“We’ve Got Our People Working on It Right Now”: Defense Secretary Provides Update on Pentagon Disclosure of UFO Files

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Pentagon officials are currently working to initiate the release of government files on unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP), more commonly known as UFOs.

The effort was prompted by recent statements made by President Donald Trump last week, who announced plans to “begin the process” of releasing official files related to UFOs and extraterrestrial life based on significant public interest in the topic.

Hegseth’s comments were made while speaking with Kristin Fisher, the founder and executive producer of Endless Void Studios, during a visit to the facility of Colorado-based commercial aerospace company Sierra Space on Monday.

While on-site together during the visit, Fisher, who is also a former Fox News White House correspondent, asked whether the Defense Secretary ever believed he would be tasked by the President of the United States with releasing U.S. government records related to UFOs.

 “I did not have that on my bingo card at all,” Hegseth told Fisher.

In a follow-up question, Fisher asked whether Hegseth was prepared to assist with the new UFO initiative, which President Trump announced informally on his Truth Social website last Thursday.

“Of course,” Defense Secretary Hegseth said. “I mean, we’ve got our people working on it right now.”

“I don’t wanna oversell how much time it will take,” Hegseth added. “We’re digging in, and [we’re] gonna be in full compliance with that Executive Order, here to provide that for the President.”

Although Hegseth referenced an “Executive Order,” as of Tuesday, no official directive involving the release of U.S. government files related to UFOs had yet been issued. However, past transparency efforts undertaken by the Trump Administration have relied on such processes to secure the release of documents long withheld by the U.S. intelligence community.

Hegseth said there would be “more coming on that, as far as the process for what we’ll do,” although noting that there was not a timeframe yet for how long this could potentially take.

Hegseth’s comments also followed a statement issued by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in a post on its official X account, which referenced the recent declassification of documents related to the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, and other “long-withheld government secrets” that have captivated the American public.

Citing “Half a million documents declassified in year one alone,” the ODNI’s statement concluded by adding, “And soon, files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, UAPs, and UFOs.”

Asked about the ODNI’s statement, Defense Secretary Hegseth told Fisher that the Pentagon will “work with the DNI, as we always do.”

“I’m heartened to hear that,” Hegseth added, “that she’s doing that,” referring to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

Speculations about U.S. government secrets involving UFOs and potential information related to extraterrestrials have received significant interest over the last decade, following reporting that initially appeared in The New York Times and other outlets revealing the existence of ongoing efforts to evaluate unusual phenomena by the Defense Department, which had long claimed it no longer investigated such matters.

The revelations initiated an ongoing series of official responses, including updates to the U.S. Navy’s reporting procedures for military encounters with UAP and the establishment of a Task Force that examined several dozen incident reports, concluding that unidentified objects posed a potential risk to aviators and presented challenges to U.S. national security.

In 2022, the Pentagon established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) at the direction of Congress, which currently leads the U.S. government’s efforts to evaluate UAP incident reports.

According to a 2024 report based on a historical review of documentation related to the U.S. government’s involvement with UFOs, AARO said that it “found no evidence that any USG investigation, academic-sponsored research, or official review panel has confirmed that any sighting of a UAP represented extraterrestrial technology.”

Later in the same report, AARO also assessed that “UAP sightings and reports of these sightings to USG organizations and claims that some UAP constitute extraterrestrial craft and that the USG has secured and is experimenting on extraterrestrial technology have been influenced by a range of cultural, political, and technological factors,” citing a range of factors that have contributed to beliefs involving possible extraterrestrial visitation to Earth.

Pete Hegseth is not the first U.S. Defense Secretary to comment on the UAP controversy in recent years. In November 2024, then-Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was asked about whether the U.S. government was making progress on the study of aerial mysteries and whether any UAP incidents that he was aware of had threatened national security.

“Quite frankly, I have not seen any UAP incidents that I would categorize as threatening our security,” Austin said at the time. “There are things that happen, that have happened, and probably will continue to happen that are difficult to explain.”

“When we encounter things like that, we will go and investigate those things,” Austin added. “Because whether it’s some really unexplained phenomena, or it’s something that is explainable, we just have to get to the root cause.”

“We’ve organized our effort to ensure that we can methodically identify and assess these incidents,” Austin said, thanking Congress for its support with “the resources we need to be effective.”

While speaking with Fisher this week, Defense Secretary Hegseth alluded to ongoing transparency efforts initiated by the Trump Administration since the beginning of last year, affirming that the release of any records related to UFOs would be a part of that broader process.

“President Trump has been committed to disclosure on lots of levels, and he’s made it clear that he wants answers on this,” Hegseth said.

“He’s given us a responsibility to do it, and we’re gonna be a part of delivering that,” Hegseth said, adding that “It will be a deliberative process.”

Asked specifically about a timeline for the release of government records related to UAP, Hegseth said that, while this remained to be determined, he recognized the significant public interest and that officials would work on it under his direction.

“Expectations are gonna be high, right?” Hegseth told Fisher. “I don’t wanna over promise and under deliver.

“We’re gonna take a little time to make sure we assess what this should look like and deliver for the President, for the American people,” Hegseth said.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.