Sky mysteries & the search for life
Every day, people see things in the sky they can’t explain. And every day, scientists look for planets around other stars and wonder if anyone lives there. This page collects what grown-ups have actually written down so far — using real reports from the U.S. government and real planet discoveries from NASA.
UAP stands for "unidentified anomalous phenomenon." It means something seen in the sky or in space that no one has been able to explain yet. It used to be called UFO, which stands for "unidentified flying object." Most UAPs turn out to be ordinary things — balloons, satellites, drones, or the way a camera caught the light.
Yes — but not in the spooky way you see in movies. Scientists look for planets around other stars and check whether any of them could have water and the right temperature for life. They also use giant radio telescopes to listen for signals. So far, no one has found any clear sign of life beyond Earth.
Pilots and other people sometimes see things they can’t explain. The U.S. government collects those reports so scientists can study them and rule out everyday explanations like weather balloons. Most reports get an ordinary explanation. A small number stay a mystery — and those are the ones scientists keep investigating.
Most likely it would be very small life — like microbes in the soil of Mars or in the oceans under the ice of Europa or Enceladus. Scientists would test for chemicals that living things make. If we ever picked up a radio signal that nothing natural could explain, that would be a much bigger deal.
The U.S. government keeps public records about UAP reports. You don’t need a secret password — these records are open for anyone to read.
The National Archives is where the United States keeps important paperwork forever, like the Constitution. They also keep a whole collection of UAP reports — pilot sightings, investigation notes, and old government files.
The U.S. Department of Defense has an office called AARO that looks into UAP reports from military pilots. Their job is to figure out what each sighting really was, and then tell the public what they found.
Most of the time, the answer turns out to be something ordinary — like a balloon, a drone, a satellite passing overhead, or even a bug too close to the camera. A few cases are still being studied.
Read AARO’s reports →Yes, the U.S. government actually registered a website called alien.gov! It’s being set up to share UAP information with the public.
Right now it’s not open yet — still being built. We check on it once a week to see what changes.
Scientists at the SETI Institute point giant radio telescopes at the sky to listen for signals that might come from another civilization. They have been listening for more than 60 years.
So far the loudest result is the famous “Wow! signal” from 1977 — a strange burst that no one has ever been able to explain or hear again.
If aliens exist, they probably live on a planet around another star. NASA has confirmed thousands of those planets, called exoplanets. Here are some of the most recent ones scientists have added to the list.
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A short timeline of moments when the search for unexplained sky sightings, or the search for life beyond Earth, took an interesting turn.
This page pairs well with the source-evaluation lesson plan on For Schools. Students can compare a recent news claim about UAP with the actual government record it cites.