President Donald Trump has directed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to begin releasing government files related to aliens, extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social Thursday night, stating he would direct Hegseth “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).”
The directive came within hours of Trump publicly criticizing former President Barack Obama for comments Obama made on a podcast earlier in the week.
Trump stated the administration aims to release “any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
The president, speaking to Fox News reporter Peter Doocy aboard Air Force One while traveling to Georgia Thursday, said Obama was “not supposed” to be sharing “classified information.”
“I don’t know if they’re real or not,” Trump said regarding aliens.
“I can tell you he gave classified information. He made a big mistake.”
The remarks Trump referenced were made by Obama during a podcast episode with host Brian Tyler Cohen that aired January 14.
Cohen asked Obama directly whether extraterrestrials were real.
“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” Obama replied, adding with humor that they are not being kept at Area 51, as far as he knows.
Obama’s comments spread rapidly online, generating significant public speculation and attention across social media platforms.
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The following day, Obama posted a clarification stating: “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
Obama explained he was expressing a personal belief “that the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.”
During the same podcast exchange, Cohen asked Obama what question he most wanted answered upon entering the White House. “Where are the aliens?” Obama replied with a laugh.
Area 51, the classified military installation in Nevada, has been a focal point of extraterrestrial speculation for decades, particularly since the Cold War era, when its remote desert location fueled rumors about UFOs and government cover-ups.
The United States government has acknowledged the facility exists and has maintained it is used for testing advanced military aircraft.
Earlier this week, Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, told New York Post podcast host Miranda Devine in a newly aired episode that the president was preparing a speech on extraterrestrials.
That claim appeared to catch White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt off guard.
At Wednesday’s press briefing, a reporter asked Leavitt about Obama’s remarks and the possibility of a presidential address on extraterrestrial life.
“A speech on aliens would be news to me,” Leavitt said. “That sounds very exciting, though. I’ll have to check in with our speech-writing team.”
Leavitt added, “That would be of great interest to me personally, I’m sure all of you in this room – and apparently former President Obama, too. So, we’ll keep you posted on that.”
In the broader scientific community, researchers have long pointed to potentially habitable planets as the most viable candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life.
One such candidate is TRAPPIST-1e, an Earth-sized planet located approximately 40 light-years from Earth.
The planet orbits within its star’s habitable zone, often referred to as the “Goldilocks zone,” where conditions could allow for liquid water on the surface.
Scientists also point to locations within our own solar system as plausible environments for life.
Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan are both considered candidates due to conditions that could support the emergence of living organisms, the Daily Mail reported.
Professor Mark Burchell of the University of Kent explained the scientific reasoning to the outlet: “The idea is there are so many stars, so many have planets, so many planets are in the habitable zone where the solar heating is enough to permit liquid water on the surface, that something magic happens in a certain per cent of the time and life emerges.”
