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IN BRIEF
- Trump’s move comes after former US president Barack Obama said in a podcast last week that “[aliens] are real”.
- Trump had earlier said Obama had “made a big mistake” in discussing aliens.
President Donald Trump has announced plans to release government documents concerning alien and extraterrestrial life, sparking widespread interest.
In a post shared on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated his intention to instruct the Secretary of War, along with other pertinent departments and agencies, to commence identifying and disclosing governmental files related to alien life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
According to Trump, this decision is driven by the “tremendous interest” in the topic, likely fueled by former President Barack Obama’s recent remarks, where he hinted at the existence of aliens.
In a recent appearance on the podcast “No Lie,” hosted by YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama addressed the question of alien existence, saying, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them.”
Obama further clarified that there are no aliens being kept at Area 51, the highly classified U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada. He added that unless there is an enormous conspiracy, such information has not been hidden from the President of the United States.
Out of the almost 50-minute interview with Cohen, it was those comments during a quick-fire question round that took the internet by storm. One TikTok video of Obama’s response gained six million views.
Since the interview, he issued a statement clarifying that his answer was in line with “the spirit of the speed round of questions”.
“Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good 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!” Obama wrote in a caption alongside the video.
Trump had earlier said Obama had “made a big mistake” in discussing aliens, claiming without evidence he had disclosed classified information.
Asked what he thought of Obama’s comment that aliens are real, Trump said: “Well, I don’t know if they’re real or not, but he gave classified information, he’s not supposed to be doing that.”
He then said he doesn’t have an opinion on aliens, but said “a lot of people believe it”.
“I may get him out of trouble by declassifying.”
It’s unclear when the files will be released.