Overview
- Loeb was named Saturday to chair the UAP Science Advisory Council, an outside panel created with the White House, the Pentagon's AARO, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the FBI to advise a new ODNI-led UAP Governing Board.
- The council comprises experts in physics, instrumentation, data science, biology, oceanography, anthropology and psychology and says its core mission is to set standards for data collection, improve sensors and produce independent, evidence-based analyses.
- Loeb has requested roughly 50 videos, images and documents from Pentagon and other agencies for review, but custodial agencies have not delivered those materials, citing national security concerns about revealing sensor capabilities.
- Loeb's selection has prompted a split reaction: some scientists welcome independent study and better instrumentation while others question his credibility because of his past public claims that objects like 'Oumuamua' or ocean metal spheres could be extraterrestrial.
- The effort builds on months of U.S. government UAP disclosures and could change how incidents are investigated by pushing for new sensors, standardized data and possible funding models similar to NSF support, though success will depend on resolving secrecy and transparency limits.