Pledging a new, transparent, scientifically rigorous look at UFOs, Nasa on Thursday said it had appointed a director of research on the topic — and then kept the name of the director a secret for about seven hours.

The new position is part of Nasa’s response to recommendations made by an independent study team that the agency had convened. The panel looked at how to better gather and study information about “unidentified anomalous phenomena”, or UAP — the modern term for UFOs.

The panel’s report, released on Thursday, did not attempt to provide a definitive answer to whether galaxy-trotting extraterrestrials are zipping through Earth’s skies. But it does propose a bigger role for Nasa in tackling the question.

On Thursday evening, the agency identified the director as Mark McInerney. He previously served as Nasa’s liaison with the defence department for UAP issues. In the news release, Nasa said he had also worked in various positions at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

New York Times News Service