Former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz said Wednesday that classified materials he reviewed while serving in Congress contained evidence of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) that defies explanation based on known technology.
Speaking on right-wing podcast The Benny Show, Gaetz described viewing content in secure settings that he said contradicted conventional understanding of Earth’s technological capabilities.
“I’ve seen things in classified settings that are not explainable with the technology we know is available,” Gaetz said. “It would not be anything that you know exists on Earth.”
Why It Matters
Gaetz’s comments to conservative podcast host Benny Johnson follow months of heightened congressional interest in UAP. President Donald Trump directed the Department of Defense in February to begin releasing government files related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the Pentagon‘s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is managing a caseload exceeding 2,000 UAP reports dating to 1945.
What To Know
The former lawmaker from Florida did not elaborate on specifics of what he witnessed or provide additional details about the briefings he attended.
A sector of the Republican Party has emerged as particularly vocal on the issue, with multiple GOP officials publicly discussing classified UFO encounters and pushing for transparency.
During Johnson’s podcast on Friday, Vice President JD Vance said he remains “obsessed” with accessing classified UFO files and plans to visit classified facilities including Area 51 in southern Nevada during his time in office. Vance has also said he believes that UFOs may be demonic entities rooted in Christian theology rather than extraterrestrial craft.
Public interest in UFOs and the possibility of the government hiding secrets of extraterrestrial life remerged into public consciousness after a group of former Pentagon and government officials leaked Navy videos of unknown objects to The New York Times and Politico in 2017.
In May 2022, Congress held its first hearings on UFOs in 50 years. Officials said the objects, which appeared to be green triangles floating above a Navy ship, were likely drones.
The Pentagon has since promised more transparency on the topic. In July 2022, it created the AARO, intended as a hub for reports of all military UFO encounters.
Do Most Americans Believe in Aliens? What Polls Show
A YouGov poll from September 2024 found that a majority of Americans—53 percent—believe aliens definitely or probably exist. That poll surveyed 1,135 adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.
A Pew Research Center poll from 2021 found that 65 percent of Americans believe in intelligent life on other planets, while 34 percent do not. Fifty-one percent of Americans believe UFOs spotted by people in the military are either “definitely” or “probably” evidence of intelligent life outside of Earth, according to the poll.
Scientists have not ruled out the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In September 2025, NASA’s Perseverance rover uncovered rocks in an ancient river that scientists believe could hold clues to microscopic life that may have lived on the planet. Still, there has been no conclusive evidence of alien life.
What People Are Saying
Trump, to Truth Social in February: “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing 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).”
Vance, in an interview on The Benny Show podcast in February: “I’ve already had a couple of times where I’m like, all right, we’re going to Area 51, we’re going out to New Mexico. We’re going to sort of get to the bottom of this. And then the timing of the trip just didn’t work out. But trust me, anybody who’s curious about this, I’m more curious than anybody. And I’ve got three years of the very tippy top of the classification. I’m going to get to the bottom of it.”
What Happens Next
The Pentagon has not released a timeline for when classified files will turn public. Hegseth said earlier this month that agencies are “working on it right now.”