The Government Put Avi Loeb in Charge of UAP Science. Other Scientists Aren't Thrilled.

The White House has put Avi Loeb in charge of the science of UFOs. Depending on which scientist you ask, that is either overdue or exactly the wrong call, and the Associated Press got both reactions on the record.

What was actually announced

Loeb, a Harvard astrophysicist, was named to lead a new UAP Science Advisory Council, a group of roughly 15 outside scientists tasked with studying the national-security dimension of unidentified anomalous phenomena. Per the AP, the council reports upward to a newly established UAP Governance Board overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which held its first meeting on June 17, 2026 and supports the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

A note on timing and phrasing, because both have been blurred in the coverage. The council came together in mid-to-late June; the AP wire story that drove the national attention published June 30 and was updated July 1. And while the AP frames it as the White House having “tapped” Loeb, his own account is that he “had been tasked by the White House, AARO, ODNI, the FBI, and members of the intelligence community to assemble a team.” Attribute the “appointed by the White House” line to the AP; Loeb describes it as an assignment to build the group.

The pushback is coming from inside the field

The interesting part is not that skeptics object to a UAP council. It is that the objections quoted by the AP come from working scientists, aimed at Loeb specifically.

Sean Kirkpatrick, who previously investigated UAP at the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, told the AP that Loeb is “not viewed favorably” in the scientific community and lacks national security experience. The AP adds that, in Kirkpatrick’s view, the makeup of Loeb’s team suggests the White House is more interested in fringe theories than hard science.

Steve Desch, an Arizona State University astrophysicist and frequent Loeb critic, was blunter: “I don’t know what’s going to come of this, but we’re not going to get any closer to answering these questions with him in charge.”

Loeb, for his part, is unbothered on the record. “It’s like a detective story,” he told the AP. “It’s a lot of fun, as long as you don’t pay too much attention to the critics.” Elsewhere he offered the line that doubles as his whole method: “Let’s keep our eyes on the orbs, not the social media.” He also allowed the more careful observation that “the government is baffled by not being able to infer the nature of some of these objects.” The White House, the AP notes, did not respond to a request for comment about the criticism.

Why the résumé cuts both ways

Loeb is polarizing for concrete reasons. In 2017 he argued the interstellar object ‘Oumuamua could be a thin light sail, possibly from alien technology, rather than a natural comet. He founded Harvard’s Galileo Project to hunt for artifacts of alien civilizations. In 2023 he led a Pacific expedition that recovered metallic spherules he suggested might be interstellar; other researchers said they were more likely volcanic rock or industrial ash.

That is either the ideal temperament for a question the mainstream has avoided, or a track record of reaching for the extraordinary before the ordinary is ruled out. Both readings are defensible, which is precisely why the appointment is a story.

The twist worth watching

Here is the wrinkle that makes this more than an academic food fight. Since taking the role, Loeb’s public commentary on the government’s own PURSUE file releases has often been deflationary. Faced with the Yellow Sea “six-pointed star” clip in the July 10 release, he attributed the shape to a camera diffraction artifact. Faced with the 1996 shuttle images, he called the object likely orbital debris. The man the critics cast as too credulous is, on the actual files, frequently the most cautious voice in the room.

Whether that caution holds as the pressure and the releases mount is the real test. For now, the government’s UAP science is being run by someone whose detractors and whose public file-reads point in opposite directions, and both are on the record.