been reported throughout history. Given the potential security and safety risks they pose, as well as scientific curiosity, there is increasing interest in understanding what these sighting reports represent. We approach this problem as an important one of the human experience and that can be examined through a geographical lens: what local factors may increase or decrease the number of sighting reports? Using a Bayesian regression method, we test hypotheses based on variables representing sky view potential (light pollution, tree canopy, and cloud cover) and the potential for objects to be present in the sky (aircraft and military installations). The dependent variable includes over 98,000 publicly reported UAP sightings in the conterminous United States during the 20-year period from 2001 to 2020. The model results find credible correlations between variables that suggest people see more “phenomena” when they have more opportunity to. This analysis is one of few investigations of UAP sighting reports at a national scale providing context to help examine individual reports. Given that these objects are labeled unidentifiable in the personal sense, there are many natural and/or human based explanations worth exploring.
[Example image from Dr. Kirkpatrick’s study](https://preview.redd.it/zg84w1yx4b6c1.jpg?width=685&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5e59bb60d77f7238c31d91dc6df155bb3d0c7a50)
**A few takeaways:**
* It appears they used geocoded NUFORC data for this study
* “The main concern of these findings is, are these volunteered data valid? The short answer is that it is likely that some are and some aren’t.”
* ” The stigma given to this area of research, if it is explored scientifically, should be over. ”
* “We make no hypotheses about what people are seeing, only that they will see more when and where they have opportunity to.”
* ” The question remains, however, as to what these sighting reports are of. ”
This doesn’t appear to be a show-stopper study for disclosure, however, it’s a step in the right direction in terms of getting research about the UAP topic into rigorous scientific journals. Doing so breaks down the stigma associated with the topic and raises academic awareness of the issue. I commend Dr. Kirkpatrick and his co-authors on their efforts in this specific regard.
by showmeufos