Why do Scientists Prefer The Term UAP Instead of UFO

You are in good company if you often look out into the dark night, at the bright specks of space and sky, and think you see something extraordinary, fantastic, or even inexplicable moving across the sky. People have been reporting unexplained objects in the sky since ancient Greece. We are used to hearing them as UFOs or unidentified flying objects.

NASA even now has an independent team of 16 scientists and astrophysicists who will study these mysterious sightings in the sky, or as they call them Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), and try to understand them better. 

Beginning October 24, 2022, the team will spend nine months processing unclassified data collected by civilian astronomers, national intelligence agencies, and security services. The goal is to discover new ways to collect and understand UAP data in the future and determine the best ways to use this information to keep aircraft safe. They will make their results public in mid-2023.

This is not the first time that a US government agency has investigated UFOs. One of the best known is Project Blue Book from the 1950s and 1960s. But this might be the first time they focus on UAPs instead of UFOs.

We know. We too were confused at first. power supply? Why not UFO? 

A Brief History of UFOs

The acronyms UFO and UAP refer to the same unidentified events reported in our skies: unidentified objects and orbs of light. The problem with using the term UFO is that you can't say it, or hear it, without also thinking of aliens or extraterrestrials.

That's because we've been calling those flying saucers, levitating lights, and hovering discs that suddenly take off and disappear into the night UFOs since the late 1940s. 

One of the earliest and most notable discussions of unusual flying objects took place on June 24, 1947, when pilot Kenneth Arnold flew over Mount Rainer en route to neighboring Oregon.

Arnold reported seeing nine bright circular disks moving in what appeared to be an organized staggered formation across the sky at speeds of up to 1,200 miles per hour (1,931 kilometers per hour). It was the first time in recorded history that the terms "flying saucer" or "flying disks" were used to describe unexplained events. After 1947, the US government created UFO investigation task forces.

As more sightings like Arnold's were reported in the United States and around the world, these events became known as "unidentified flying objects," or UFOs. The term evolved from "flying saucer" and was coined by civilians and government officials in the 1950s.

They have been fascinated by the unexplained world of space and sky for generations and have always had a connection to aliens. But if we all know about UFOs, why would the government bother to change their names? 

What Is a UAP?

The Pentagon has confirmed that this screenshot of a leaked video of a flashing triangular object hovering over a US warship is authentic, though it declined to
call it a UAP.

It may be easy to deny eyewitness reports, but it is much more difficult to deny a UAP that has been observed and confirmed on radar.
That's all to say that the renewed interest in UAPs in government intelligence circles is a good thing. This suggests that they are taking the unexplained theft activity in our skies seriously. The Navy videos were so alarming that it is good news that they are being investigated.
Well, that doesn't mean aliens are out of the picture or out of scientific research. Dubbed UAP, this could be how science and intelligence agencies finally admit these objects are out there. And to think that it's okay to talk about unexplained aerial phenomena without worrying about alienating yourself because it sounds crazy.
 

Why switch to UAP? First, UAPs are considered unexplained landmarks in the sky rather than unidentified flying objects. UAP is a relatively new term, but it entered our lexicon after the US Department of Defense released several Navy videos capturing UAP.
Then, in 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released its highly anticipated report, Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Without a Single Mention of Aliens. 
Scientists are also starting to use the scientific method to study UAPs, just like SETI has been doing since the 1970s. They're doing it with advanced technology like radar.
This was repeated in the Preliminary Assessment: Report of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena published on June 25, 2021:

 

Most of the UAP reported probably do represent physical objects given that a majority of UAP were registered across multiple sensors, to include radar, infrared, electro-optical, weapon seekers and visual observation.