Trump Orders Release of UFO and Alien Files After Obama Comments
President Donald Trump has directed the Department of Defense and other agencies to disclose government records related to unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), commonly known as UFOs, and extraterrestrial life, following comments made by former President Barack Obama regarding the potential existence of aliens.
Obama’s Initial Remarks and Clarification
The impetus for Trump’s decision stemmed from an interview with former President Obama, published on February 14, 2026, by podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen. Obama stated, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” when asked if aliens exist. He clarified that they are not being kept at Area 51, stating, “There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
Following initial attention to his comments, Obama provided further clarification on social media, stating, “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are great there’s life out there. 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!”
Trump’s Response and Accusations
President Trump criticized Obama’s remarks, accusing him of disclosing “classified information.” Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on February 19, 2026, Trump stated, “He gave classified information, he’s not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake.” Trump did not specify what information he believed was classified.
Despite his criticism, Trump acknowledged the “tremendous interest” in the topic and announced his directive for government agencies to release relevant records.
Previous Congressional Hearings and Pentagon Reports
This announcement follows a series of congressional hearings on UAPs, with three hearings held since 2023. In September 2023, four witnesses testified about encounters with objects they believed to be UAPs, and a video purportedly showing a U.S. Military drone engaging a mysterious object was presented.
Recent reports from the Pentagon’s UFO office and NASA have found no “verifiable evidence” of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology. NASA’s report, released in September 2023, also stated that the agency has not found any evidence that UAPs are extraterrestrial in nature.