Donald Trump said Thursday he will direct the Pentagon and other federal agencies to release government records related to extraterrestrial life, UFOs and unidentified aerial phenomena, though it remains unclear what the files contain or when they may be made public.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he would instruct “the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
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The Pentagon has expanded efforts in recent years to catalog and investigate UFO reports through the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, which stated in a 2024 report that it had found no evidence of alien life.
Trump’s remarks followed renewed attention to the subject after former President Barack Obama commented on aliens during an interview with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen. When asked whether aliens are real, Obama said, “They’re real but I haven’t seen them.” He later clarified in an Instagram post that he had been referring to the statistical likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe because of its vast size, adding that the enormous distances between solar systems make visits to Earth unlikely and that he saw no evidence of extraterrestrial contact while president.
Asked about Obama’s remarks aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “Well, I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake.”
Public fascination with UAP’s commonly known as UFO’s has grown in recent years, fueled in part by conspiracy theories alleging the U.S. government has hidden evidence of alien life. Calls for transparency have included a 2023 House hearing where three military veterans warned that UAP sightings could pose national security concerns and argued the government has been overly secretive.
According to a 2024 report compiled by the Pentagon with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other agencies, authorities had received 1,652 reports of UAPs as of that year. Some incidents remain unexplained, while others were attributed to balloons, drones, birds, weather events or airborne debris such as plastic bags.
Jon Kosloski, director of the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, said in 2024 that some cases still lacked plausible explanations and required more data and analysis, adding that there were “interesting cases” he and others with technical backgrounds could not yet understand.
Editor’s Note:
Statements by Donald Trump regarding the release of UFO related records refer to a directive to federal agencies, including the Pentagon, but no timeline or document details have yet been confirmed. Prior assessments by the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office have reported no verified evidence of extraterrestrial life. Comments referenced from Barack Obama were later clarified by him as referring to the statistical likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe, not confirmed contact.