Overview
A CBS News report is examining how scientists, military personnel and government officials are attempting to study reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP)—the term now commonly used for what were once called UFOs. The central question is whether existing evidence can establish what witnesses actually observed, while distinguishing unexplained events from proof of extraterrestrial or non-human technology.
The report revisits one of the best-known cases in American UFO history. In May 1950, Evelyn Trent said she had finished feeding rabbits on her Oregon farm when she saw a slow-moving, metallic, disk-shaped object hovering overhead. The incident, later photographed and widely discussed, was treated by some as a hoax but became part of a growing collection of unexplained sightings that helped fuel the country’s first major UFO craze.
Public Interest and the Evidence
Interest in UAPs remains widespread. The annual McMenamins UFO Festival, held near the site of the Trent sighting in McMinnville, Oregon, features costumes, a parade and a range of theories about the possible origins of unusual objects. Some attendees have suggested that sightings could involve visitors from the future or beings from other dimensions—ideas CBS described as belonging to the more “fringe” side of the debate.
A CBS News poll cited in the report found that 17% of Americans—nearly one in five—say they have seen a UFO. That level of public interest has contributed to an expanding ecosystem of podcasts, documentaries and conferences. However, widespread testimony does not by itself resolve what witnesses saw. Reports may be affected by limited visibility, unfamiliar aircraft, atmospheric conditions, sensor errors, memory or deliberate deception.
Scientists Weigh Extraordinary Claims
Matthew Szydagis, a physics professor at the State University of New York at Albany and an invited speaker at the festival, said he considers the possibility that a small fraction of UAP reports could involve non-human intelligence. Such a discovery, he noted, would be “the greatest discovery in human history.”
At the same time, Szydagis emphasized that the field still lacks definitive evidence. “We still don't have definitive evidence,” he told CBS News, pointing to the absence of independently verified physical proof such as a non-human body. He said, however, that indirect evidence has made the possibility of non-human intelligence a subject that should no longer be dismissed as irrational.
Government and National Security Questions
Szydagis serves on a Scientific Advisory Council established by the Trump administration to study UAP reports. The council is led by Avi Loeb, a respected Harvard astronomy professor and former chair of the university’s astronomy department.
Loeb said the investigation has practical as well as scientific value. Some objects observed by U.S. personnel cannot currently be identified, he said, and determining whether they are human-made technologies, including systems from adversarial nations, could assist the Pentagon and intelligence agencies. That framing places UAP research within national-security concerns, rather than limiting it to speculation about extraterrestrial visitors.
The Need for Verifiable Findings
The report also points to the testimony of former U.S. Navy pilot Ryan Graves, whose 2023 appearance before Congress brought renewed national attention to military encounters with unexplained objects. His account reflects the broader challenge facing UAP investigators: credible witnesses may describe events they genuinely cannot explain, but testimony alone may not reveal the object’s origin.
For researchers such as Loeb and Szydagis, the goal is therefore not to confirm every extraordinary claim, but to apply systematic analysis to available imagery, radar data, pilot accounts and other records. An unexplained sighting is not automatically evidence of alien activity, yet it can still warrant investigation—particularly when it raises questions about aviation safety or potential foreign technology.
