David Spergel
Before the sighting
Career theoretical cosmologist. WMAP CMB lead analyst — work underpinning standard ΛCDM cosmological model. 10 years Princeton astrophysics chair, Simons Foundation president 2021-.
During the sighting
NASA UAP Independent Study Team appointment announced Jun 9 2022; team launched Oct 24 2022; final report released Sep 14 2023. Concluded 'no evidence to suggest that UAPs are extraterrestrial in origin.' Emphasized stigma reduction and data-quality standards. On Grusch: 'nothing hard there ... no locations, no sites. It's reports of reports.'
After the sighting
Continues as Simons Foundation President. Multiple post-report interviews (StarTalk, NPR, Undark, etc.).
Research notes
Highly credentialed mainstream scientist (MacArthur, Shaw, Breakthrough, NAS). No prior UAP advocacy or skepticism — domain-neutral. Score 9 reflects exceptional credentials + transparency. UAP-specific domain expertise is general statistical/astrophysical, not specialist; he is credible as data-quality assessor more than primary investigator.