Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has been appointed to lead the White House's new UAP Science Advisory Council, tasked with studying unidentified anomalous phenomena through rigorous scientific methods. The council was established jointly by the White House, Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and the FBI, and focuses on evidence collection, instrumentation, and data analysis standards rather than relitigating unverified historical reports. Loeb, who founded the Galileo Project to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures into mainstream science, assembled a multidisciplinary team spanning physics, data science, psychology, oceanography, and other fields.
The council includes 13 members with expertise ranging from astrophysics to critical thinking. According to council member Devesh Nandal, the group applies data-driven and physics-based approaches with the same rigor used in their respective scientific fields. Outside experts offer cautious support: Mark Rodeghier of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies called independent scientist involvement "a potential positive development" but cautioned that the council's practical value depends on having clear mandate, data access, and collaboration with government agencies investigating UAP. Robert Powell of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies urged Congress to fund UAP research through the National Science Foundation.