NASA hopes it can help move the study of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) off the scientific fringes and into the mainstream.

The agency announced today (June 9) that it has commissioned a panel to investigate UAP, a recent rebranding that is pushing out the more familiar term "unidentified flying object" (UFO). 

The NASA study will begin this fall, take about nine months to complete and cost no more than $100,000, agency officials said during a call with reporters today. The main goal is to assess the state of the UAP data landscape and how it can be improved going forward.

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