President Donald Trump announced Thursday night that he is ordering the Pentagon and other federal agencies to identify and release government files related to extraterrestrial life, UFOs, and unidentified aerial phenomena. He offered no timeline and no details on what the records might contain.
The directive, posted on Truth Social, cited “tremendous interest” in the subject. Hours earlier, Trump had accused former President Barack Obama of disclosing classified information after Obama told a podcast audience on Saturday that aliens are “real, but I haven’t seen them.”
What Obama actually said
Obama made the remark during a rapid-fire segment on the Brian Tyler Cohen podcast. He also dismissed the idea that extraterrestrials are being kept at Nevada‘s Area 51, saying there is no secret underground facility “unless there’s this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president.”
After the clip went viral, Obama clarified on Instagram that he was speaking about probability. The universe is vast enough that life likely exists elsewhere, he wrote, but the distances involved make contact unlikely. He saw no evidence of it during his presidency.
Trump’s response
Aboard Air Force One on Thursday, Trump told reporters he didn’t know whether aliens are real. But he accused Obama of making “a big mistake” and suggested he could get his predecessor “out of trouble by declassifying.” By evening, Trump had posted the directive ordering Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to begin the process.
Hegseth responded on social media with alien and salute emojis. Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat, called the move potentially bipartisan, comparing it to the government conspiracy themes of the 1990s television series The X-Files.
What the Pentagon has found
The Department of Defense created the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in 2022 to investigate military reports of unidentified objects. Its 2024 report concluded that it had found no evidence of extraterrestrial activity, attributing most sightings to drones, spy planes, satellites, and weather balloons. A surge in UFO reports during the 1950s and 1960s was likely caused by tests of advanced U.S. military technology.
Whether Trump’s order produces meaningful disclosures or quietly fades remains to be seen. A 2023 YouGov poll found that 56% of Americans believe aliens have visited Earth — a constituency that now has a presidential promise to hold onto. This is part of The Rio Times’ daily coverage of global affairs and Latin American financial news.
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