Trump Orders Pentagon To Release UFO And UAP Files, Citing “Tremendous Public Interest”

14

Trump Orders Pentagon UAP File Release, Raising Questions About Defense Transparency and National Security

President Donald Trump has directed the Pentagon and multiple federal agencies to begin identifying and releasing government files on UAPs, UFOs, and extraterrestrial life — a sweeping directive that intersects defense transparency, national security classification policy, and one of the most publicly debated topics in recent congressional history.

The announcement, posted to Truth Social on the evening of February 19, 2026, instructs Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and heads of “other relevant Departments and Agencies” to begin the process of locating and disclosing any government records connected to these subjects.

The Directive: What Trump Actually Said

Writing on Truth Social, Trump said he would direct 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), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters.” The Hill

The language is notably broad. Unlike previous declassification orders — such as those related to the JFK assassination files — Trump did not specify a deadline, a classification threshold, or which agencies beyond DoD are included. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described it on X as “OUT OF THIS WORLD NEWS,” but provided no additional operational detail.

Defense Secretary Hegseth responded by posting a screenshot of Trump’s announcement alongside an alien emoji and a saluting emoji — an acknowledgment that raised more questions than it answered about the Pentagon’s actual readiness or willingness to execute a full-scale declassification review.

The Pentagon’s UAP Record: What Exists and What It Shows

The Department of Defense has maintained a formal UAP tracking architecture for several years. In July 2022, the Pentagon created the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, or AARO, intended to be a central repository for military UAP encounter reports.

The Pentagon, working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other government agencies, had received a total of 1,652 reports of UAPs as of 2024. Of those, the vast majority remain unresolved, though most identified cases involve conventional objects: satellites, balloons, commercial drones, and aircraft.

Critically for defense analysts, the existing public record does not support extraordinary conclusions. The Pentagon in 2024 released a report stating that it had no proof that UFOs were alien technology, with most explained as spy planes, satellites, and weather balloons. In 2023, then-AARO director Dr. Sean Kirkpatrick told reporters he had no evidence “of any program having ever existed to do any sort of reverse engineering of any sort of extraterrestrial” craft.

Still, a subset of cases continues to draw scrutiny. In one notable instance, a House Republican released a whistleblower video of a U.S. missile striking an unidentified glowing orb and apparently bouncing off it. In another case, a former Navy pilot described frequent sightings of fast-moving objects operating in restricted airspace.

The Obama Factor: How This Directive Was Triggered

Trump’s announcement did not emerge in a policy vacuum. It came hours after a news cycle dominated by remarks from former President Barack Obama. Obama said in a podcast that aliens are real, “but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in Area 51.” Obama subsequently clarified that he was speaking statistically — that given the universe’s scale, life probably exists somewhere — and that he saw no evidence of alien contact during his time in office.

Trump seized on the original statement. When asked by Fox News’ Peter Doocy aboard Air Force One, Trump said: “He gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that.” Trump then suggested he might declassify materials to “get [Obama] out of trouble,” framing what is ostensibly a transparency action in partly political terms.

This context matters. While broad public interest in UAP disclosure is real and well-documented on Capitol Hill, the immediate catalyst for this directive appears to be a media and political cycle rather than a standing defense policy review. That does not invalidate the order, but it shapes reasonable expectations about its substance and scope.

Congressional Reaction and the Legislative Backdrop

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle responded positively, though for different reasons. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) said, “If he’s going to release all of the X-Files, I think that could be a bipartisan thing.” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), who chairs the House UAP Task Force, posted: “Thank you POTUS! As the Chairwoman of the Task Force that investigates these subjects, we are incredibly grateful.

Congressional pressure for UAP transparency has built steadily since 2021. A 2023 House Oversight Committee hearing featured former military intelligence officer David Grusch, who alleged that the government maintains a “multi-decade” program to reverse-engineer non-human technology recovered from crash sites. The Pentagon has denied those claims. But the hearing significantly elevated public and legislative expectations around disclosure — setting the stage for exactly this kind of executive action.

Defense Analysis: What This Means — and What It Doesn’t

From a defense and national security standpoint, Trump’s UAP file release directive carries real implications, though they are more procedural than revelatory at this stage.

First, the classification challenge is substantial. Much of what AARO and its predecessors have collected is entwined with sensitive sensor data, signals intelligence, platform capabilities, and allied-nation information-sharing agreements. Any meaningful release will require an interagency review process that could take months or years — similar in scope to the ongoing JFK files declassification, which Trump also accelerated and which still has not been completed in full.

Second, the directive’s breadth — covering “any and all other information connected to these highly complex matters” — is legally and operationally vague. Without an executive order specifying classification levels, handling procedures, or redaction standards, Hegseth’s office faces significant discretion in defining what constitutes compliance.

Third, and perhaps most consequentially for defense professionals, the UAP issue has never been purely about aliens. A substantial portion of unresolved UAP reports involve objects exhibiting flight characteristics — speed, maneuverability, lack of observable propulsion — that exceed known U.S. or allied aerospace capabilities. Pilots and military service members have reported hundreds of unexplained objects in restricted airspace, leading some lawmakers to press the Pentagon to investigate whether they represent a threat to safety or national security. The possibility that some percentage of UAPs represent advanced foreign aerospace technology — Chinese or Russian hypersonic or stealth platforms — is a live national security concern that any declassification effort will have to navigate carefully.

What Comes Next

No timeline has been announced. The directive initiates a process, not a release. Defense Secretary Hegseth will need to coordinate with the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA, NASA, and other agencies before any files are cleared for public disclosure. Legal review under Executive Order 13526 (the standing framework governing classification) will be required.

Public and congressional expectations are high. But based on the precedent set by prior disclosure processes — including the CIA’s gradual UFO document releases and the incomplete JFK file review — defense observers should expect a phased, heavily redacted release rather than a comprehensive document dump.

What is clear is that UAP has moved from the fringes of defense policy debate to its center. Whether Trump’s directive produces substantive new information or functions primarily as a political signal, the institutional momentum toward greater UAP transparency — backed by bipartisan congressional support and a formal DoD tracking structure — is now effectively irreversible.