President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will move to declassify long-guarded government files related to extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena, signaling a major push for transparency on an issue that has fueled speculation for decades.
In a statement, Trump said he will direct top defense and intelligence officials to begin identifying and releasing documents tied to aliens, UFOs, and what the Pentagon now refers to as UAPs — unidentified aerial phenomena.
“I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs),” Trump wrote.
He specifically called on Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to spearhead the effort and coordinate with other departments and agencies to ensure the process moves forward.
“And any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” Trump added. “GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
The announcement comes amid growing bipartisan interest in shedding light on decades of classified material involving unexplained aerial sightings and potential extraterrestrial encounters.
In January 2026, Republican Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri called for stronger whistleblower protections and greater transparency on UFO-related matters, saying lawmakers had effectively been given “marching orders” to pursue disclosure regarding unidentified aerial phenomena.
“I’m looking forward to actually getting my hands on any kind of real physical evidence — whether that’s material evidence or biological samples, maybe from the corpse … at the end of the day, I remain skeptical until I get my hands on physical evidence. But until then, I’m going to take it seriously investigating myself,” Burlison told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Concerns about secrecy are not new. In November 2023, former military and intelligence officials warned that the government risked a “catastrophic” leak if it failed to proactively declassify UFO-related information. At the time, members of Congress pushed for UAP disclosure provisions while debating the National Defense Authorization Act, reflecting bipartisan interest in releasing long-withheld records.
The mystery surrounding UAPs has been fueled in part by documented military encounters. In December 2020, Navy personnel captured footage of a triangular object emerging from the ocean near a U.S. warship. Defense officials later acknowledged they could not identify the craft.
A subsequent Pentagon assessment reviewed more than 140 military encounters with unidentified aerial phenomena. The report concluded that most of the cases remained unexplained and warranted further investigation.
Trump’s directive now places the issue squarely in the hands of senior defense leadership, with a mandate to begin lifting the veil on materials that have long been shielded from public view.
For years, critics have questioned whether the federal government has been fully transparent about what it knows regarding UFOs and possible extraterrestrial life. With this latest move, Trump is positioning his administration as one willing to confront the unknown — and potentially reveal what prior administrations kept classified.
Whether the forthcoming disclosures will provide definitive answers remains to be seen. But the president’s announcement marks one of the most sweeping efforts yet to open the books on one of America’s most enduring mysteries.
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