New Delhi: The world is soon going to get access to fresh material on the presence of aliens. United States President Donald Trump has decided to release government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life. The US’s obsession with aliens, UFOs and extraterrestrial life isn’t a conversation of yesteryears.
The Pentagon in recent years has expanded efforts to track and investigate reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) through its All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office. In a 2024 report, they even reiterated that they have found no evidence of alien life.
“Based on the tremendous interest shown, 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 posted on his Truth Social platform.
Trump’s announcement came hours after he accused former President Barack Obama of revealing classified information when he said “aliens are real” on a podcast last week. Trump also revealed that he doesn’t have an opinion on the existence of aliens.
“He’s (Obama) not supposed to be doing that. He made a big mistake,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, on 19 February.
What did Barack Obama say?
Over the weekend, the former president appeared in a podcast with host Brian Tyler Cohen, who posed a series of questions in a lightning round, at the end of the interview, among which was, “Are aliens real?”
To which Obama replied, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them. And they’re not being kept in… what is it? Area 51. There is no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.”
The second question in that round was, “What was the first question you wanted answered when you became president?” Obama laughed and replied, “Where are the aliens?”
Cohen didn’t follow up on the remark; instead moved directly to the next question.
Obama’s answer was picked up by international media, as well as social media users. On Sunday evening, Obama issued a statement via Instagram to clarify his position. He shared the clip where he spoke about aliens with the caption, “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, let me clarify. Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there.”
He added, “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.”
It was not the first time that Obama had spoken on aliens. In an appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2021, Obama said, “When it comes to aliens, there are somethings that I just can’t tell you on air.”
He added, “What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are.”
Obama said that they do not have an “easily explainable pattern”.
For decades, Area 51, a highly classified US Air Force base at Groom Lake in southern Nevada, has been at the centre of numerous conspiracy theories about extraterrestrial life.
In June 2019, a YouGov poll revealed that 54 per cent of American adults believe the government likely knows more about UFOs than it has shared with the public.
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American obsession with the extraterrestrial
Americans have long blended scientific curiosity with imagination when it comes to extraterrestrial life.
UFO lore took shape around secretive military sites like Area 51 in Nevada and Dulce Base in New Mexico. The secrecy surrounding these high-security restricted areas fuelled conspiracy theories that the government was hiding alien technology or bodies there.
This fascination wasn’t limited to news bulletins. It spilt into pop culture as well. From classic flicks like 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still and 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind to more modern invasions like 1995’s Species and 2016’s Arrival have kept the alien talk alive. Novels such as AJ Hartley and Tom DeLonge’s Sekret Machines spoke about how UFOs/UAPs are real, and that they affect human consciousness and history, moving beyond the “alien visitor” narrative.
Conspiracy communities, from YouTube and podcast hosts to online groups, amplify these narratives, often linking UFOs to secret elites and deep states. Fringe claims like Dulce Base underground facilities and reptilian overlords (as explored in the 2008 documentary, Above Majestic) show how the alien myth intersects with broader conspiracy culture.
Whether serious or satirical, this blend of science, secrecy and entertainment keeps the alien fantasy alive in the American imagination.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)