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Nasa has convened a public meeting to discuss sightings of unexplained phenomena in the sky. The space agency has convened a panel to examine sightings of what it calls UAPs, or unidentified aerial phenomena, which many refer to as UFOs. Now the group has given its first public discussion, ahead of a report due to be published later this year. The space agency said the work was aimed at making it easier for people to report those UAPs, as well as to examine what exactly they might be. But representatives said that the panel involved in the work had received sustained abuse that had got in the way of that work. “Harassment only leads to further stigmatisation of the UAP field, significantly hindering the scientific progress and discouraging others to study this important subject matter,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate/ Nonetheless, Nasa said that it would be working to examine those reports of UAPs. “The presence of UAPs raises concerns about the safety of our skies, and it’s this nation’s obligation to determine if these phenomena pose any potential risks to airspace safety,” said Daniel Evans, Nasa’s assistant deputy associate administrator for research. The work is about safety but also the space agency’s “responsibility to be honest and forthright and to follow the science”, he said. But the data on UAPs has so far been “fragmented”, according to the panel’s chair, David Spergel, with problems of imprecision and having information spread across different agencies. Those issues meant that it was difficult to provide conclusions on every reported UAP event. He called for better data and joined other panelists in arguing that it should become less stigmatised for people to come forward about their sightings. Numerous panelists said that there was a “stigma” about reporting such phenomena that made it difficult to fully examine what might be going on. The 16-member panel includes experts in everything from physics to astrobiology, and began its work last June. Wednesday’s session is the first public hearings by the group – which itself represents the first such inquiry into unidentified aerial phenomena by Nasa. The NASA study is separate from a newly formalized Pentagon-based investigation of unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, documented in recent years by military aviators and analyzed by U.S. defense and intelligence officials. The parallel NASA and Pentagon efforts - both undertaken with some semblance of public scrutiny - highlight a turning point for the government after decades spent deflecting, debunking and discrediting sightings of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, dating back to the 1940s. The term UFOs, long associated with notions of flying saucers and aliens, has been replaced in government parlance by “UAP.” While NASA‘s science mission was seen by some as promising a more open-minded approach to a topic long treated as taboo by the defense establishment, the U.S. space agency made it known from the start that it was hardly leaping to any conclusions. “There is no evidence UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin,” NASA said in announcing the panel’s formation last June. In its more recent statements, the agency presented a new potential wrinkle to the UAP acronym itself, referring to it as an abbreviation for “unidentified anomalous phenomena.” This suggested that sightings other than those that appeared airborne may be included. Still, NASA in announcing Wednesday’s meeting, said the space agency defines UAPs “as observations of events in the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective.” U.S. defense officials have said the Pentagon’s recent push to investigate such sightings has led to hundreds of new reports that are under examination, though most remain categorized as unexplained. The head of the Pentagon’s newly formed All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) has said the existence of intelligent alien life has not been ruled out but that no sighting had produced evidence of extraterrestrial origins. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Nasa says Jeff Bezos will build moon lander to take astronauts to the Moon Opinion: The real reason companies are warning that AI is as bad as nuclear war Electric car drives for 100 hours non-stop on futuristic road Opinion: The real reason companies are warning that AI is as bad as nuclear war Electric car drives for 100 hours non-stop on futuristic road US and China ‘intertwined like conjoined twins,’ says Musk

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Federal prosecutors investigating Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election results have questioned his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, among other witnesses to see if the former president acknowledged he had lost. Mr Kushner testified in Washington DC last month, according to a report from The New York Times, and maintained that the former president believed the election was stolen, a source briefed on the matter said. It has also emerged that other key administration figures including Alyssa Farah Griffin and Hope Hicks were also questioned. Elsewhere, special counsel Jack Smith told a federal judge there is “no basis in law or fact” for indefinitely postponing the federal trial of Mr Trump and urged the court to proceed with jury selection in December. In a new court filing, Smith wrote that one of Trump’s legal arguments "borders on frivolous" and said there’s no evidence that waiting until after the 2024 presidential election would make the process any easier. Meanwhile, recent financial disclosure forms show Melania Trump was paid as much as $155,000 by a Super PAC linked to her husband for “event planning and consulting”. Read More Ron DeSantis rules out being Trump’s running mate: ‘I’m not a number two guy’ GOP lawmaker compares Hunter Biden to glitter: ‘You cannot get rid of him. We’re sick of it’ Trump sees democracy as ‘enemy territory’ says journalist who helped bring down Nixon Everything we know about Ray Epps, the man conservatives blame for the Capitol riot

Leading Chinese planners have voiced confidence in the outlook for the world's second-largest economy, holding key interest rates steady amid signs of improvement in some areas such as services

Roberto Firmino has been given a grand welcome after signing for Saudi side, Al-Ahli - but fans were quick to notice a slight blunder in the club's announcement video. 'Liverpool 2023', the on-screen text read, while a voiceover mimicked a plane announcement. However, the background imagery was of London's skyline, including famous landmarks such as the Gherkin, despite a road sign reading 'Liverpool'. It was no doubt in reference to Firmo's time at Liverpool, but there was no sign of the Albert Dock in sight. Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

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A federal judge has blocked key agencies within President Joe Biden’s administration from communicating with social media companies about certain online speech in an extraordinary ruling as part of an ongoing case that could have profound impacts on the First Amendment. The preliminary injunction granted by Donald Trump-appointed US District Judge Terry A Doughty in Louisiana on 4 July prohibits the FBI and the US Department of Health and Human Services from speaking with platforms for “the purpose of urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner the removal, deletion, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech.” The ruling – which could obstruct the administration’s attempts to combat false and potentially dangerous claims about vaccines and elections – is a victory for Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri who have alleged that the federal government was overreaching in its attempts to combat Covid-19 disinformation and baseless election fraud narratives. Judge Doughty, who has yet to issue a final ruling, stated in his injunction that the Republican plaintiffs “have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.” He did make some exceptions that would allow the government to warn platforms about national security threats, criminal activity or voter suppression. This is a developing story Read More Suspicious powder found at the White House when Biden was gone was cocaine, AP sources say Biden renews call for assault weapons ban after spate of July 4 shootings Watch live: Joe Biden addresses National Education Association

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Burger King is causing a stir in Thailand with its new offering: a burger with no meat and a jaw-dropping amount of cheese.