U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon and other federal agencies to release all government files on unidentified anomalous phenomena to the public [1].
This move represents a significant shift in government transparency regarding unidentified aerial phenomena, which have long been shrouded in classification and secrecy. By making these records accessible, the administration is removing the government as the sole arbiter of the information.
The directive requires the government to post the materials on a new public portal located at war.gov/ufo [1, 4]. This digital repository is intended to provide a centralized location where citizens can review the data themselves [1].
Trump cited a desire for transparency and noted the tremendous interest from the American public as the primary drivers for the order [1, 5]. "I want the American people to have access to these files," Trump said [1].
The release involves a wide range of classified documents from multiple agencies. The Globe and Mail reported that the president specifically directed these classified UFO file releases [3].
A spokesperson for the Pentagon said that the goal of the disclosure is to allow citizens to reach their own conclusions. "We are releasing these files so the public can make up their own minds," the spokesperson said [5].
While most reports indicate the release was a direct order from the president, some reports from MSN suggest the Pentagon is releasing the files on its own initiative [4]. However, the prevailing accounts from the Toronto Sun and other outlets attribute the move to a White House directive [1].
The files were announced for release on a Friday in early June 2024 [1, 4]. The administration believes that the public should be able to evaluate the evidence of unidentified anomalous phenomena without government filtering [1, 5].
“"I want the American people to have access to these files,"”
This directive marks a transition from a policy of containment to one of disclosure regarding UAP data. By shifting the burden of interpretation to the public, the U.S. government is attempting to mitigate long-standing accusations of cover-ups while potentially offloading the political risk associated with the contents of the files.
