government files on aliens and extraterrestrial life. Trump made the declaration in a post on Truth Social, 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. "He's not supposed to be doing that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, adding: "He made a big mistake." Asked if he also thinks aliens are real, Trump answered: "Well, I don't know if they're real or not."

Former US President Barack Obama suggested in a podcast that aliens are real, though he doesn’t claim to have seen them and notes they are not hidden in Area 51. He added that there would be no underground facility unless a vast conspiracy kept it from heeding the president. Obama later clarified on Instagram that, while he thinks it’s statistically likely life exists elsewhere in the universe, he saw no evidence during his presidency of extraterrestrial contact. The interview occurred during a rapid-fire segment and did not appear to rely on classified information. Trump responded by saying he doesn’t discuss aliens and doesn’t have an opinion, but later claimed he would push for the release of files related to alien life, UAPs, and related information due to public interest. The renewed fascination with UFOs has tracks back to a 2017 Pentagon program and pilot testimonies. In 2022, Congress held hearings on UFOs and the Pentagon created a unit to collect encounters. A 2024 Pentagon report stated there was no evidence of alien life and concluded most sightings were ordinary objects, with no major bombshells from subsequent reviews. (BBC)