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Radar-guided telescope: Avi Loeb pitches a UAP tracking system at the Pentagon

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Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb visited the Pentagon on November 12 to propose a new system for studying unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP). Radar would find unusual objects in the sky, and a telescope roughly one meter in diameter would turn toward them. Whether the Pentagon will take part is not yet known.

Avi Loeb visited the Pentagon on Thursday, November 12. Loeb chairs the UAP Science Advisory Council and directs the Galileo Project. After the visit, he described his proposal on NewsNation's The Hill.

The idea is simple: radar watches the sky, and when it detects an unusual object, a telescope roughly one meter in diameter turns toward it. "You can actually resolve them and figure out what they are. You can also take a spectrum and figure out their composition," Loeb said.

Reports do not say whom he met at the Pentagon or how they responded.

How would it work?

According to Loeb's earlier statements, the system would use passive radar. It sends out no signal of its own and instead detects reflections of existing radio, TV and satellite transmissions. Once the radar finds a target, the telescope turns toward it and tries to capture a high-resolution image.

The telescope would also record the light's spectrum. Loeb says this could point to what an object is made of, though results depend on the quality of the observation. He says this has never been done before.

Built in Carl Sagan's former home

The prototype will be built in Ithaca, New York, in the former home of astronomer Carl Sagan. Businessman Adam Weitsman bought the building at 900 Stewart Avenue in 2024 for $2 million. The observatory is being developed with his funding, and the plan was announced on November 5.

Loeb says the prototype has $1.5 million in funding and "we are starting to order the parts now." Renovation of the house begins in November 2026 and will take about a year. Loeb said the team hopes to have the radar running within a year.

It will be the Galileo Project's fourth observatory. The existing three, in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Nevada, mostly use smaller cameras. Ithaca would be the first site to pair radar with a large telescope.

Why does it need the Pentagon?

After testing, Loeb wants to place the same instruments "in locations where military personnel are seeing objects they cannot identify." He includes the glowing orbs that, he says, FBI agents have also seen.

Loeb would also put sensors at the site of a recent case. The Pentagon releases declassified UFO files through a program called PURSUE. Its seventh installment, published October 23, includes an account from two federal agents. They saw a matte-black triangle rise above a mountain ridge, hover in place, then speed off toward a canyon.

The subject also came up earlier this week. On November 8, Donald Trump told CBS's 60 Minutes that Air Force pilots had described a round object to him. According to Trump, the pilots said it flew three times as fast as an F-22. He did not name the pilots or say when or where the encounter took place. Loeb told NewsNation that he has also spoken with pilots and finds their accounts reliable but puzzling.

What comes next?

First, the Ithaca prototype has to prove itself. Loeb wants to deploy more systems with Pentagon support, but no site beyond Ithaca has been announced.

The sober take

What is established

Loeb visited the Pentagon on November 12 and, by his own account, proposed a radar-guided telescope system.
The Ithaca observatory, funded by Adam Weitsman, was announced on November 5. Renovation of the house begins in November 2026.

What is not established

Whether the Pentagon supports the plan. Reports do not say whom Loeb met or what came of it. No joint deployment has been announced.
The $1.5 million figure and the one-year timeline come only from Loeb.
Whether the system will actually produce sharp images and useful spectra. That will only be clear after installation and testing.

Strengths and weaknesses of the plan

Its strength is that it would supply what most UAP cases lack: good measurements. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) says most reports eventually turn out to be balloons, satellites or birds. Even that takes data to decide. Members of the council Loeb chairs recently examined six points of light in a video from one of the Pentagon's UAP releases. They concluded the points flicker at exactly the rate of birds flapping their wings.
Its weakness is that Ithaca is only a test site. The system could only take measurements where the military cases occurred if the Pentagon allows it near sensitive facilities.
Loeb himself allows that the objects may be human-made. In his view, they could even belong to a rival nation.

Open question

The Ithaca system is expected to be running in about a year, by late 2027. Until then, the open question is whether the Pentagon will let Loeb's instruments into the places where the orbs and the triangle were seen.

Radar-guided telescope: Avi Loeb pitches a UAP tracking system at the Pentagon

How would it work?

Built in Carl Sagan's former home

Why does it need the Pentagon?

What comes next?

The sober take

What was that?

Sources

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