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Trump Orders Federal Agencies to Release UFO and Alien Files After Obama Claims

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President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to start identifying and releasing U.S. government files on aliens and UFOs, hours after accusing former President Barack Obama of disclosing “classified information” by saying on a podcast that aliens are “real.” The directive, announced in a Truth Social post late Thursday, did not set a timetable or specify how much classified material would actually reach the public. cbsnews +1

Trump said he would instruct Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — whom he referred to as “the Secretary of War” — and “other relevant Departments and Agencies” 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 move followed Obama’s Feb. 14 appearance on Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast, where the former president, in a lightning‑round question, answered “They’re real” when asked about aliens, then later clarified he had seen “no evidence” of contact while in office. nytimes +1

Transparency Push Meets Classification Reality

Trump framed the order as a response to “tremendous interest” in UFOs, but he also used it to attack his predecessor, telling reporters on Air Force One that Obama had “gave classified information” and “made a big mistake,” without citing any specific secrets disclosed. cbsnews +1 The episode quickly entwined long‑running public fascination with UFOs and a bitter political rivalry between two presidents.

Even with a presidential directive, the release is constrained by the government’s classification system. Under Executive Order 13526, intelligence agencies must review records line‑by‑line to protect sources and methods, foreign‑partner information, weapons design data and other statutorily protected material, typically leading to heavy redactions or continued secrecy for newer records. usatoday Past declassification fights, including disputes over Trump’s own handling of classified documents after leaving office, have shown that asserting broad authority from the White House rarely translates into swift, wholesale disclosure. aljazeera

What Might Actually Be Revealed?

The Pentagon’s All‑domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), created in 2022, has already published unclassified annual UAP reports, imagery and technical papers, which are likely to be among the first materials highlighted under Trump’s order. Its 2024 report logged 757 new UAP reports between May 2023 and June 2024, with only 21 deemed to merit further analysis, and reiterated that the office had found “no evidence” of extraterrestrial technology. wsj An Oak Ridge National Laboratory analysis of a widely discussed metal fragment submitted as alleged “UFO material” concluded it was a terrestrial aluminum‑silicon alloy. axios

Lawmakers who have pushed for more UAP transparency, including Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and some Democrats, welcomed Trump’s announcement and said they wanted the public to see photos, videos and historical case files. cnbc Intelligence and defense officials, however, have repeatedly warned that mass release of raw reporting risks exposing surveillance capabilities and foreign‑partner cooperation, stressing that most UAP incidents ultimately trace back to drones, balloons, aircraft or sensor glitches. wsj +1

The Bigger Picture

The order positioned Trump as a champion of UFO transparency in a political moment already primed by congressional UAP hearings and a surge of popular culture around alleged cover‑ups, yet the scientific and intelligence consensus has not shifted: there is still no confirmed evidence that aliens have visited Earth. wsj +1 What emerges from this process is less likely to be proof of extraterrestrials than a high‑profile test of how far a president can push the national security bureaucracy toward openness — and how much mystery survives even after the “X‑files” are opened.