Unidentified Moving Objects in Next Generation Time Domain Surveys

Abstract

Existing and future wide-field photometric surveys will produce a time-lapse movie of the sky that will revolutionize our census of variable and moving astronomical and atmospheric phenomena. As with any revolution in scientific measurement capability, this new species of data will also present us with results that are sure to surprise and confound our understanding of the cosmos. While we cannot predict the unknown yields of such endeavors, it is a beneficial exercise to explore certain parameter spaces using reasonable assumptions for rates and observability. To this end I present a simple parameterized model of the detectability of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) with the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST). I also demonstrate that the LSST is well suited to place the first systematic constraints on the rate of UFO and extraterrestrial visits to our world.