Avi Loeb

Harvard astrophysicist and Galileo Project head who in June 2026 was asked to chair a government-facing UAP Science Advisory Council.

Current role: Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University; head of the Galileo Project; chair of the UAP Science Advisory Council formed in June 2026

Former roles:

Chair, Harvard Department of Astronomy (until 2020)

@ProfAviLoeb on X

Background

Avi Loeb is an Israeli-American theoretical physicist at Harvard University, where he holds the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professorship of Science and chaired the astronomy department until 2020. He leads the Galileo Project, which builds observatories to search for technological signatures in the sky and in interstellar objects, and he became widely known for arguing that the 2017 interstellar object 'Oumuamua might be artificial. In June 2026 he announced that the White House, AARO, ODNI and other agencies had asked him to assemble a UAP Science Advisory Council, which he chairs. The council is advisory, works from unclassified data, and its members hold no clearances. He also sits on the Sol Foundation's advisory board.

On the record

2026-10-23 – Medium and NewsNation, on PURSUE release 7 – "the report does not include a measured speed or raw sensor recordings."; to NewsNation, on the tranche data: "It's not good enough." Medium · Transcript
2026-10-16 – Medium – the council's wing-beat analysis of the PURSUE sensor videos: "This brought the count up to 10 PURSUE videos containing a total of 25 bird candidates.", about 8% of the sensor videos released. Medium
2026-10-13 – Medium – said his invitation to Jay Stratton to brief the council went unanswered and that the council has found no evidence linking PURSUE material to non-human technology: "Digital data or material evidence please, the time is ripe to go beyond verbal testimonies!" Medium
2026-09-18 – Medium – published commentary on the sixth PURSUE release of UAP files. Medium
2026-07-11 – Harvard Crimson – on the council: "I could have made a committee that is five times bigger", "There is no support we have — we don't have a budget", and "I'm not interested in becoming a political person." The Crimson counted 18 named members, 12 with Harvard ties, and reported the council had asked the Pentagon to declassify 50 items. Crimson
2026-06-30 – Associated Press interview – "It's like a detective story" and "My impression is the government is baffled by not being able to infer the nature of some of these objects." AP via KTAR
2026-06-13 – Medium and X – announced the UAP Science Advisory Council and its initial roster, including Garry Nolan, Tim Gallaudet, Peter Skafish, Michael Shermer and Matthew Szydagis: "The goal of the council is to advise the U.S. government on how to resolve the nature of [UAP]." Medium · Roster on X · DefenseScoop
2026-02-10 – Harvard Science Review, on 3I/ATLAS – "Nature doesn't do perfect symmetry. When you see three jets separated by exactly 120 degrees, you have to ask if that is geology, or if that is engineering." HSR
2026-01-13 – arXiv preprint with Barbieri (INAF), "Rare Near-Opposition Alignment of 3I/ATLAS on 22 January, 2026", a geometry paper with no origin claims. arXiv
2025-12-22 – NewsNation, as reported by IFLScience – on 3I/ATLAS: "At this point, given all the data that we have, I would agree that it's most likely natural." IFLScience
2025-10-29 – Cambridge Day profile – on 3I/ATLAS: "is probably a natural object" and "We have the duty to consider a low probability event, just because the implications are huge." Cambridge Day
2025-07-30 – Medium, with Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl – proposed redirecting NASA's Juno spacecraft to intercept 3I/ATLAS in March 2026, framed as a thought experiment. Medium
2023-03-07 – draft paper co-written with AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick – discussed whether some UAP could be "probes" from an extraterrestrial "parent craft", with sections on the extraterrestrial possibility and propulsion methods. Draft PDF
2023 – CBS Boston – said he was studying fragments of a meteor that he believed might be pieces of an interstellar object, while questioning the presence of life. CBS Boston · CBS Boston on the 2023 hearing

Responses and criticism

2026-06-30 – Steve Desch, Arizona State University astrophysicist, to AP – "we're not going to get any closer to answering these questions with him in charge." Former AARO director Sean Kirkpatrick told AP that Loeb is "not viewed favorably" in the scientific community. AP via KTAR
2026-02-10 – Jason Wright, Penn State, on the 3I/ATLAS dispute – "Comets are like cats; they have tails, and they do precisely what they want." HSR
2025-10 – NASA stated that 3I/ATLAS is a comet and disputed the technological-origin speculation. Cambridge Day
No charter, Federal Register notice or founding document for the UAP Science Advisory Council had been published as of October 2026; the council has no budget by Loeb's own account. Crimson

Timeline of involvement

2017 – argues 'Oumuamua could be artificial
2021 – co-founds the Galileo Project at Harvard
2023-03-07 – draft paper with Sean Kirkpatrick on UAP as possible probes
2023 – Pacific expedition to recover meteor fragments
2025-07-30 – proposes a Juno intercept of 3I/ATLAS
2025-10 to 2025-12 – public commentary on 3I/ATLAS, ending with "most likely natural"
2026-06-13 – announces the UAP Science Advisory Council, which he chairs
2026-06-25 – speaks at the Disclosure Forum, Russell Senate Office Building (panel video)
2026-09-18 – publishes commentary on the sixth PURSUE release

Relevant links

Part of the Key People in Disclosure series. Verified 2026-11-02. Spotted an error? Reach out.