Are we not alone? Declassified UFO files reopen debate on government transparency.
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Patrik Jonsson Staff writer
The Trump administration鈥檚 release of troves of material related to unidentified flying objects 鈥� and promises of more 鈥� has resurrected a debate about the possibility that alien life exists and that the U.S. government is hiding the proof.
A new Defense Department website with an 鈥淴-Files鈥�-adjacent design uploaded a tranche of 161 UFO files to the public on May 8. 鈥淭hese files, hidden behind classification, have long fueled justified speculation 鈥� and it鈥檚 time the American people see it for themselves,鈥� Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth writes on the site.
Americans have been fascinated with the possibility of contact with alien beings since at least the 1940s, following numerous reported 鈥渇lying saucer鈥� sightings in the summer of 1947. The interest in UFOs ramped up again during the Cold War, when many Americans felt scared and isolated by existential nuclear dangers.
Why We Wrote This
President Trump has released 161 UFO files to the public, citing the need for transparency. But critics view the release as a play to a conspiracy-curious base.
President Donald Trump has long teased a broader release of what might be thousands of documents related to what are now referred to as unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). In what he says is a national bid for transparency, the president has also ordered the release of documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Critics call this push for transparency ironic, given the record of Mr. Trump鈥檚 previous administration: stonewalling public records, hiding tax returns, and fighting lawsuits over concealed White House visitor logs and nondisclosure agreements. Supporters, meanwhile, view Mr. Trump as a promoter of 鈥渞adical transparency,鈥� and they point to his direct, unfiltered communication style as authentic and an unapologetic way to expose what he refers to as the 鈥渄eep state.鈥�
Releasing the files at a time when his poll numbers are low could be, in part, a way to satisfy Mr. Trump鈥檚 conspiracy-curious base. But in this case, it鈥檚 also a test of whether Americans more broadly can handle what the government knows about the question of non-Earth-based life.
鈥淩egardless of why [the UFO conspiracy theory] sort of started, it鈥檚 been with us for a while,鈥� says Joseph Uscinski, a political scientist at the University of Miami. 鈥淎 lot of people believe that either aliens have landed here or are flying around or the government knows things that they won鈥檛 tell us.鈥�
What are UFOs, or UAPs, and what did the May 8 tranche show?
Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were both open about witnessing UFOs, though they drew different conclusions from them. While Carter formally filed a report about a strange, hovering light in 1969, Reagan simply noted a mysterious, fast-moving light while flying in a private plane in 1974.
The May 8 collection of files includes several videos and documents, including an Oct. 14, 1955, intelligence report featuring witness accounts of an 鈥渦nconventional aircraft in the trans-Caucasus region of the USSR.鈥�
But evidence that such reports and images may be proof of alien life forms has remained scant through the decades. That鈥檚 in part why the sightings have been reclassified as UAPs 鈥� framed less as an alien invasion and more as potential national security breaches by hostile foreign governments.
Experts have debunked most purported UFO videos and say that most of the blinking lights and flying discs that witnesses say they see in the skies are most likely mundane objects such as commercial aircraft and drones, satellites, camera lens flares, or optical distortions, cloud formations, and stars. Sometimes, atmospheric conditions cause such things to appear to twinkle or change color, and glowing atmospheric gases can create false radar returns and strange visual illusions.
鈥淚f you see something that you don鈥檛 know what it is, you don鈥檛 get to say it鈥檚 aliens,鈥� says Professor Uscinski, co-author of 鈥淎merican Conspiracy Theories.鈥�
Given the lack of proof, why do people believe in aliens?
The fascination with UFOs might reflect a deep longing to understand the mysteries of the cosmos.
Movie hits such as 鈥淧roject Hail Mary,鈥� which features interstellar travel and a lovable alien named Rocky, underscore the popular interest. That appeal is often combined with darker notions, prevalent among some Americans, that hidden motives and undercover agents guide the U.S. government.
On a podcast with Joe Rogan, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, said that she has seen evidence of 鈥渋nterdimensional beings.鈥� She suggested that the Pentagon has slow-walked the release of corroborating information.
Ms. Luna, an Air Force veteran who chairs the House Oversight Committee鈥檚 Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets, and who says her work is to end the government鈥檚 鈥渧eil of secrecy,鈥� has urged people to read the Bible鈥檚 non-canonical Book of Enoch, which suggests that 200 angels, known as watchers, came to Earth, procreated with women, and shared cosmic secrets.
Proof of aliens or UFOs or not, such beliefs are, in any case, a testament to the human imagination鈥檚 ability to bend the unknown into a sense of possibility. They also highlight how the cultural impact of the files on the American psyche might ultimately be greater than the scientific one, says William Henry, author of 鈥淟ost Secrets of the Watchers.鈥�
鈥淲here there鈥檚 smoke, there鈥檚 fire, and there鈥檚 a curl of truth in all these myths,鈥� Mr. Henry says. 鈥淭his is not just about the nuts and bolts of crashed flying saucers. It totally legitimizes the discussion of these mysteries.鈥�
Why is Congress focused on UFOs?
Part of what has driven UFO mania is the notion that nonelected people in government know more than they鈥檙e telling. The mysteries at Roswell, New Mexico (C鈥檓on, was it really a weather balloon?), and Area 51 in Nevada (Do we now possess alien technology?) are at the top of that list.
Even before President Trump鈥檚 directive, the Defense Department had begun to declassify UFO-related files. A 2024 congressional report found no evidence that the government has come into contact with alien technology. A second report, however, has been promised. The Pentagon agency handling the matter, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, is now responsible for releasing the documents.
During testimony last year to Representative Luna鈥檚 task force, a senior Navy officer described seeing a mysterious object off the coast of California in 2023. That glowing, Tic Tac-shaped object, he said, rose from the ocean and linked up with three similar objects, all of which quickly whooshed away. The officer, Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexandro Wiggins, who worked in radar operations, convinced a doubting radar officer that the craft was not just an atmospheric anomaly. This testimony 鈥� along with other accounts of 鈥渢ransmedium鈥� (air-to-water) anomalies 鈥� prompted Ms. Luna and the House task force to launch a broader transparency investigation.
What has President Trump said about the release of the UFO files?
Mr. Trump, who is fond of spreading conspiracy theories online, has said government transparency is a hallmark of his presidency. So, the release of the UFO files is providing a needed rally cry.
鈥淗ave Fun and Enjoy!鈥� Mr. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
But the files are also a potential distraction from the Iran war, the long-running Epstein saga, and economic headwinds for the White House ahead of November鈥檚 midterm elections.
On the day the files were released, Rep. Tim Burchett, a Tennessee Republican, said on Mr. Rogan鈥檚 podcast that he believed the Trump administration genuinely is interested in transparency. He also doubted whether the UFO files would change any minds about whether nonhuman space travelers exist.
But some, like Mr. Henry, a regular on the History Channel show 鈥淎ncient Aliens,鈥� have reached beyond the conspiracy theories and politics to the gee-whiz wonder of it all. The UFO file dump, he said, could reinforce faith not just in government, but also in human knowledge.
鈥淣obody knows what鈥檚 going to happen on the other side鈥� of such revelations, he adds. 鈥淚t should unite us as a people.鈥�
