UAPx 2021 Catalina/Laguna instrumented expedition.
documentedfield_studyScientific Instrumentation & Sensor Data
2021 multi-instrument field expedition (visible/IR cameras, radar, radiation detectors) off Santa Catalina near the Nimitz encounter zone; candid peer-reviewed results recommending 3-5 sigma evidentiary rules.
UAlbany physicists Matthew Szydagis, Kevin Knuth, and Cecilia Levy, with UAPx, ran a week-long July 2021 expedition at Avalon/Catalina and Laguna Beach, deliberately near the 2004 Nimitz encounter waters. They collected ~1 hr triggered visible/night-vision video, 600+ hrs untriggered IR, 55 hrs background radiation, plus weather radar, using a pixel-subtraction method. The peer-reviewed paper (Progress in Aerospace Sciences; arXiv 2312.00558) frankly discusses successes and failures and proposes 3-5 sigma rules for hard-science UAP research. Funded by Caroline Cory/OMnium Media (documentary 'A Tear in the Sky'). Methodology-first posture; no confirmed anomaly claimed. **Replication status:** inconclusive · 1 unresolved event — UAPx 2021 (Prog. Aerospace Sci. v156): ~600h IR + radiation; one dark-spot event possibly coincident with ionizing radiation 'resisted prosaic explanation' but was NOT declared anomalous.