Witness

David Spergel

Astrophysicist; president of the Simons Foundation; chair of the NASA UAP Independent Study Team (2022–2023)

David N. Spergel is an American astrophysicist who chaired the NASA UAP Independent Study Team — the first formal NASA review of UAP — which delivered its final report on September 14, 2023. ^[1]

Spergel spent his academic career at Princeton University, where he chaired the Department of Astrophysical Sciences and led the cosmology working group of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) mission. WMAP's measurement of the cosmic microwave background, for which Spergel shared the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, established many of the modern constraints on the age and composition of the universe. ^[2] In 2021 he became president of the Simons Foundation in New York, a private funder of basic research in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.

In June 2022 NASA's Associate Administrator for Science Mission Directorate, Thomas Zurbuchen, announced the formation of an independent study team to evaluate UAP from a strictly scientific standpoint and named Spergel as its chair. The team's September 2023 final report concluded that current evidence is insufficient to draw firm conclusions about UAP origins, recommended that NASA build a more rigorous data-collection pipeline using its existing assets, and led directly to NASA's appointment of a permanent Director of UAP Research. ^[3] ^[4]

Citations

Chaired the NASA UAP Independent Study Team, which delivered its final report on September 14, 2023. — NASA UAP Independent Study Team
Shared the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the WMAP mission's measurement of the cosmic microwave background. — Breakthrough Prize — David Spergel
NASA UAP team's final report recommended a more rigorous data-collection pipeline using existing NASA assets. — NASA UAP Independent Study Team — Final Report (Sep 2023)
Report led directly to NASA's appointment of a permanent Director of UAP Research in 2023. — NASA UAP page

Connected events

Report
September 14, 2023
NASA UAP Independent Study Team: Frequently Asked Questions on Scope, Methodology, and Findings
NASA's Science Mission Directorate published a Frequently Asked Questions page addressing the agency's Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) Independent Study, commissioned in 2023. The page clarifies the study's scope, team composition, methodology, and conclusions, confirming that the 16-member independent study team — led by astrophysicist David Spergel — was charged exclusively with identifying how scientific data and tools could be applied to UAP going forward, not with reviewing past UAP incidents. The FAQ also states that NASA has found no credible evidence of extraterrestrial life and no data supporting the hypothesis that UAP represent alien technologies. The document provides institutional context for NASA's UAP engagement: the nine-month study was conducted under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), required financial disclosures and ethics briefings from all members, and was overseen by Daniel Evans, Assistant Deputy Associate Administrator for Research at NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The FAQ further notes that NASA does not actively search for UAP, has not established a dedicated UAP program, and that study funding was consistent with other external review groups convened through NASA's Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science (ROSES) process. The page also references NASA's commitment to cooperating with the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), citing President Trump's direction for whole-of-government transparency.

NASA UAP Independent Study Team: Frequently Asked Questions on Scope, Methodology, and Findings