Did aliens spy on our nuclear tests? Study finds signs of UFOs near US sites in 1950s Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY Tue, October 28, 2025 at 4:50 PM UTC 4 min read Add Yahoo on Google If you're a UFO enthusiast, you're probably already familiar with a question that crops up regularly in the slew of never-ending docuseries and congressional testimony : Are otherworldly visitors spying on humanity's nuclear weapons programs? Now, researchers claim they have found tangible evidence that there may be something to that notion. Studying historical photographs from the late 1940s and 1950s, researchers said they were able to spot unidentified flashes in the stars over the northern United States near where nuclear testing was being done. The flashes, which the researchers described as "transient star-like objects," were detected as several mysterious bright spots in the sky. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Intriguingly, the objects were captured in the images long before the first satellites were ever launched – ruling out a prime suspect. The dates of the photos also seem to correlate with the timing of many reports of UFOs, the researchers said in a news release announcing the findings. The research, which was published in two separate peer-reviewed studies in October, comes at a time of renewed interest in UFOs in the United States . Congress has hosted public testimony three times since July 2023 on the strange sightings, which the government now refers to as unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAP. The multi-colored tracks of asteroids flash on and off in this image of two spiral galaxies within the Virgo Cluster. Each of these tracks represents a moving asteroid detected by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in its first few nights of observations. The open star cluster Bochum 14 as imaged by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Aerial view of Vera C. Rubin Observatory located in Chile, taken Jan. 24, 2024. Surrounded by desert-like mountains and under the blue skies of northern Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will revolutionize the study of the universe when it incorporates the largest digital camera ever built in the world. (Photo by) (Photo by JAVIER TORRES/AFP via Getty Images) Rubin Observatory stands on Cerro Pachón in Chile against a sky full of star trails in this long exposure night sky image. Sunset at Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón in Chile. NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory atop Cerro Pachón in Chile is outlined against the full Moon rising above the horizon. A trick of perspective has enlarged the Moon beyond the size we’d naturally see it on Earth. Rubin Observatory will begin science operations in late 2025. This image captures not only Vera C. Rubin Observatory, but one of the celestial specimens Rubin Observatory will observe when it comes online: the Milky Way. The bright halo of gas and stars on the left side of the image highlights the very center of the Milky Way galaxy. The dark path that cuts through this center is known as the Great Rift, because it gives the appearance that the Milky Way has been split in half, right through its center and along its radial arms. This image combines 678 separate images taken by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. This image captures a small section of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s view of the Virgo Cluster, offering a vivid glimpse of the variety in the cosmos. Visible are two prominent spiral galaxies, three merging galaxies, galaxy groups both near and distant, stars within our own Milky Way, and much more. Made from over 1100 images captured by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, this image contains an immense variety of objects. This includes about 10 million galaxies, roughly .05% of the approximately 20 billion galaxies Rubin Observatory will capture in the next decade. This image captures a small section of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s view of the Virgo Cluster, revealing both the grand scale and the faint details of this dynamic region of the cosmos. Bright stars from our own Milky Way shine in the foreground, while a sea of distant reddish galaxies speckle the background. Vera C. Rubin Observatory reaches for the stars: Take a look 1 of 11 The multi-colored tracks of asteroids flash on and off in this image of two spiral galaxies within the Virgo Cluster. Each of these tracks represents a moving asteroid detected by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in its first few nights of observations. Here's everything to know about the research, as well as what has been unveiled about UAP in the halls of Congress. Flashes of light appear correlated to nuclear tests, UFO sightings Researchers analyzing historical photographs taken by the Palomar Observatory between 1949 and 1957 say they found "transient star-like objects of unknown origin," which they speculate could be related to reports of UFOs, or unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) around nuclear testing sites. Researchers at Stockholm University in Sweden and Vanderbilt University in Tennessee analyzed digitized historical photographs taken between 1949 and 1957 by the Palomar Observatory in California. Their goal? To spot short-lived flashes of light. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The flashes of light, or transients, look like stars appearing and disappearing within a single exposure. “Today we know that short flashes of light are often solar reflections from flat, highly reflective objects in orbit around the Earth," Beatriz Villarroel , an astronomer at Stockholm University who cowrote the research, said in a statement. But because the photographs were taken before the first satellite was launched into orbit in 1957, it's unclear just what could have been responsible for the flashes. Though the researchers stop short of speculating on the exact nature of the flashes, they did draw a statistical connection between the timing of the flashes with the dates of above-ground nuclear weapons tests and anecdotal reports of UFOs. The idea that nuclear weapons have long attracted the interest of extraterrestrials is strongly ingrained within UFO mythology. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Of the 106,000 flashes of light they analyzed, researchers found that they were 68% more likely to occur the day after a nuclear weapons test than on days without. In addition, the number of flashes increases by an average of 8.5% for each report of a UFO sighting. On days when UFO sightings and nuclear tests coincided, the flashes were twice as likely to occur, according to the research. “The magnitude of the association between these flashes of light and nuclear tests was surprising, as was the very specific time at which they most often occurred ‒ namely, the day after a test," study coauthor Stephen Bruehl , a Vanderbilt University Medical Center anesthesiologist with an interest in UFOs, said in a statement. "What they might represent is a very fascinating question that needs further investigation." The findings were published Oct. 20 in the journal Scientific Reports and Oct. 17 in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific . What happened at the last UAP hearing in Congress? The studies were released a little more than a month since a slate of witnesses last testified under oath to Congress about strange flying craft they claim can outmaneuver U.S. military vehicles. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement One of the highlights of the hearing Sept. 9 was the release of a never-before-seen video purporting to show a U.S. military drone trying – and failing – to shoot down a mysterious object. Provided by a whistleblower to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the video was said to have been taken Oct. 30, 2024, off the coast of Yemen. The hearing was the third in as many years in the halls of Congress since fiery testimony in July 2023 reignited public fascination in UFOs – as well as the possibility that extraterrestrial are piloting them. Across the three hearings, several witnesses – including journalists and high-ranking military members – have testified about shadowy military programs to retrieve and study not only interstellar alien craft but the extraterrestrial pilots themselves. The hearings have often spurred calls from advocates and lawmakers alike for transparency. Legislation is in the works that would compel the federal government to release more information about what has been uncovered. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/did-aliens-spy-nuclear-tests-165017228.html