UFO Files Are Coming So Why Are Some Lawmakers Still Talking About Epstein?

Something strange happened in Washington last week. A former president made a casual remark on a podcast. A sitting president accused him of leaking state secrets. And within 48 hours, the White House announced it would open government files that have been locked away for decades.

None of that happened in a vacuum. Behind the sudden push for transparency sits a web of competing interests, political calculations, and unanswered questions that stretch back years. Some of those questions involve what military pilots have seen in restricted airspace. Others involve a late-convicted sex offender whose files the public has been demanding for months.

Washington rarely does anything without a reason. Whether this week’s alien file announcement reflects a genuine commitment to transparency or something else entirely depends on what those files actually contain. That answer is still coming.

Obama Opens the Door

It started with a simple question on a podcast. Former President Barack Obama sat down with progressive podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen for what was billed as a casual “lightning round” interview, published on Saturday, February 15. When Cohen asked whether aliens were real, Obama gave an answer that few expected.

“They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in … Area 51. There’s no underground facility unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States,” Obama said.

For a former commander-in-chief, even a breezy, off-the-cuff comment about extraterrestrial life carries weight. Obama’s remark spread fast, drawing wall-to-wall media coverage and reigniting a debate that has simmered in American culture for generations. By Sunday, Obama felt compelled to clarify. In an Instagram post, he explained that his belief in alien life rests on probability, not proof. “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there,” he wrote, adding that he saw no evidence during his presidency that extraterrestrials had made contact with Earth.

His clarification did little to cool the conversation. If anything, it poured fuel on a fire that was already spreading to Pennsylvania Avenue.

Trump Fires Back and Then Some

President Donald Trump wasted no time weighing in. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday while traveling to Georgia, Trump accused Obama of improperly releasing classified information without offering any evidence to support that claim.

“He took it out of classified information … He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump told reporters, calling Obama’s podcast comments a “big mistake.” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy pressed the president further, asking whether aliens are real. Trump’s answer was notably hedged. “I don’t know if they’re real or not,” he said.

Doocy then pointed out that, as president, Trump holds the authority to declassify anything he chooses. Trump’s response drew attention. “I may get him out of trouble by declassifying,” he said, a smirk reportedly crossing his face.

Obama’s office offered no response to Trump’s classified information claim. Legal analysts and observers noted that nothing in Obama’s podcast remarks suggested access to classified material. Obama himself had been careful to frame his comments around statistical likelihood, not government intelligence. Still, Trump’s accusation landed in a media cycle already primed for drama, and it set the stage for what came next.

What Trump Actually Announced

Hours after his Air Force One remarks, Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social with a formal announcement. He directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other relevant agency heads to begin identifying and releasing government files on aliens, extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

“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), and any other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” Trump wrote.

Exactly what files might surface remains an open question. No timeline was attached to the announcement, and the scope of any release has yet to be defined. What is clear is that public pressure for government transparency on UAPs has been building for years, and Trump’s post gave that pressure an official outlet.

What the Pentagon Already Knows and Doesn’t

Long before Trump’s Truth Social post, the U.S. military had been quietly doing its own accounting of UAP sightings. Pentagon investigations date back decades, with the military’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) now serving as the primary body responsible for tracking and analyzing reported sightings.

In a 2024 report, AARO drew a firm line. “It is important to underscore that, to date, AARO has discovered no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity, or technology,” the office stated. Senior military leaders made similar declarations in 2022, saying they found no proof that aliens had visited Earth or crashed here. Government investigations dating back to the end of World War Two had turned up nothing definitive either, according to the same 2024 report.

That doesn’t mean every sighting has a clear explanation. Pilots and military service members have reported hundreds of encounters with objects that move in ways current aircraft cannot replicate. Many of those cases remain open. AARO acknowledged that while birds, balloons, drones, satellites, and other everyday objects account for a large portion of UAP reports, a meaningful number have no confirmed explanation. Equally, the office noted it has “no indication or confirmation” that unresolved sightings are linked to foreign adversaries.

Public interest has grown as those unresolved cases have come to light. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have pressed the Pentagon to investigate UAPs more aggressively, citing potential threats to national security and civilian air safety.

Area 51, the CIA, and Decades of Speculation

No conversation about government secrecy and UFOs would be complete without Area 51. Located in the Nevada desert, it ranks as one of the most mythologized sites in American geography, a classified Air Force installation that has fueled conspiracy theories for more than half a century.

Speculation about Area 51 has long centered on claims that the government stores alien bodies and crashed spacecraft on the property. In 2013, the CIA put some of that speculation to rest by declassifying documents that confirmed the facility’s existence and identified it as a testing ground for top-secret spy planes. No mention of aliens appeared in those documents. Obama referenced Area 51 in his podcast comments precisely because it occupies such an outsized place in the public imagination and because he wanted to make clear that no alien holding facility exists there or anywhere else, as far as he knew.

Pilots, Whistleblowers, and the Cases That Won’t Close

Not every UAP account comes from anonymous tipsters or fringe theorists. Some of the most credible sightings have come from trained military personnel operating in restricted airspace.

A former Navy pilot gave a nationally televised account on “60 Minutes” describing frequent encounters with fast-moving objects that defied any known flight capability. More recently, a House Republican released a whistleblower video capturing a U.S. missile striking an unidentified glowing orb in the sky and bouncing off it. That footage raised serious questions and drew renewed calls for transparency.

Cases like these are why Congress has repeatedly pushed the Pentagon for answers. A glowing object that repels a military missile is not a weather balloon, and the public knows it. Whether Trump’s planned file release addresses incidents of this kind or sticks to older, already partially disclosed material will determine whether the announcement amounts to a genuine disclosure or a carefully managed presentation of what the government already wanted people to see.

Epstein in the Room

Not everyone greeted Trump’s alien file announcement with enthusiasm. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie was among the most vocal critics, and he did not mince words about his suspicions.

“They’ve deployed the ultimate weapon of mass distraction,” Massie posted on X, “but the Epstein files aren’t going away… even for aliens.”

Massie’s point landed with force. In the weeks before Trump’s announcement, pressure had been mounting on the administration to release files connected to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his alleged network of powerful associates. Public demand for that disclosure had reached a fever pitch, with politicians, journalists, and advocacy groups all demanding answers. When the alien file announcement dropped, more than a few observers drew a straight line between the two stories.

Whether the timing was calculated or coincidental, the effect was undeniable. Alien files dominated news cycles for days, while the Epstein conversation receded. Massie’s criticism reflected a broader frustration among those who fear the Epstein investigation will be allowed to quietly fade while a more palatable news story takes its place.

Between the Announcement and the Truth

An order to identify and release files is not the same as releasing them. Trump’s Truth Social post launched a process, not a product. Federal agencies must now go through their records, determine what can be disclosed, and presumably weigh classification concerns before anything reaches the public.

Worth noting is that the National Archives and Records Administration already holds UAP-related records spread across numerous collections. Some of that material has been available for years, even if it has received little public attention. Any new release would presumably go further, drawing on Pentagon files, intelligence agency records, and potentially material that has never been made public.

Whether the release answers long-standing questions or simply introduces new ones depends entirely on what those files contain. If the government’s official position that no confirmed evidence of extraterrestrial activity exists holds up under scrutiny, the disclosure may end up reinforcing conclusions already on record. If something else is in those files, it would represent one of the most consequential government disclosures in modern history. For now, Washington is talking about aliens. And somewhere, the Epstein files are still waiting.