President Trump said on Thursday that he had directed his administration to begin releasing files related to aliens, extraterrestrial life and unidentified flying objects, only hours after attacking former President Barack Obama for saying that aliens were real.
It was the latest effort by Mr. Trump, ever the television showman, to stir anticipation for the release of secret government documents, even as he has continued to lash out at reporters over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and his connections to the disgraced financier. The release of the Epstein files has dragged on for nearly a year and Mr. Trump did not set a timeline for files on aliens.
“Based on the tremendous interest shown,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media, he had directed officials 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.”
For decades, sightings of cutting-edge spy planes, drones, low-orbit satellites and weather balloons have driven theories about U.F.O.s, most famously at a secret military flight testing base called Area 51. While many reports of unidentified flying objects remain unsolved, the Pentagon has found no evidence that the government was covering up knowledge of extraterrestrial technology and has said there is no evidence that any U.F.O. sightings represented alien visitation to Earth.
But government assurances have done little to deter U.F.O. enthusiasts, who continue to trade theories and grainy videos of strange phenomena in the skies on Reddit and other social media platforms.
The beginnings of Mr. Trump’s latest planned file dump started with a podcast interview.
Brian Tyler Cohen, a YouTuber and podcast host, asked Mr. Obama in an interview that released on Saturday if aliens were real. The former president replied, “they’re real, but I haven’t seen them and they’re not being kept in Area 51.” He added, jokingly, “unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president.” Mr. Cohen did not ask any follow-up questions about aliens.
Mr. Obama’s remarks pinballed across the internet as commentators speculated about what he had meant. Mr. Obama later clarified on social media that he meant that extraterrestrial life likely exists out in the universe, but that as far as he knew they had not visited Earth.
He insisted, “I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!”
When asked about Mr. Obama’s speculative remarks on Air Force One earlier on Thursday, Mr. Trump claimed that Mr. Obama “gave classified information, he’s not supposed to be doing that.” When a reporter asked for clarification, and if aliens were real, Trump said that he didn’t know, but repeated his suggestion that Obama’s remarks had revealed classified information.
“He made a big mistake,” Mr. Trump said, with what appeared to be a smile. “He took it out of classified information.” Mr. Trump added that he did not have an opinion on the matter and that he would get Mr. Obama “out of trouble by declassifying” the relevant documents.
Chris Cameron is a Times reporter covering Washington, focusing on breaking news and the Trump administration.
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