UFO News: PUEO

The Payload for Ultrahigh Energy Observations (PUEO) is a NASA mission designed to detect the most energetic particles in the universe. PUEO flew high above Antarctica on a Long Duration Balloon and used the Antarctic ice sheet as an enormous detection volume to look for radio signals generated by the interactions of extremely energetic astrophysical neutrinos.

The PUEO mission built on heritage from the NASA-sponsored Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) mission, achieved significant improvement in sensitivity due to technology advancements, and incorporated a new low-frequency instrument to improve sensitivity to extensive air showers produced by cosmic rays and potentially neutrinos.

PUEO took off Dec. 20, 2025, from NASA’s Long Duration Balloon Facility near McMurdo Station, Antarctica, and flew for 23 days before landing approximately 120 miles from the South Pole. The full payload has been recovered, including the data drives, and the PUEO team is currently analyzing the data collected.