The Administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, announced the creation of the position on September 14, 2023.[1] It was created upon the recommendation of NASA's UAP independent study team.[2] Nelson stated that the identity of the person who holds this position would be kept secret to prevent harassment.[1] However, hours later, NASA announced that the position would be held by Mark McInerney.[2]
The need for research into unidentified anomalous phenomena originates from national security concerns post-WWII, the expansion of adversarial technology as a consequence of the Space Race, and growing interests from the international community.[3][4][5][6]