U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he would direct the Department of Defense and other relevant agencies to “begin the process of identifying and releasing” government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced this stating that the move was based on the “tremendous interest” in the subject, without providing additional details.
This comes after he accused Barack Obama earlier in the day of revealing classified information when the former president said “aliens are real” on a podcast last week. Obama said that aliens were real, “but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in … Area 51.”
Area 51 refers to a classified U.S. Air Force facility in Nevada, and has been the center of conspiracy theories saying the U.S. government has been conducting research and using the facility for storing extraterrestrial materials and technology.
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As per a BBC report, Trump posted that “based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and 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)”.
“He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding: “He made a big mistake.”
Trump said that while a lot of people believe in the existence of aliens, he never talks about it, and “doesn’t have an opinion on it”.
Asked if he also thinks aliens are real, Trump answered: “Well, I don’t know if they’re real or not.”
