Trump Says He Doesn't Know If Aliens Are Real But Directs Government To Release Files On Ufos - Beritaja

President Donald Trump waves aft stepping disconnected Air Force One, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, astatine Joint Base Andrews, Md., connected return from a travel to Georgia. Mark Schiefelbein/AP

Mark Schiefelbein/AP

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he's directing the Pentagon and different authorities agencies to place and merchandise files related to extraterrestrials and UFOs because of "tremendous interest."

Trump made the announcement successful a societal media station hours aft he accused erstwhile President Barack Obama of disclosing "classified information" erstwhile Obama precocious suggested successful a podcast question and reply that aliens were real.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, "I don't cognize if they're existent aliases not," and said of Obama, "I whitethorn get him retired of problem by declassifying."

In a station connected his societal media level Thursday night, Trump said he was directing authorities agencies to merchandise files related "to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and immoderate and each different accusation connected to these highly complex, but highly absorbing and important, matters."

Obama, who made his comments successful a podcast quality complete the weekend, later clarified that he had not seen grounds that aliens "have made interaction pinch us," but said, "statistically, the beingness is truthful immense that the likelihood are bully there's life retired there."

Trump told reporters Thursday that erstwhile it came to the imaginable of extraterrestrial visitors: "I don't person an sentiment connected it. I ne'er talk about it. A batch of group do. A batch of group judge it."

Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump suggested this week that he was fresh to speak about it, however, erstwhile she said connected a podcast that the president had a reside prepared to present connected aliens that he would springiness astatine the "right time."

That was news to the White House. Press caput Karoline Leavitt responded pinch a laughter erstwhile she was asked about it Wednesday and told reporters, "A reside connected aliens would beryllium news to me."

Public liking successful unidentified flying objects and the anticipation of the authorities hiding secrets of extraterrestrial life remerged successful the nationalist consciousness aft a group of erstwhile Pentagon and authorities officials leaked Navy videos of chartless objects to The New York Times and Politico successful 2017. The renewed scrutiny prompted Congress to clasp the first hearings connected UFOs successful 50 years successful May 2022, though officials said that the objects, which appeared to beryllium greenish triangles floating supra a Navy ship, were apt drones.

Since past the Pentagon has promised much transparency connected the topic. In July 2022 it created the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, aliases AARO, which was intended to beryllium a cardinal spot to cod reports of each subject UFO encounters, taking complete from a section task force.

In 2023, Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick, the caput of AARO astatine the time, told reporters he didn't person immoderate grounds "of immoderate programme having ever existed arsenic a to do immoderate benignant of reverse engineering of immoderate benignant of extraterrestrial (unidentified aerial phenomena)."

The accusation that has been made nationalist shows that the immense mostly of UFO reports made by the subject spell unsolved but the ones that are identified are mostly benign successful nature.

An 18-page unclassified study submitted to Congress successful June 2024 said work members had made 485 reports of unidentified phenomena successful the past twelvemonth but 118 cases were recovered to beryllium "prosaic objects specified arsenic various types of balloons, birds, and unmanned aerial systems."

"It is important to underscore that, to date, AARO has discovered nary grounds of extraterrestrial beings, activity, aliases technology," the study stressed.