Obama and Trump's Fight Over Aliens: Are Aliens Among Us?

TEHRAN (Defapress) - Mohammad Zarchini - US President Donald Trump's order to release documents related to UFOs and extraterrestrials has undoubtedly opened a new chapter in public debate about one of the most mysterious phenomena of the modern era. However, given the history of official reports from the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies, there are many ifs and buts about whether this action will lead to the disclosure of definitive evidence of alien existence.

In a recent tweet, Trump said he had ordered government agencies to release all documents related to “alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs)” and any other information related to these very complex, but extremely interesting and important topics.

The alien story has been in the news again after former US President Barack Obama officially confirmed their sighting in an interview with a YouTube channel. Donald Trump responded to the comment by claiming that Obama had leaked classified US information. Obama was then forced to say that he had seen no evidence that extraterrestrials had “contacted us,” but acknowledged that statistically, the universe is so vast that the possibility of life elsewhere is very high. Trump also responded to Obama’s claim by saying, “I have no opinion on it, and I never talk about it; a lot of people do it, a lot of people believe it.”

It all started in 1947; in fact, at the same time as tensions between the United States and the former Soviet Union began, a US Air Force pilot announced that he had seen a flying object in the sky of this country, an object that had strange characteristics and disappeared at an unprecedented speed.

The term UFO, as an abbreviation of the English phrase "Unidentified Flying Object", became known from that time; this issue created a wave of excitement among societies; accordingly, the Hollywood film market flourished with hypotheses such as the existence of flying saucers and aliens. Therefore, the first media controversies about flying objects date back decades; however, a few years ago, the Pentagon (US Department of War) officially confirmed the authenticity of the images published during this period.

The US cover-up of extraterrestrial life

The renewed public interest in UFOs and the possibility of a government cover-up of extraterrestrial life began after former Pentagon and administration officials leaked videos of unidentified objects spotted by the Navy in 2017 to outlets including The New York Times and Politico. This led to the first congressional hearing on UFOs in 50 years in May 2022. At the time, officials said the objects seen in the Navy videos were likely drones.

Following the incident, the Pentagon committed to greater transparency and, in July 2022, established the “All-Around Anomaly Resolution Office” (AARO), a central office to collect reports of all UFO sightings by the military; it replaced the previous task force dedicated to the subject.

An 18-page declassified report submitted to Congress in June 2024 revealed that military personnel had recorded 485 reports of unidentified phenomena over the previous year, of which 118 were identified as “conventional objects such as various types of balloons, birds, and unmanned aerial systems.” The report emphasized that AARO has so far found no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activities, or technologies.

What is more important about this event is its impact on the media, political, and cultural landscape; Trump’s order to clarify the possibility of extraterrestrials shows that the topic of UFOs has moved from the margins to the context of public discourse and can no longer be ignored. Ultimately, the answer to the age-old question “Are we alone in the universe?” still depends on solid scientific evidence, independent research, and genuine institutional transparency, which has also dominated political contests in the United States.

Until the first batch of documents is released, the world will be watching: Will these files reveal a long-standing secret, or confirm the unknown complexities of the heavens? Only time will tell.

To better understand the significance of Donald Trump’s order, it is necessary to review the developments in the US government’s handling of UFOs over the past decade, by year:

2017: The publication by The New York Times and Politico of classified US Navy videos showing objects with unexplained movements sparked a revival of global interest in the subject.

2021: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) releases its first official report on UAPs, which acknowledges 144 confirmed sightings, but emphasizes that none are definitively linked to extraterrestrial technology.

2022: The first public congressional hearing on UFOs in half a century, with Pentagon and intelligence community officials answering questions from lawmakers; AARO established: That same year, the Pentagon established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office to centralize the collection and analysis of military reports of unidentified phenomena.

Political and media experts consider Trump's recent order to be examined from several perspectives, which can be examined in the following framework:

One - The media and political dimension: Many believe that this action is a preemptive or even passive reaction to the media atmosphere and Obama's statements, rather than a security-intelligence decision; by doing so, Trump is both seeking public attention and seeking to put Obama on the defensive.

Two - Public pressure and transparency movements: In recent years, popular movements and independent research groups have exerted increasing pressure to clarify government documents about UFOs. Trump's order could be a response to these demands, although critics warn that only insignificant or previously leaked documents may be published, which will not help convince the American public.

The publication of any document related to unidentified aerial phenomena could have diplomatic and security implications. Some analysts worry that the improper disclosure of information could lead to misunderstandings with rival countries or create unnecessary concerns at the global level. Of course, some members of Congress have welcomed this order and considered it a step towards transparency, but on the other hand, members of the security committees have warned that the release of documents must be done in strict compliance with the protocols of information classification.

A group of conspiracy theorists attributes these phenomena to secret military projects of the Pentagon. A group of space science fans also considers the nature of these cases to be related to non-human and space life, as mentioned above. Meanwhile, a group of military experts has raised the possibility that some of the objects seen may be types of Chinese or Russian military birds that the Pentagon has not been able to identify. However, scientific documents do not confirm any of the aforementioned possibilities.

In fact, UFOs are a serious and confusing issue for the people of the world, and in this regard, perhaps the American media will challenge US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and ask him to take immediate action in this regard.