The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again turned his attention to space, announcing that the Pentagon is preparing to publish “very interesting” documents on Unidentified Flying Objects, that is, UFOs. This initiative, promoted by an executive order in February, has awakened a wave of enthusiasm among followers of the phenomenon, as intense as the skepticism that exists among intelligence experts.
Since his return to office, the Republican has cultivated an image of a “revealer of secrets” that he loves. Of course, he always chooses what is best for him, because if we talk about the Jeffrey Epstein pedophilia case… that’s it. Now, after ordering the declassification of records on the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr., the president focuses on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (FANE).
“We are going to publish a lot of things that we have not published,” Trump said last Wednesday during an event at the White House in honor of NASA astronauts. “I think some of that is going to be very interesting to people.” The bait was set and speculation, since then, has skyrocketed.
The White House is currently working with the Department of Defense’s All Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) (which they have renamed Warfare) to release information never before shared. Trump himself fueled expectations during a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix: “The first publications will begin very, very soon. So you can go out and see if that phenomenon is correct. You will find out.”
However, not everyone shares this optimism. Sean Kirkpatrick, a physicist and former director of the FANE research office, warned the AP agency that the president’s promises could be a distraction in the face of international conflicts. “Readers should not get their hopes up that there will be some document with photos, interviewing the aliens when they came down,” he pointed out bluntly. “Because that simply doesn’t exist.”
Pressure from the Capitol
While Trump leads this movie narrative, a group of Republican lawmakers is pushing for the Pentagon to be more transparent, but for real. Representative Anna Paulina Luna, an Air Force veteran, has been one of the most critical voices against Defense’s reluctance to provide specific videos. After Trump’s order, Luna celebrated on social networks: “The Pentagon can no longer hide from our request for documents!”
For his part, the country’s vice president, JD Vance, has declared himself “obsessed” with the UFO files and is said to be one of Trump’s advisors who are most insisting on the matter. The number two in the North American Government has expressed his intention to get to the bottom of the mysteries of Area 51, although with a unique perspective: he has suggested that these phenomena could have a spiritual or demonic origin rather than a technological one.
We are talking about a high-security military base located in the Nevada desert that officially serves as a testing ground for the development of experimental aircraft and defense technology, but over which there is a cloak of mystery due to its extreme secrecy, which has made it the epicenter of multiple conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial life.
Donald Trump and JD Vance, during the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024.
A mystery of decades
Presidential interest in UFOs is not new. Since the Roswell incident in 1947, leaders such as Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton have expressed curiosity or reported sightings. However, previous Department of Defense reports (such as 2024) have indicated that, while there are hundreds of unexplained incidents, there is no confirmed evidence of alien technology.
For experts like Greg Eghigian, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, the outcome of these new revelations could be bittersweet. “There is almost no satisfaction possible for many of the most diehards. So, in a sense, I think disappointment can be almost guaranteed, no matter what happens,” he concluded.
Just in the last few hours, former President Barack Obama, interviewed by Stephen Colbert, has referred to these supposed secrets. More than two months ago, the Democrat made headlines by stating about UFOs: “They are real. But I have not seen them. They are not in Area 51. There are no underground facilities.” And he left an ironic qualification: “Unless there is a huge conspiracy and they have hidden it from the president of the United States.” That’s when Trump felt chopped and started talking about declassifying documents.
When the comedian, presenter of late show on CBS, urged him to “confess” to the existence of little green men, Obama, laughing, confessed: “I thought it was obvious what I was referring to.” Obama took a moment to set the record straight. “Look,” he said. “For those who still believe we have little green men in the ground, one of the things you learn as president is that the government is terrible at keeping secrets.”
He continues: “This idea of conspiracy theories… If there were aliens, alien spaceships, or anything under the control of the United States government that we were aware of, like photographs, etc., I assure you that some guard at the facility would have taken a selfie with one of the aliens and sent it to his girlfriend to impress her. It would be leaked!”
Colbert suggested that there would at least be “some indications” that extraterrestrial life had landed on Earth, such as that “a presidential center would look like a scout ship that just descended from low orbit and landed in Chicago.” The comment was an allusion to Obama’s presidential center, which is scheduled to open in June.
Even if you haven’t seen any and swear that the United States doesn’t hide any, in the style of E.T.Obama still hopes that aliens are real and wants to communicate with them. “I’m taking this opportunity to advertise,” he proclaimed. “First contact: I think he would be a good emissary for the planet.” The former president proceeded to list some of his credentials to increase his chances. “I have a diverse background, experience in foreign policy and diplomacy. I am friendly,” he said. “So I think I could do a good job.”
Taking on the role of being responsible for Earth’s relations with extraterrestrials, Colbert told Obama that “we will keep that in mind” going forward. “Thank you very much,” Obama said, before reiterating once again that a US encounter with extraterrestrial life “has not happened yet!”
Obama found himself embroiled in alien drama when he first expressed his beliefs on the podcast “No Lie” in February. He later clarified his comments in an Instagram post, noting that “statistically, the universe is so vast that there is a good chance that life exists out there,” but that “the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances that we have been visited by extraterrestrials are low.” “During my presidency I did not see any evidence that extraterrestrials have contacted us. Seriously!” he emphasized.
