The Galileo Project at Harvard University has released its first comprehensive survey of anomalous atmospheric objects detected by its purpose-built observatory system.
The results, published as a preprint on arXiv, represent what the team calls "the first scientific census of anomalous objects in the lower atmosphere conducted with calibrated, multi-modal instrumentation."
The Observatory System
The primary instrument suite consists of eight high-resolution optical cameras providing 360-degree sky coverage, an infrared thermal imaging system, Doppler radar, audio sensors, weather monitoring equipment, and a radio frequency spectrum analyzer. All instruments are time-synchronized to within microseconds.
Key Results
Over a 14-month observation period, the system recorded 502,481 total atmospheric objects. Of those, 99.2 percent were identified as conventional objects. 3,842 required extended analysis but were ultimately resolved. Seven objects remain genuinely anomalous.
The seven unresolved cases share common characteristics: no visible propulsion, velocities exceeding known drones or balloons, absence of transponder signals, detection by multiple sensor modalities, and trajectories inconsistent with wind patterns.
Scientific Significance
Professor Avi Loeb emphasized: "For the first time, we have a controlled, calibrated dataset that allows us to state with statistical confidence that anomalous objects constitute approximately 0.0014 percent of all atmospheric observations. This is a small but scientifically significant fraction."
Co-investigator Dr. Wesley Watters noted that each case was detected by at least three independent sensor systems. "The probability of correlated artifacts across multiple sensor modalities is negligibly small."
The Galileo Project plans to deploy additional observatory systems at two more locations in 2026, creating a triangulation network.