Why One State’s UAP Legislation Could Reduce Pilot Stigma

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signs a bill that allocates $2.5 million for university-based research of unidentified aerial phenomena.

Jack Daleo

Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 11:30 AM ET

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Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Artist’s rendition of UAP over the New Jersey coast [Credit: Americans for Safe Aerospace]

Key Takeaways:

New Jersey is set to become the first U.S. state to fund a university-based Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) research center, allocating $2.5 million annually for grants to establish scientific study.
This initiative aims to address the significant professional stigma and lack of clear reporting channels that currently deter pilots from reporting UAP sightings, as advocated by Ryan Graves of Americans for Safe Aerospace (ASA).
The legislation also includes an additional $1 million annually for an air traffic control (ATC) loan redemption program, intended to improve aviation safety broadly, including the ability to track unusual aerial activity, by addressing workforce shortages.
New Jersey's program is viewed as a template for other states to foster UAP research, with ASA also advocating for a confidential federal reporting system to enhance overall aviation safety.

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New Jersey could be the first U.S. state to fund a center dedicated to the study of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP).

The U.S. government a few years ago began using UAP in place of “unidentified flying object” to reflect that sightings reported by pilots may not be objects at all, since they are unidentified. But according to Ryan Graves, executive director of the nonprofit UAP advocacy group Americans for Safe Aerospace (ASA), most pilots do not report sightings because they fear professional repercussions. ASA earlier this month published a white paper exploring the topic.