A few days after the government released its report on UFOs, Avi Loeb got a call from the Harvard astronomy department that set off an unusual series of events.
An administrative assistant informed Loeb, a professor of science at Harvard, that he was getting some new research money. And shortly after, a billionaire paid Loeb a visit on the front porch of his home to ask him about aliens.
“I've been in academia for about 40 years and been a department chair," Loeb said. "Never have I ever seen a situation where a faculty member gets funding without looking for it and even meeting the donor."
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The hunt for UFOs, or what are now officially called "unidentified aerial phenomena," is hot these days — but too hot for the halls of academia. Loeb is trying to change that.