President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration’s review of UFO-related material has uncovered a number of “interesting” documents, adding that an initial release of records is expected soon.
“We found many very interesting documents, I must say, and the first releases will begin very, very soon so you can go out and see if that phenomena is correct,” Trump told supporters at an event hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA.
Trump in February directed U.S. agencies to begin releasing government files on UFOs, also known as unidentified aerial phenomena, and possible extraterrestrial life, citing strong public interest.
He ordered the review after accusing former President Barack Obama of improperly sharing classified information when Obama said aliens were “real” during a podcast interview.
Obama later clarified that he had seen no evidence of extraterrestrial contact during his presidency, though he said the statistical likelihood of life elsewhere in the universe is high.
Trump has said he also has not seen evidence of aliens and remains uncertain about their existence.
In recent years, the Pentagon has investigated reports of UFOs. Senior military leaders said in 2022 they found no evidence to suggest that aliens had visited Earth or crash-landed.
A 2024 Pentagon report said U.S. government investigations since the end of World War II found no evidence of extraterrestrial technology and that most sightings were misidentified ordinary objects or natural phenomena.