US President Donald Trump has ordered federal agencies, including the military, to start looking for and releasing government records related to allegations of extraterrestrial life and sightings of unidentified flying objects in the sky.
The decision was announced by Trump in a posting on his Truth Social platform, where he said that interest in the subject had suddenly spiked and that it was an important one.
Trump said that Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and other agencies would begin the process of finding relevant information on “unidentified aerial phenomena” and “unidentified flying objects,” as well as any files containing information on “alien and extraterrestrial life.”
Speaking to reporters en route, Trump said that he was not making any claims of special knowledge about the existence of aliens.
The news came after days of online coverage following comments made by former president Barack Obama in a podcast interview that were picked up on, prompting Trump to accuse him of sharing classified information.
Barack Obama, former US president, wrote on Instagram, “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
What officials say the evidence shows
The Pentagon has been encouraging service members and pilots to come forward with reports of unusual sightings in recent years, while also making it clear that there has been no proof of alien technology found.
The Department of Defense’s All domain Anomaly Resolution Office said in its latest annual report that it had received hundreds of reports during the period.
The office said it had found “no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology.”
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Even if new information is released, much of what is being held is already unclassified or has benign explanations according to officials in previous reviews.
The US National Archives also holds collections of records about UFOs, which represent decades of public interest and conspiracy theories that have been denied by successive administrations.
