WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� says the Pentagon is preparing to release some 鈥渧ery interesting鈥� UFO files uncovered by his administration, generating a mix of buzz and skepticism as he hints at new revelations around .
Trump started stoking interest in the extraterrestrial in February, to release their records related to . Since then, he has built suspense with tantalizing updates, teasing an imminent release of documents never before shared by the U.S. government.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be releasing a lot of things that we haven’t,鈥� Trump said Wednesday at a White House event celebrating NASA astronauts. 鈥淚 think some of it鈥檚 going to be very interesting to people.鈥�
Trump has relished in portraying himself as the president who spills the secrets. In the first week returning to office, he ordered the related to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. The disclosures revealed little beyond what was already known.
In the buildup to that release, Trump said 鈥渢he American people deserve transparency and truth.鈥� Now, as he turns to the sky, the president has struck a similar tone, suggesting answers to decades-old questions may be on the way. His February directive on social media called for transparency around “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).鈥�
鈥淭he first releases will begin very, very soon,鈥� he told supporters in April at a in Phoenix. 鈥淪o you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct. You鈥檒l figure it out.鈥�
An expert cautions against raising expectations
Even before Trump’s directive, the Pentagon was years into a process to declassify and release government documents related to UFOs, now often referred to as unexplained anomalous phenomena, or UAP.
Citing concerns over national security, Congress created an office in 2022 to investigate UAP and declassify as much material as possible. The office’s revealed hundreds of new UAP incidents but found no evidence that the U.S. government had ever confirmed a sighting of alien technology. A second report covering more recent sightings is expected to come soon.
That agency, the , is now working with the White House to release 鈥渘ever-before-seen UAP information,鈥� according to a Pentagon statement.
The office’s previous director, however, said Trump’s promises were bluster, a 鈥渟hiny object鈥� to distract Americans from the . Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist and former career intelligence officer who led the office until 2023, said he has seen the government’s records and believes there are no bombshell revelations to be found.
鈥淩eaders should not get their hopes up that there鈥檚 going to be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause that just doesn鈥檛 exist.鈥�
Videos purporting to show alien technology tend to have mundane explanations, he said. Modern infrared cameras used by the U.S. military often capture jet engines and other hot objects in a long thermal bloom, which, Kirkpatrick said, explains viral videos of speedy, pill-shaped objects.
Pentagon not forthcoming on UAP reports, GOP-led panel says
On Capitol Hill, those types of videos have caught the attention of a small group of Trump-aligned Republicans who insist the Pentagon is holding back secrets.
The Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets has been conducting its own investigation into reports of mysterious aircraft near U.S. military installations, which the panel says pose a threat to national security and the armed forces.
Last fall, the task force from current and former service members who described UAP encounters. In one case, a senior Navy officer said he was off the coast of California in 2023 when he saw a glowing 鈥淭ic Tac鈥� shaped object emerge from the ocean and link up with three similar objects. They sped away in an instant, he said.
Trump’s interest in the subject has energized congressional Republicans, including Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran who co-chairs the task force. Luna has criticized what she calls 鈥渓ess than adequate鈥� transparency from the Pentagon.
to Luna demanded dozens of UAP videos identified by whistleblowers and labeled with names such as 鈥淪pherical UAP in clouds.鈥� Her deadline for Hegseth came and went, and no videos were produced.
Trump’s entry to the UFO fray drew applause from Luna, who last year told podcaster Joe Rogan that she has seen evidence of 鈥渋nterdimensional beings.鈥� The Pentagon 鈥渃an鈥檛 hide from our docs request anymore!鈥� Luna said on social media after Trump’s directive.
Vance professes to be 鈥榦bsessed鈥� with UFO files
Trump appears skeptical about the existence of extraterrestrial life. Addressing the Turning Point USA crowd in Phoenix, he said, 鈥淚 figured this was a good crowd because I know you people, you鈥檙e really into that. I don鈥檛 know if I am.鈥�
Why he made the revelation at that event, held at a megachurch, is unclear. A day earlier, Trump had spoken in Las Vegas, not far from , a top-secret Cold War test site that has fueled UFO conspiracy theories.
Vice President JD Vance has described himself as 鈥渙bsessed鈥� with UFO files. In March, he said he has been trying to find time to investigate Area 51 since he took office.
鈥淚鈥檝e still got three more years as vice president,鈥� Vance told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson. 鈥淚 will get to the bottom of the UFO files.鈥� Invoking his Christian faith, Vance said he believes sightings reported to be aliens are actually the work of spiritual demons.
Even before Trump tackled the topic, alien buzz was already in the air.
It’s back in Hollywood with an upcoming , 鈥淒isclosure Day.鈥� Former President Barack Obama made a splash in February when he declared on a podcast that . He later clarified that he had seen no evidence but that 鈥渢he odds are good there鈥檚 life out there.鈥�
Trump is hardly the first president drawn to UFO mysteries. President Bill Clinton has said he once ordered a review of the Roswell Incident 鈥� something had crashed in 1947 at a New Mexico ranch and officials later said the debris was the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon 鈥� around its 50th anniversary in 1997. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan claimed to have seen UFOs before their time in the White House.
The U.S. government has been investigating UFO reports since the 1940s, in part to determine if they represent advanced technology from competing nations or 鈥渆vidence of off-world technology,鈥� according to the .
In online communities devoted to UFOs, some see Trump’s promise as a step in the right direction; others believe it will come to nothing. For people who follow the topic closely, promises of big revelations have never lived up to the hype, said Greg Eghigian, a Pennsylvania State University professor who wrote a book on the history of UFO sightings.
鈥淭here is almost no satisfaction that is possible for many of the really die-hard folks,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o in a sense, I think disappointment can almost be guaranteed to be expected no matter what comes out of this.鈥�
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