UAP sessions held at the 2024 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference

Conference

The 2024 conference of the U.S. based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA)  AVIATION Forum and 2024 ASCEND was held in Las Vegas in late July/early August 2024. On Monday, 29 July three sessions were held, specifically related to UAP. 

Sessions

"Reinforcement Learning for Cognitive Detection and Characterization of Advanced Aerospace Vehicles." Rajiv Thummala and Gregory Falco. AIAA 2024-3734. Session: Advancing the Scientific Understanding of UAP to Improve Aviation Safety.

Abstract:

The detection and characterization of advanced aerospace vehicles (AAVs) that exhibit novel signatures and deviate from conventional profiles pose significant challenges for traditional air domain awareness systems, which rely on static detection and classification methods. Reinforcement learning (RL) has shown promise in developing cognitive air domain awareness systems capable of adapting to novel aircraft attempting to evade detection. By applying RL, radar systems can potentially learn optimal strategies for detecting and characterizing anomalous AAVs, continually optimizing their approach with each engagement and potentially discovering new detection and characterization methods. 

This paper examines the application of RL and generative adversarial networks (GANs) to facilitate adaptive, intelligent detection and characterization of AAVs, independent of pre-defined signatures or pre-existing trainings. We propose an RL-based framework that leverages adaptive detection and tracking, feature learning, sensor fusion, and transfer learning techniques to iteratively learn to detect and track AAVs from sensor data, even when their signatures deviate from known profiles. 

"The Reported Shape, Size, Kinematics, Electromagnetic Effects, and Presence of Sound of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Frome Select Reports, 1947-2016." Robert M. Powell, Larry Hancock, Laiba Hasan, Sarah Little, Robinson Truong and Tobi Kamoru. AIAA 2024-3735. Session: Advancing the Scientific Understanding of UAP to Improve Aviation Safety. 

Robert Powell -Team | Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (explorescu.org)

Abstract:

Publicly available witness reports, catalogued by military and civilian agencies, of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) from 1947 to 2016 were hand-sorted for selection based on four criteria: reliability of witness testimonies, object angular size, greater than 0.15 degrees, sufficient lighting, and sufficient information detail. The resultant database comprises the subset of historical reports that were determined to likely represent unidentified aerial objects.

Out of more than 100,000 reports amassed from one military database and four civilian databases, 301 reports spanning the same years were identified as meeting these criteria. From this selected set, the characteristics of shape, size, kinematics, electromagnetic effects and sound emanation are examined. Detailed descriptions in the witness accounts allowed us to present scaled illustrations for the two most common UAP shape categories: disks (domed, elongated, shortened) and triangles (isosceles, equilateral).

The largest shapes reported were diamond/rectangular and boomerang (median 300ft(91m)), and the smallest were spheres (median 20ft 96m)). Triangles (median 170ft (52m)) were consistently reported to hover, did not produce electromagnetic effects and were often noted to have an absence of sound. The combination of unusual kinematic range and absence of sound was found in 16 reports which specifically mentioned objects that hovered, traveled faster than Mach 1 and exhibited an absence of sound: disk (5), triangle (8), oval (1), sphere (1) and boomerang (1). The dataset of UAP characteristics presented here, based on 301 reliable witness reports, can be used to inform the design of the various UAP field instrumentation, detection algorithms, and propulsion hypotheses that are critical to the advancement of our understanding of UAP.

"Occupational Safety and Reporting Guidance: Reviewing UAP Safety Events." David Burstein, Shawn Pruchnicki and Iya Whiteley.  AIAA 2024-3736. Session: Advancing the Scientific Understanding of UAP to Improve Aviation Safety.

Abstract:

Background. With the release of the 2021 Preliminary Assessment on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), public interest in aerospace safety issues associated with UAP has increased. UAP are a potential safety of flight hazard, national security concerns, and source of public curiosity. UAP safety events are generally underreported, owing to challenges with detection and characterization, inadequate reporting mechanisms, and stigma. As a result, we have limited understanding of how UAP affect safe aerospace operations, as well as the ways in which aerospace personnel respond during and after UAP events.

As UAP reports increase, basic aviation safety principles can be used to review UAP events and make improvements for safer aerospace operations. In early 2024, the American Institute of Aeronautica and Astronautics (AIAA) UAP Integration & Outreach Committe (UAPIOC) drafted an opinion paper "Occupational Safety and reporting Guidance to Enhance Flight Safety, Reduce Stigma and Facilitate Scientific Understanding of UAP."

This guidance identified six areas worthy of unique consideration to advance knowledge of UAP: 1) Hazard Determination, 2) Aviation Team Responses to In-flight UAP reports, 3) Observation & Incident Reporting After Flight Operations, 4) Workplace Stigma and Safety Culture, 5) Crew Member Occupational Well-Being and General Health, 6) Centralizing National Scientific Date Collection.

UAP Safety Event Reviews To advance practical understanding of UAP safety risks, we will review a case example of an in-flight UAP observation and apply the above framework to identify human factors successes and opportunities related to this event. We will identify specific examples when flight safety or team-member well-being could be enhanced during and after UAP events.

Purpose: This work is intended to help facilitates the revie of human factors processes that promote effective responses and reporting by aviation personnel during UAP events. Our goal is to advance safety practices within the military and civilian aviation as it relates to UAP, and to advance the scientific study of UAP.

Methods: We analyzed one case example of a UAP event during aviation operations. We asked the individual involved with this UAP event to submit to us a written, narrative report of his experience based on: 1)UAP observations and crew member action s that took place during the event, 2) Experiences reporting the event, both in-flight and afterward; 3) Sense of safety culture and stigma during and after the event; and 4) sense of personal and occupational well-being after the event. We analyzed his narrative report with respect to the six key considerations from the AIAA UAPIOC's drafted opinion paper. Our aim was to draw specific conclusions with respect to 1) identifying areas where UAP reporting is hampered by stigma or concerns about individual consequences about reporting UAP; 2) reviewing opportunities to improve communication among team members during UAP events, and 3) identify apparent challenges among team members when responding to a UAP observation or incident, as well as challenges with respect to reporting the event for further analysis. 

Final Product. Our Final Products will be written case analysis as well as a 10–15-minute presentation that focuses aviation safety principles associated with UAP event. In each of these products we will briefly introduce the AIAA UAPIOCs framework as outlined in the drafted opinion Paper and provide an overview of how the narrative case report applies to our framework. Finally, we plan to discuss any conclusions we come to about potential success and opportunities to continue to improve aviation safety with respect to UAP. In our presentation, open discussion will be held during the session.

Panel

On 30 July, a one-hour duration panel discussion titled "Detection, Characterization and Evaluation of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP)" was held. The panel members were Ryan Graves, Robert Powell, Michael Lembeck and Lou Mack.  

Update: 4 August 2024

Patrick Donovan advises that the AIAA UAP Integration and Outreach Committee also presented to the AIAA Aerospace Traffic Management Committee, in a well-received presentation.