President Donald Trump said the federal government will soon begin releasing UFO and unexplained aerial phenomenon files after reviewing classified records he described as “very interesting.”
Trump made the announcement Friday during a Turning Point USA event in Phoenix, Arizona, where he told supporters he had instructed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to move forward with disclosure efforts.
“I’m pleased to report today … that this process is well underway,” Trump said. “We found many very interesting documents, I must say. And the first releases will begin very, very soon.”
Trump also joked that the crowd was the right audience for the topic because they were “really into that.”
A Defense Department official told the source that the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, known as AARO, is working with the White House to consolidate existing unidentified aerial phenomenon records and transfer material to the National Archives.
The official said AARO has already made progress in organizing records and making information available under federal law.
It remains unclear exactly which files Trump was referring to.
The report noted that a House Oversight task force sent a letter to Hegseth in March requesting more than 45 videos related to unidentified aerial phenomena by April 14.
Those requested materials reportedly include footage dating back to 2019 involving cigar-shaped objects, spherical craft, incidents near U.S. bases, restricted airspace encounters, and a 2023 shootdown over Lake Huron.
Some requested clips also reportedly involve formations near Iran and Syria.
Lawmakers involved in the request said the presence of unexplained objects around military airspace creates potential national security concerns.
Trump previously posted in February that he would direct agencies to identify and release files tied to alien life, UFOs, and UAPs.
Hegseth later said the Pentagon was “digging in” to the files and would comply with Trump’s directive.
Despite the political excitement surrounding disclosure, previous Pentagon reviews have been far more cautious.
In 2022, senior defense officials said they found no evidence aliens had visited Earth.
AARO also released a 2024 report concluding most sightings were misidentified ordinary objects and that there was no evidence of extraterrestrial technology since World War II, per the Daily Mail.
That means the coming release may contain military footage, radar incidents, internal memos, or unresolved case files rather than proof of alien spacecraft.
Still, public interest remains high.
The U.S. government has investigated UFO claims for decades, including Project Blue Book, which reviewed more than 12,000 sightings before ending in 1969.
Modern attention surged again after Navy pilots encountered off the East Coast and leaked military videos showing unusual objects.
Trump’s announcement now raises expectations that new records could be made public within weeks.
Whether those files reveal groundbreaking information or simply more unexplained but non-extraterrestrial incidents will determine whether this becomes a historic disclosure or another overhyped release.
