Though the world is starting to take aliens more seriously, debates about the veracity of alien evidence are far from settled.
The UFO conversation reached a fever pitch in June when former U.S. intelligence officer David Grusch told NewsNation that the U.S. government was in possession of crashed UFOs, including the dead bodies of their pilots.
Grusch and two other former military whistleblowers testified before a Congressional hearing in July, discussing their first-hand experiences with such unidentified aerial phenomena.
Related: Neil DeGrasse Tyson reveals startling facts about recently discovered alien evidence
In the wake of this, both NASA and the Pentagon have additionally begun expanding their research efforts into the UFO vertical, aiming to gather more evidence around such sightings that is of a higher quality.
A September NASA report, while unable to tie UFO sightings in with alien activity, was also unable to say definitively what exactly these alleged UFOs were.
"The top takeaway from the study is that there is a lot more to learn," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
The Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), meanwhile, recently released a report detailing its efforts to investigate each of the roughly 800 UFO claims the office had received. The bulk of these sightings, the report concluded, are likely just the result of insufficient data, rather than an alien invasion.
"With an increase in the quality of data secured, the unidentified and purported anomalous nature of most UAP will likely resolve to ordinary phenomena," the report reads.
The head of AARO testified in April that the agency has uncovered "no credible evidence thus far of extraterrestrial activity, off-world technology or objects that defy the known laws of physics."
Neil DeGrasse Tyson wants to 'meet aliens'
Famed astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, speaking to Bill Maher on a recent episode of his "Club Random" podcast, said that he, like NASA and the Pentagon, needs much more evidence.
"I want to meet the aliens, I just need better evidence than what has been presented," he said. "If there are aliens, I would like better evidence than simple eye-witness sworn testimony. In science, what you swear on is not the measure of what is true, it's just the measure of what you think is true. I need better data than that."
Related: Whistleblowers Unveil Details of 'Incredible' UFO Experiences
NASA, through artificial intelligence, crowdsourcing and collaborations with the Federal Aviation Administration, is making an effort to increase the quality and quantity of data surrounding UFO sightings.
The Agency said in September that eyewitness accounts, while numerous, remain inconsistent and lacking in important detail. Such accounts can't be used to make "scientific conclusions" about alien life.
"All of the abduction stories, they all went away in the era of the smartphone because we can record that and we don't," Tyson said. "Now, you can stream whatever is in your phone to the internet, while it's happening. And we don't have any shots."
The truth of the matter, he said, is that, when it comes to aliens, "We don't know."
"The weight of that evidence is not magnified by someone swearing to tell the truth," Tyson added.
Following the July Congressional hearing, the Mexican Congress held a similar hearing in September that featured alleged alien corpses. Tyson, commenting on the demonstration in October, noted that it is "odd" that the supposedly alien mummies are humanoid in shape.
Still, Tyson has often said that visible evidence, provided scientists are given access to it, is the best thing that could happen; if accessible, such things can be studied, allowing for a more objective, substantiated conclusion.
"The universe," Tyson said, "Brims with mysteries."
Related: U.S. Government releases big new update in its UFO investigation
Get investment guidance from trusted portfolio managers without the management fees. Sign up for Action Alerts PLUS now.
