President Donald Trump said Friday that the Defense Department will release classified UFO files imminently, calling them "very interesting documents" that his administration has already begun reviewing. Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Trump indicated the disclosure process is underway and that initial releases would arrive shortly.
"As you remember, I recently directed the Secretary of War to begin releasing government files relating to UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomenon," Trump said. "This process is well underway, and we found many very interesting documents, I must say, and the first releases will begin very, very soon."
The statement marks Trump's second public push on the issue. In February, he directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other officials to review government records on "alien and extraterrestrial life." That announcement followed former President Barack Obama's comments on a podcast suggesting extraterrestrial life probably exists, though Obama later clarified he meant statistically and that he saw no such evidence while in office.
Trump stopped short of endorsing the alien hypothesis himself, making no claim that the phenomena are extraterrestrial in origin. The Pentagon did not respond to questions about when documents might be released or what they might contain.
Congress has been pressing for disclosure with mounting urgency. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican who chairs the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, demanded in March that the Pentagon release 46 videos from its UAP investigation by April 14. After that deadline passed Tuesday, Luna told NewsNation she is prepared to use subpoena power if the Pentagon does not comply.
"The continued lack of transparency surrounding these anomalies and the potential national security threat they pose is troubling," Luna wrote in her initial demand letter. "The presence of UAPs in and around the sensitive airspaces of U.S. military installations poses a threat to the security of the armed forces and their readiness."
Luna posted Trump's remarks on social media with a winking emoji, signaling approval. Tennessee Republican Tim Burchett, another UFO disclosure advocate, reposted the clip with the message "Thank you for keeping your word to me @realDonaldTrump."
The Pentagon's own recent assessments offer a grounded baseline for expectations. In November 2024, the Defense Department said it had received hundreds of UAP reports following a public hearing, with 21 cases flagged for further study due to unusual characteristics. Pentagon officials stated they found no evidence of extraterrestrial life in any of those reports.
A separate Pentagon analysis from March 2024 found no credible evidence that U.S. authorities concealed findings of UFOs or UAPs that revealed alien life. The report concluded that "most sightings were the result of misidentification of ordinary objects and phenomena."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Trump's vague promises of 'interesting documents' arriving 'very, very soon' feels like political theater designed to placate Congress without committing to substantive disclosure, especially given what we already know the Pentagon has actually found in these reports."
Comments