Nine scientists from major universities and research institutions in the U.S. and Europe have reviewed a variety of UFO reports and concluded that there is no proof the reports have anything to do with extraterrestrial intelligence, but that the subject deserves far more attention. The first such review by a scientific panel in 28 years, the report ... was critical of scientists for their lack of curiosity about a subject that has attracted such widespread public interest. It also criticized scientific journals for a reluctance to publish research on the topic. But the report had high praise for the French government, which for 21 years has had a panel devoted to collecting scientific evidence related to new sightings. Whenever there are unexplained observations, there is the possibility that scientists will learn something new by studying those observations," the panel said in its report, published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration. The journal specializes in publishing reports by legitimate scientists on topics considered too controversial for many other scientific journals. "It may be valuable to carefully evaluate UFO reports to extract information about unusual phenomena currently unknown to science," the group wrote. The panel met last fall for four days to hear various UFO investigators present their "best case" evidence. It focused on reports where there was some kind of physical evidence: photographs, radar recordings, damaged soil or plants or physical symptoms suffered by witnesses.