Is There a UFO Base on the Moon?

(Image credit: NewsNation)

Below is a transcript of an interview I had on August 6, 2026 with Jesse Weber on NewsNation, regarding an unrefereed paper, written by the Ukrainian astronomers Boris Zhilayev, Vladimir Petukov and Sergey Pokhvala and posted here. The abstract of the paper states:

“High-speed video recordings of the sky near the Moon have allowed us to detect numerous UFOs. The sizes of the objects vary from 14 to 36 kilometers, and their speeds range from 6 to 11 kilometers per second. UFOs demonstrate variable brightness in the range of several hertz with an amplitude of about two per cent. The reconstructed images show toroidal and disc-shaped objects. The toroidal UFO is about 36 km in size, has a rotation period of about 157 seconds and a centrifugal acceleration of 461.0 cm/s², which is half the acceleration of free fall on Earth.”

The video segment of this interview is available here. In the transcript that follows, Jesse’s questions are marked by JW and my answers are marked by AL.

JW: One of the most exciting things about the recent Artemis missions to the Moon is the hope that we’ll see humans living on bases out of our celestial neighbor. But maybe we’re jockeying for that real estate because a team of Ukrainian researchers say they’ve discovered evidence of a possible UFO base that is already on the Moon. In a new study, researchers at Ukraine’s main astronomical observatory say that they have found more than 20 UFOs, or UAPs as they’re also called, moving near and across the Moon over the course of 2025. The scientists apparently used a high-speed camera attached to a telescope to capture the objects which can allegedly move at blinding speed. The researchers say they tracked one object moving at 4.1 miles a second. That is right around what the space shuttle needs for liftoff. The researchers also say that they were able to use light to measure the size of the objects, which, by the way, are apparently massive. One of the objects allegedly measured about 25 miles across. That’s larger than the island of Manhattan.

Now, all these claims are remarkable, but to be sure: how do they prove that there’s a UFO base on the Moon? Well, the researchers say that they observe the UFOs flashing lights in a multitude of patterns, which they believe suggests communication. And that behavior, that communication is what led those scientists to say” We believe that the Moon serves as a base for UFOs.

All these claims do come with one major caveat, though. This study has yet to be peer reviewed, which means other scientists have yet to come in to check the work. So, these claims of massive UFOs being part of a lunar base, have yet to be substantiated. Should we be worried about a city-sized UFO descending to Earth from the Moon? Here for a closer look is the Frank B. Baird Jr Professor of Science at Harvard University and leader of the UAP Advisory Council for the U.S. Government, Avi Loeb.

Good to see you, Avi. Is there a Moon base? What do you think?

AL: I don’t think so. Thanks for having me.

There are better ways to observe the Moon than using a single six-inch telescope from Earth. For example, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter documented a huge amount of data about the surface of the Moon. And moreover, four months ago, the Artemis II astronauts took thousands of images of the Moon, including its far side which is not visible from Earth. Needless to say, they did not observe any evidence for lunar-based UFOs.

JW: Well, maybe they were not visiting at that time. They say giant rings may be creating their own artificial gravity. By the way, the Apollo astronauts actually saw these mysterious lights and objects. So, is it possible it just wasn’t there for the Artemis astronauts? I can kind of understand why there would be a base.

AL: The problem with data from a small telescope on Earth is that lots of terrestrial objects and atmospheric disturbances could pass in front of the Moon during the observation period. It is necessary to measure the distance in order to know that you’re dealing with an object next to the Moon and not next to Earth. One way to do that is by having multiple telescopes looking at the same object, so that they triangulate its distance. That’s what we do in the Galileo Project observatories under my leadership.

Without knowing distances, this paper does not hold water, so to speak. The UAP Science Advisory Council that I chair is advocating for distance measurements in order to infer the nature of UAP, Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena.

As it turns out, together with my postdoc, Dr. Devesh Nandal, we were able to resolve (as discussed here) an unresolved UAP case disclosed by the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office in the Pentagon. We think it’s a hypersonic missile. We used the trick to do that. We had the background terrain observed in the images so we could use it as a grid to localize the object using Google Earth.

JW: What do you mean? This was a hypersonic missile where and when and that you discovered this?

AL: This data was taken in Africa. We found the location by comparing to Google Earth images. We tilted the image from Google Earth and got it to match the infrared images that were shown in the video from the Department of War. By doing so, we could track the motion of the object relative to features on the ground. We could also track the motion of the camera relative to these features on the ground. So, we could infer both the motion of the camera, the motion of the object, and the only unknown was the altitude of the object. We ended up finding that the characteristic size of the object and the velocity of the object are consistent with hypersonic missiles. And so, we did a better job than AARO, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office in the Pentagon which declared this case as unresolved.

JW: If you have your hand in it, I’m not surprised that you did a better job. I do have a question, though, just circling back to this potential UFO base. So, this paper needs to be peer-reviewed. How would that be peer reviewed? What would be the way to officially confirm whether or not what this is? You talked about the telescopes. Is there any other way to validate what they’re claiming in any way?

AL: Yes, very easily. Just employ a second telescope to observe the objects. They are using a six-inch telescope, which is not very expensive. We can use thousands of those around the globe. All of them must show the same object at the distance of the Moon, by viewing the object from different directions on Earth. That would be a very easy way to tell if this is real or just atmospheric effects or some bird running in front of the telescope.

Now, I should also mention that the magazine Popular Mechanics released today here a podcast discussion by its editors with the following question: “Does Avi Loeb know something the rest of us don’t?”

JW: Aww, and the answer is?

AL: For the record, my answer to this question is: No.

JW: And I trust you. I trust you on that, Dr. Avi Loeb. Good to see you, sir. Thanks for taking the time.

AL: Thanks for having me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

(Image Credit: Lotem Loeb, May 22, 2026)

Avi Loeb is chair of the UAP Science Advisory Council to the White House, Pentagon, FBI and intelligence agencies, director of the Galileo Project, founding director of Harvard University’s — Black Hole Initiative, former director of the Institute for Theory and Computation at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the former chair of the astronomy department at Harvard University (2011–2020). He is a former member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and a former chair of the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Academies. He is the bestselling author of “*Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth” and a co-author of the textbook “[Life in the Cosmos](https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674987579)”, both published in 2021. The paperback edition of his new book, titled “[Interstellar](https://www.harpercollins.com/products/interstellar-avi-loeb-1?variant=40982888415266)*”, was published in August 2024.

Professional website:

https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/

Social media:

*https://avi-loeb.medium.com/ [https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorAviLoeb](https://www.youtube.com/@ProfessorAviLoeb)*

*https://open.spotify.com/show/1zhndXkvSY2b8FdjspFpCd [https://x.com/ProfAviLoeb](https://x.com/ProfAviLoeb)*