Just days after former President Barack Obama suggested aliens did in fact exist — and just hours after President Donald Trump chastised him for doing so — the White House is now directing the Department of Defense to release all government files related to extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects.
Trump made the surprise announcement in a social media post on Thursday evening, noting he was making the directive “based on the tremendous interest shown” in the last few days. The president said he would direct the DOD and other related agencies to “begin the process of identifying and releasing government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life” as well as UFOs and other information “connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.”
Researchers, science fiction fans, and conspiracy theorists alike have obsessed with alien life for decades — and that fascination has now seeped into some of the most powerful offices in Washington.
Congress has been investigating the phenomenon for years, emerging as one of the few issues uniting Republicans and Democrats as they dig for answers about outer space. Some of the lawmakers spearheading those inquiries praised Trump for directing the file release, hinting at more hearings and briefings in the coming weeks.
“Now the (Defense Department) can’t hide from our docs request anymore!” Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, one of the House Republicans leading the investigation into UFOs, said in a post on X.
The promise of released classified information is only the latest government file drop pursued by the Trump administration. Since taking office in January 2025, Trump has already sought to make public the records related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhart; and the Crossfire Hurricane FBI investigation into Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
But it also coincides with ongoing pressure to release all government files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, an effort that has taken months as the Justice Department goes through the documents to redact sensitive information.
But this latest effort seems to be inspired simply by a podcast interview with Obama earlier this week, during which the former president appeared to confirm the existence of alien life.
“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them and they’re not being kept in Area 51,” Obama said, referring to the highly classified air base in Nevada that has long been rumored to store alien technology. “Unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president.”
The offhand comment quickly went viral, prompting reporters to ask Trump if he knew anything about extraterrestrial beings while talking with reporters on Air Force One.
“(Obama) made a big mistake,” Trump said as some of his administration officials behind him smiled. “He took it out of classified information.”
Obama later clarified on social media that he only meant that “the odds are good there’s life out there” based on how vast the universe is, but made clear he “saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”