According to reports from Reuters and the Central News Agency, U.S. President Trump announced late Thursday, Feb. 19 that he has directed government departments to make public all government records related to extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Trump said the move aims to respond to long-standing public interest in these topics and to promote greater government transparency in this area.
Trump posted on his social media platform “Truth Social”: “Given the tremendous interest shown by the public, I will instruct the Secretary of Defense and other relevant departments and agencies to begin identifying and releasing government records related to extraterrestrial life, UAPs, and UFOs, as well as any other information related to these highly complex, yet extremely interesting and important topics. God bless America!”
The directive was sparked by the Feb. 14 episode of the podcast No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen, in which host Brian Tyler Cohen asked former President Obama: “Do aliens really exist?” Obama responded: “They are real, but I haven’t seen them, and they aren’t being held in… Area 51. There’s no underground facility there, unless there is some massive cover-up that even the U.S. President was unaware of.” When asked what he most wanted to know upon taking office in 2009, Obama replied: “Where are the aliens?”
Clips from the episode circulated online and drew widespread attention. On Feb. 15, Obama posted on Instagram clarifying that his responses were in the context of the show’s rapid-fire format, and he added that statistically, given the vast scale of the universe, the probability of extraterrestrial life is high, but the distances between star systems make it extremely unlikely that aliens would visit Earth. He also noted that during his presidency, he saw no evidence of extraterrestrial life interacting with humans.
On Thursday, Trump addressed the matter in a media interview aboard Air Force One, accusing Obama of “revealing classified information.” Trump said he himself is not certain whether extraterrestrial life exists, but he believes related discussions should not involve classified material and suggested that “perhaps some information can be declassified” to clarify the matter.
UFO illustration (Image: Adobe Stock)
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US steps up scrutiny of UAPs amid calls for transparency
In recent years, U.S. government attention to UAPs has steadily increased. During Trump’s first term, the U.S. government established the UAP Task Force (UAPTF) to collect and analyze anomalous aerial phenomena that could pose national security risks. The Department of Defense stated that any unauthorized flight activity in military training areas or restricted airspace would be taken seriously and investigated.
However, the UAPTF’s 2021 report to Congress noted that due to a lack of high-quality information, it was still impossible to determine the exact nature of these phenomena or confirm any connection to extraterrestrial life. The report stated that some incidents displayed “unusual flight characteristics,” but these could also be due to sensor errors, deception, or misinterpretation by observers.
During the Biden administration, UFOs again became a focus of attention in U.S. politics and the public. Several members of Congress criticized the government for long-standing opacity on UAPs, fueling speculation and debate. Glenn Grothman, then-chair of the House Subcommittee on National Security, Border, and Foreign Affairs, stated during a July 2023 hearing that long-term information secrecy undermined public trust in government agencies.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby also acknowledged that unexplained phenomena reported by pilots and the Navy and Air Force do exist and can impact military training and readiness, making them a national security concern.
On June 5, The Debrief reported that former intelligence official, David Charles Grusch, has provided the US Congress classified information alleging the existence of covert programs that have retrieved craft of a ‘non-human origin’ in addition to bodies of pilots. (Image: Screenshot/US Navy/via Wikimedia Commons)
According to a November 2024 report from the Department of Defense’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the agency received 757 UAP reports between May 2023 and June 2024.
AARO Director Jon Kosloski told the Senate that so far no verifiable evidence has been found proving extraterrestrial life, activity, or technology. The report noted that the vast majority of cases did not display advanced capabilities or breakthrough technology, though a few anomalies exist, which will require significant time and scientific resources for further investigation.
Analysts say Trump’s order to release relevant records could increase government transparency on the issue in the short term, but the scope, timing, and potential involvement of classified information remain to be clarified by the relevant departments. Observers generally expect that, as the review process proceeds, portions of historical records related to UAPs and UFOs may be gradually released to the public over the coming weeks and months.
By Tian Jingxin