President Donald Trump attracted excited social media reactions on Thursday evening with the following post to his Truth Social network:
“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 and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
What comes next? Are we about to find out about a multi-decade government conspiracy hiding proof of extraterrestrial visitors?
I think not.
I stand by my previous contentions that a small subset of UFOs witnessed since at least the 1940s constitutes craft operated by an extraterrestrial or “extra[something]” intelligence. Still, most UFOs are weather phenomena, still-secret U.S. or Chinese spy platforms, hobby balloons, or otherwise conventionally explainable phenomena. And this issue is too often dissected by those in the media and scientific community who refuse to take the concern seriously in deference to stigma, and those who foster sensationalism to make money. With Netflix shows, for example. Or by dropping flares to lure unwitting victims into handing over thousands of dollars at a time.
My gut suggests there was a cover-up of at least one crash of a truly extraordinary type of UFO during the 1940s. But if craft or wreckage were recovered, it would have long ago been hidden with defense contractors away from political oversight. Any such wreckage is likely warehoused away from rising congressional scrutiny. Trump’s directive won’t unveil a flying saucer long hidden below Area 51.
Instead, this directive will likely lead to the declassification of certain videos and witness and sensor reports that describe seemingly incredible things moving through Earth’s orbit, skies, and oceans. That will be positive in diluting the stigma that soars with this subject. Yet, the most valuable or at least interesting element of Trump’s order is likely to be seen on the visual side.
More specifically, the declassification of videos that show very strange-looking UFOs flying near U.S. military and government facilities or assets. There are a lot of these videos. While the military has been very quick to release otherwise classified footage of Russian or Chinese jets flying dangerously next to U.S. aircraft, it remains loath to release video of strange-looking or behaving UFOs posing no obvious threat. The military and its political masters have, until now, decided to avoid releasing these videos for fear of being unable to explain what the public is seeing in them. That may now change.
TOM ROGAN: UFO REPORTING IS CAUGHT BETWEEN EXCESS SENSATIONALISM AND EXCESS SKEPTICISM
Nevertheless, it is likely to be up to the public, media, and academia to push forward the investigation into the stranger kind of UFOs. Fortunately, there is a growing trend of bold but scientifically rooted academic studies that are helping to bring credibility and insight to this phenomenon. Recent studies by Dr. Beatriz Villarroel suggest that UFOs may have been monitoring nuclear tests in the 1950s from orbit, for example, while disguising themselves as stars.
Trump’s directive is good news for government transparency, then, but don’t expect imminent proof that aliens are among us.