President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to begin releasing government files related to aliens and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), citing strong public interest in the subject. The directive, issued on February 20, 2026, marked a significant step toward increased transparency regarding UFO investigations conducted by multiple branches of the U.S. government.
The United States government has investigated UFO reports since 1947, with various programs and agencies involved over the decades. One of the most well-known efforts, Project Blue Book, operated from 1952 until 1969 and reviewed more than 12,600 reported sightings. Despite thorough investigations, 701 cases from that period remained officially unidentified. The project concluded its work 50 years ago but left many questions unanswered.
Since the end of Project Blue Book, federal attention to UFOs has fluctuated, with classified studies continuing intermittently in various departments including the Department of Defense and intelligence agencies. According to records maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), documents related to UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) have been preserved across numerous federal record groups and collections. These include files from past administrations, such as press releases from the Ford presidency dating back to the mid-1960s, as well as more recent reports and imagery submitted by the U.S. European Command to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO).
The release directive comes amid growing calls to declassify and disclose UFO-related information dating back decades. Multiple government offices, including the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency, have previously declassified some UFO documents, primarily concerned with sightings reported in foreign press and intra-agency communications about how such cases were handled.
This development follows decades during which many UFO sightings remained unexplained publicly, fueling curiosity about government knowledge and activity regarding potential alien encounters. The directive by President Trump directs relevant federal agencies to make their records more readily available for public access, which may include classified data spanning multiple administrations and covering a broad range of phenomena.
The move also aligns with previous efforts by the U.S. government to organize and investigate anomalous aerial phenomena, seeking to identify any potential threats or explain unusual observations. The All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, established in the early 2020s, represents a centralized agency tasked with collecting and analyzing these reports, some of which include official military video and imagery classified as UAP.
As federal agencies comply with the instruction to release UFO-related files, these archives are expected to provide new insights into historical and recent investigations. The National Archives and various presidential libraries hold significant collections of documents and records about the topic, some of which have been previously restricted from public view.
Overall, the initiative underscores ongoing government engagement with UFO phenomena that has persisted for nearly 80 years, reflecting shifts in policy on transparency and a response to heightened public attention on this longstanding topic.
