Richard King Mellon Foundation awards $575,000 to Galileo Project

Generous grant from Richard King Mellon Foundation to fund establishment and operation of a third instrument station in Pennsylvania

CAMBRIDGE, MA/PITTSBURGH, PA — April 26, 2024 — The Galileo Project at Harvard University is thrilled to announce a generous grant of $575,000 from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. This grant will support the Galileo Project’s endeavor to establish a third observatory station, to be located in either Allegheny or Westmoreland County in Pennsylvania.

The grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation will cover instrumentation costs essential for the installation of the new observatory, as well as provide crucial support for researchers in the field to manage and operate the new facility.

"We are immensely grateful to the Richard King Mellon Foundation for their generous support," said Dr. Avi Loeb, the Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and lead investigator of the Galileo Project. "This significant investment will enable the Galileo Project to expand our capacity to observe unexplained aerial phenomena in our own skies."

The Richard King Mellon Foundation is dedicated to promoting the health and vitality of the Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania region by investing in transformative initiatives across various sectors, including science, education, and community development.

Christopher Mellon, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and long-time research affiliate of the Galileo Project, was instrumental in stewarding this grant. “It is exciting and deeply gratifying to see the Richard King Mellon Foundation continue to support cutting edge science here in Western Pennsylvania,” said Mellon. “I hope this sparks the imagination of the youth of our region and contributes to solving this what NASA itself calls ‘one of the great mysteries of all time.’”

With the support of the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the Galileo Project looks forward to making significant strides in its mission to explore the cosmos in its own backyard, and deepen humanity's understanding of our place in the universe.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Avi Loeb
Frank B. Baird Jr. Professor of Science
Harvard University
aloeb@cfa.harvard.edu 

About the Richard King Mellon Foundation

The Richard King Mellon Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the United States, dedicated to promoting the health and vitality of the Pittsburgh and Southwestern Pennsylvania region. Through strategic investments in science, education, conservation, and community development, the foundation aims to create lasting positive change and enhance the quality of life for all residents.

About the Galileo Project

The Galileo Project for the Systematic Scientific Search for Evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Artifacts is a Harvard-hosted, cross-institutional research project launched in June of 2021 by co-founders Avi Loeb and Frank Laukien. Led by Professor Avi Loeb at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, the Galileo Project seeks to bring the search for evidence of Extraterrestrial Technological Civilizations (ETCs) from anecdotal observations and legends into the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research. The Galileo Project searches for physical objects, artifacts, or traces, in addition to electromagnetic signals associated with extraterrestrial technological equipment.