Trump Directs Declassification of UAP Files Amid AARO Review
- President Donald Trump said on social media that he is directing the Pentagon and other agencies to locate and release files related to extraterrestrials, unidentified aerial phenomena, and related information due to “tremendous public interest.” - He referenced former President Obama’s comments suggesting aliens might exist, saying he does not know if they are real and that declassification could “get him out of trouble.” - Obama later clarified he has not seen evidence of alien contact, but noted that statistically there should be life elsewhere given the vast universe. - The move sits in a broader context of renewed public interest in UFOs: leaked Navy videos in 2017, congressional UFO hearings in 2022, and the Pentagon creating the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) in 2022 to centralize reports. - In 2023, AARO head Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick said there was no evidence of programs reverse-engineering extraterrestrial tech. A 2024 unclassified report to Congress documented 485 unidentified-phenomena reports in the past year, with 118 cases attributed to prosaic explanations (balloons, birds, UAS) and emphasized no evidence of extraterrestrial life, activity, or technology; many reports remain unsolved. - Lara Trump suggested Trump was prepared to give a speech on aliens, a claim met with a dismissive “news to me” reaction from White House press personnel.
Source: wcpo.com
