Above the dazzling lights of the Sphere in Las Vegas, new technology is doing more than immersing thousands of fans in “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s also keeping an eye on the skies for something far stranger than flying monkeys.
The Galileo Observatory, designed by Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, sits atop the Sphere to track aerial objects that defy normal explanation. Loeb, the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics, says the system is built to study Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, what most people still call UFOs.
“In Search of UAPs Over Las Vegas”
The observatory relies on ultra–high resolution optical and infrared cameras, feeding data into AI systems that remove human bias and speed up analysis.
By triangulating information with two other observatories placed about 10 kilometers away in undisclosed Las Vegas locations, the system can measure an object’s velocity, acceleration, and distance from Earth.
Loeb said the project received the green light in September 2024 when Sphere Entertainment chief executive officer James Dolan visited his home in Boston to approve the installation above the Exosphere’s LED display.
By a happy coincidence, the observatory went live at the same time “The Wizard of Oz” started its screenings in late August, letting the city’s visitors enjoy a story of other worlds while scientists literally scanned for them above.
Millions of Objects to be Analyzed Yearly
“We hope to analyze exquisite data on a few million objects per year in search of UAPs over Las Vegas,” Loeb wrote on Medium.
Loeb, known for being one of the most outspoken scientists who suggests that some UAPs could have extraterrestrial origins, has drawn plenty of skepticism and even ridicule from many of his colleagues. Nonetheless, he is still unapologetic about his work.
“Here’s hoping that the Galileo Project Observatory on Sphere will spot an extraterrestrial guest of higher intelligence than displayed in terrestrial academia,” Loeb said.
The project is ambitious, both in scale and in vision. It’s not just about catching a glimpse of something unusual, but an effort to collect rigorous, verifiable data on phenomena that have fascinated humans for decades. As Las Vegas visitors watch Dorothy step into Oz, above them, scientists are looking up at the night sky, searching for a different kind of wonder, one that might just come from another world.