In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) issued a document that included newly declassified details about unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). Following this release, the Department of Defense began publishing yearly updates on UAP via the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO). Despite these efforts, public access to relevant scientific data remains limited. To tackle this issue, researchers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) and the Galileo Project have initiated a new investigation proposing an all-sky infrared camera system called Dalek designed to look for possible signs of alien space vehicles.
The research was spearheaded by Laura Domine, who held a position as part of the Keto-Galileo Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard University and also contributed her expertise through involvement with the Galileo Project. Her team included collaborators affiliated with the CfA, the Galileo Project itself, the Whitin Observatory, the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, along with members from Atlas Lens Co. paper Summarizing their proposal, they were featured at the 2025 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference ( LPSC 2025 ), occurring between March 10th and 14th in The Woodlands, Texas. They presented an extended version of their paper during this event. published in the journal Sensors .
The device outlined in their research paper has earned the nickname Dalek due to its likeness to the mechanical adversaries from the Doctor Who series. This apparatus expands upon suggestions put forth by NASA in an independent report released in 2023, wherein they noted:
Purpose-designed future sensors for unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) detection must have the capability to adapt within milliseconds to enhance their effectiveness. Simultaneously, warning systems ought to swiftly and consistently identify and disseminate fleeting details… Integrated sensor systems are crucial for offering a comprehensive view of a UAP occurrence. The movement of an entity should be documented along with its form (through imaging data), hue (via multispectral or hyperspectral data), alongside any noises and additional attributes.
Their document outlines this multifaceted, multiband terrestrial observatory—the initial apparatus being commissioned at the Galileo Institute’s testing facility—and the calibration procedures involved. Professor Avi Loeb, who holds the position of Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and has directed the Institute for Theory and Computation (ITC) since 2007 as part of the Center for Astrophysics (CfA), currently leads the Galileo Project initiated in 2021. In an emailed conversation with Universe Today, he provided further insight.
Frequently, U.S. governmental information is kept secret; this may be due to being gathered through classified equipment or owing to insufficient understanding which might make it pertinent to national safety. Whenever uncertainty arises, such data isn’t shared with the general populace or academic circles. Nevertheless, since celestial bodies aren’t subject to classification rules, the Galileo Project has established an all-inclusive sky monitoring station at Harvard University and is building additional facilities in Pennsylvania and Nevada aimed at detecting unusual entities across various wavelengths including infrared, visible light, radio waves, and sound frequencies.
According to Loeb’s account, each of these three observatories identifies around 100,000 objects monthly and has gathered information on approximately 1 million objects so far. This constitutes the most extensive catalog methodically compiled concerning near-Earth objects (NEOs). The Galileo Project scrutinizes this dataset with sophisticated machine-learning tools. These include a YOLO model designed for detecting objects and a SORT algorithm utilized for reconstructing trajectories.
These algorithms are designed to recognize common items such as planes, drones, balloons, birds, and satellites. This capability enables them to sift through all identified Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) and identify anomalies. Furthermore, the document includes an overview of the observatory’s initial five-month operational phase. According to the researchers' report, approximately 500,000 objects were spotted during this timeframe. Out of these, around 16%, totaling about 80,000, showed unusual patterns when analyzed at a 95% confidence interval and underwent additional scrutiny using infrared imagery.
Of these, 144 trajectories were still unclear, and they suggest that these are probably ordinary objects which cannot be more specifically categorized without additional details such as distance and other sensor data. As stated by Loeb:
During the initial five-month period covered in this report, we analyzed data from around 500,000 objects and evaluated our capability to categorize them without knowing their distances. Moving forward, we aim to calculate the distances to these objects using triangulation with several detectors positioned at different locations within each facility. Implementing this approach would enable us to ascertain the speed and rate of change in speed for various entities and effectively pinpoint those exhibiting unusual behavior.
In contrast, classified research conducted by government organizations like the AARO—which frequently utilizes range calculations derived from radar information and various sensors—indicated that approximately 3% of the reported incidents stayed unresolved. Loeb stated that the primary objective is to identify any potential anomalies that might serve as proof of an advanced technological civilization (also known as technosignatures). As Loeb mentioned:
"Our goal is to check if there are any objects which display anomalous flight characteristics or shapes. Even if one in a million happened to show abilities beyond human-made technologies, it would constitute the biggest scientific discovery ever made. Such an object could suggest the existence of an extraterrestrial technological civilization from which we can learn about more advanced science and technology than humans developed over the past century."
More information: Laura Domine and others commissioned a comprehensive infrared camera array aimed at detecting airborne objects across the entire sky. Sensors (2025). DOI: 10.3390/s25030783
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