Trump has ordered the release of government files related to the matter after former President Barack Obama said in a recent interview that he believed in aliens.
What you should know
US President Donald Trump has specifically directed the Pentagon and other government agencies to declassify and make public government files related to alien (extraterrestrial) data, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and flying saucers (UFOs).
Trump ordered the release of the files after former President Barack Obama said in a recent interview that aliens exist.
Trump posted on social media, saying, “I have instructed the Department of Defense and others to begin the process of releasing government documents related to aliens, UAPs, and UFOs.” He described the move as an effort to strengthen the government’s transparency toward public information.
Following Trump’s directive, the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, along with related agencies, will begin the process of identifying files and releasing potentially public documents. However, due to the lengthy process of reviewing and classifying information, it is expected that these documents will take time to be released.
Obama recently made a brief comment in a podcast interview with Brian Tyler Cohen that “aliens are real.” Trump has accused Obama of leaking top-secret information through the statement. Trump told reporters, “I don’t know if aliens are real, but I can say that Obama released top-secret information. He shouldn’t have done that.” But Trump has not provided a clear example to support the accusation.
Obama said during the podcast, “I think they are real, but I have not seen them with my own eyes. There is no alien material stored in Area 51 or any other underground warehouse in the United States.” Obama later clarified on social media that he had not seen direct evidence of aliens during his tenure and that given the vastness of the universe, the possibility of life was high.
The US government has been systematically investigating the possibility of life beyond Earth and the possibility of extraterrestrial life visiting Earth for decades, long before the current political controversy. In recent years, the U.S. military and Congress have begun to work more systematically and institutionally to identify and evaluate UAP sightings.
The All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AAR) was established in 2022 by Congress to provide a unified approach to reporting, analysis, and transparency regarding unusual aerial phenomena that may have national security implications. In March 2024, AAR released a historical review of UAP investigations conducted by the U.S. government since 1945. It concluded that no investigation had found evidence of alien technology or the presence of aliens on Earth. They concluded that most of the incidents were misidentified objects or could be explained by natural phenomena and man-made aerospace systems.
The UAP issue has been a focus of public and parliamentary attention since the Pentagon released classified video in 2017 showing military aircraft encountering unidentified flying objects. Since then, lawmakers have held repeated parliamentary hearings and called for more transparency. However, defense officials have said their main concern is with assessing risks related to flight safety and national security, rather than the question of proving or disproving the existence of aliens.
