Trump says review of UFO files found interesting | Political News

President Donald Trump said unseen paperwork associated to UFOs will likely be launched “very, very soon.”

Speaking at a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Arizona, the president said he would instruct Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to release the sealed paperwork on unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and unexplained aerial phenomena (UAPs).

“I recently directed the Secretary of War… to begin releasing government files relating to UFOs and unexplained aerial phenomena,” Trump said. “And I figured this was a good crowd because I know you people – you’re really into that, I don’t know if I am.”

He added that “this process was well underway and we’ve found many interesting documents, I must say, and the first releases will begin very, very soon.”

Responding to the president’s feedback, the Defense Department said that its All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) is “working in close coordination with the White House and across federal agencies to consolidate existing UAP records collections and facilitate the expeditious release of never-before-seen UAP information.”

“AARO has made progress to make UAP information available and transfer those records to the National Archives in accordance with federal law,” the statement continued. “We welcome the president’s initiative to supercharge these efforts and make more UAP information available to the public as soon as possible.”

The Trump administration has expressed a newfound interest in UFOs in response to comments former President Barack Obama made during an interview for the “No Lie” podcast in which he declared that aliens “are real, but I haven’t seen them.”

In those statements, he added that extraterrestrials are not kept in the infamous Area 51, a highly classified U.S. Air Force facility that has been the subject of several conspiracy theories.

“There’s no underground facility, unless there’s this enormous conspiracy, and they hid it from the president of the United States,” he added.

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After his comments gained traction from Americans, Obama clarified on social media that he “saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”

“I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” Obama said. “But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens is low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”

At the time, President Trump accused Obama of releasing classified information after Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked him whether he had seen evidence of “non-human visitors to Earth.”

“Well, he gave classified information,” Trump responded. “He’s not supposed to be doing that.”

After being pressed about the topic, Trump told the journalist, “I never talk about it. A lot of people do. Do you believe it, Peter?” before adding, “I may get him out of trouble by declassifying” information on aliens.

Republicans have advocated for Trump to release information on UFOs, including Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), who asked the president to “peel back the layers of that onion, let America decide if we can handle it. I think we can handle it.”

Similarly, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who is also the chair of the House Oversight Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, urged in a March 31 letter to the Pentagon to release information of UAP seen over Iran, the Persian Gulf and near U.S. domestic airports.

“The lack of disclosure regarding the very real threat posed by UAPs in and around U.S. restricted airspace is concerning,” Luna wrote in the 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.”