The US President said that he knew “a lot of interesting things” about the crash of an unidentified flying object in the city of Roswell in 1947. In an interview he gave his son Donald Trump Jr. on the eve of Father's Day, the American leader also did not rule out that information about this legendary incident could be declassified. 

Concluding the conversation, Trump Jr. asked if the head of the White House would ever disclose additional information about Roswell "and make it clear what was really happening."

“I will not discuss with you what I know about it, but it is very interesting,” the US president answered.

As for the possible disclosure of information about the incident, Trump said that he "will need to think about it."

Presidential promises

It is worth noting that Donald Trump is not the first American politician to promise to declassify UFO information during the pre-election period. During the 2016 campaign, a similar statement was made by Trump's main rival, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

During an interview on Jimmy Kimmel’s program, she was asked a similar question about UFOs, in response to which the former first lady clarified that “now it's called differently.”

“These are unidentified aerial phenomena. The IAF, this is the new nomenclature, ”said Clinton.

Then the politician said that if she wins the election, all information about such phenomena will be declassified, if this does not affect the sphere of national security.

A similar promise in 2019 was made by another candidate from the Democratic Party - socialist Senator Bernie Sanders. In an interview with TV presenter Joe Rogan, he noted that if he heads the state, he will certainly declassify UFO documents, as his wife constantly asks about this.

Recall also that during the 1976 campaign, the future 39th president, Jimmy Carter, did not hesitate to say that in 1969 he himself witnessed the appearance of UFOs in Georgia and even turned to the NICAP ufological organization with testimonies.

Historical incident

The incident in the town of Roswell in the state of New Mexico, about which Donald Trump spoke in his interview, became a landmark for world ufology. On June 14, 1947, an unidentified object collapsed near the village on a thunderstorm, a wreckage of which was discovered by a local farmer. The found fragments were subsequently seized by the US military.

On July 8, 1947, a number of regional newspapers in the front pages reported that "the Air Force captured a flying saucer near Roswell," referring to a press release prepared by an officer in the Air Force base.

  • US Air Force Major Jesse Marcel Demonstrates Mogul Wreckage Balloons
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  • © Universal History Archive

However, the very next day, Air Force General Roger Raimi denied this information. According to him, the mysterious object was nothing more than a weather balloon, which was used as part of the secret Mogul program. 

Some time later, the farmer also confirmed the official version, but refused to give any additional comments. The resonant incident was soon forgotten.

In 1978, an American ufologist and physicist Stanton Friedman published an interview with a participant in those events, US Air Force Major Jesse Marcel, who told him that the American army had hidden from the public the discovery of an alien spacecraft and the aliens that were on it.

The interview again sparked widespread interest in UFO sightings, and the Roswell incident became one of the central elements of American pop culture - several books were written about it, a number of documentary and feature films and television series were shot.

The town itself has turned into a tourist Mecca for ufologists from around the world; various thematic congresses and festivals are regularly held there.

“In Search of Answers”

The UFO theme again returned to the pages of the American media in December 2017. Then a number of publications, including, for example, The New York Times, Politico, Time, Newsweek, reported on the Pentagon program, which also involved in the study of UFOs. Also widely disseminated were videos that allegedly demonstrated the harassment of unidentified aircraft by US Navy pilots.

The U.S. War Department then confirmed the existence of the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP), which existed from 2007 to 2012. Within its framework, $ 22 million was spent on the study of unidentified flying objects and unidentified atmospheric phenomena.

In 2019, new details about this program appeared in the American media, and military pilots confirmed their participation in the events described. Media interest in the subject of UFOs has grown so much that journalists turned to Donald Trump for clarification.

In response to a question about the increased number of U.S. Navy pilots testimonies about encounters with unidentified flying objects, the president said that he was informed of alleged UFO sightings.

“I saw the materials, read and heard about it. I even had one very short meeting on this issue. People claim to see UFOs. Do I believe in that? Not really, ”Trump said in an interview with ABC News in June 2019.

Meanwhile, at the end of April 2020, the Pentagon published three videos of the US Navy, made in 2004 and 2015, which recorded "air phenomena", characterized as "unidentified."

The agency reminded that the data was in the public domain as a result of "unauthorized publication in 2007 and 2017." Now, the military decided to make public the cadres in order to prove their authenticity.

The commercials were also commented on by Donald Trump, noting the unusual nature of the events on the records published by the Pentagon.

“I'm just wondering if it is real. Awesome video, ”the president told Reuters.

Analysts, in turn, note that the American leader indicated his interest in such a non-trivial topic is far from accidental. 

So, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies Vladimir Bruter, in an interview with RT, suggested that with the help of such statements, Trump is trying to divert attention from the difficult situation before the upcoming elections.

“The country has developed a rather tense situation, so he believes that any opportunity to reverse the negative trend for him should be used. Trump will speculate on such “sensations” only in order to prevent a reduction in his electoral prospects, ”explained Bruter.

Political scientist Alexander Asafov adheres to a similar point of view. In a conversation with RT, he noted that in the current situation in the US, Trump will look for any reason in order to distract the attention of citizens from her.

“The fact is that Trump now has a difficult political situation. This is due both to the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic - primarily unemployment, and the existing difficulties in fighting its political opponents within the country, ”the expert says.

The current head of the White House seeks to create an agenda that will distract people from real problems, Asafov said. According to him, so Trump expects to increase his chances of re-election. The same goal is pursued by the American media, which began to publish front-page materials about the UFO phenomenon, the political scientist notes.

“The New York Times and The Washington Post have been trying to create a new agenda for American society, as the internal situation in the US is getting out of hand. Now any topic that is interesting and captivating the society will be used for these purposes, ”says Asafov.