Since the Cold War era, the numerous UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) sightings have repeatedly begged the same question: do aliens exist? However, decades after the end of the US-USSR rivalry, the American public wants answers.
Hollywood has long capitalized on public fascination with extraterrestrials, producing a steady stream of films about aliens. This cinematic trope surged in the mid-20th century, fueled by widespread UFO sightings, Cold War-era paranoia, and contemporary scientific speculation about life beyond Earth.
Steven Spielberg directed a 1977 film called “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” which depicted ordinary people drawn to UFOs through visions and music. The classic inspired the imagination of many around the world, who became more curious about the idea of aliens.
Another film exploring the subject, called “Contact,” was released in 1997, years after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
Based on a novel by Carl Sagan, it featured a scientist, Jodie Foster, who detected an alien signal and built a machine for interstellar travel. The film delved into science, faith, and the philosophical implications of first contact with aliens.
Several Hollywood films have portrayed extraterrestrial beings as terrifying through chilling depictions of alien abductions and invasions. A notable example is the 1993 film Fire in the Sky.
The movie dramatizes the real-life claims of Travis Walton, an Arizona logger who said he was abducted in November 1975 after being struck by a beam from a UFO in full view of his co-workers, vanishing for five days before reappearing.
The 2016 film Arrival stands out as one of the most modern cinematic explorations of extraterrestrial contact in the 21st century. The movie delves deeply into themes of time, perception, language, and the profound ways communication can reshape our understanding of reality—marking a thoughtful departure from earlier, fear-driven portrayals of aliens.
In succinct terms, UFOs (now officially called UAP – Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) and the possibility of aliens remain among the most debated and intriguing topics. Conspiracy theories, sensational stories, and media portrayals abound, yet their existence remains unproven and highly contested.
The discussion about aliens was recently renewed when former US President Barack Obama appeared on the “No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen” podcast, released on February 14, 2026. When asked in a rapid-fire segment whether aliens were real, “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them, and they’re not being kept in… what is it? Area 51.”
This brief clip went viral, sparking widespread speculation and theories about extraterrestrial life, UFOs, and potential cover-ups by the government.
Soon after, Obama clarified what he meant by his statement on Instagram and other channels, saying: “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens are low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us.”
Interestingly, the US President Donald Trump responded by accusing Obama of leaking “classified information” and announced on February 19, 2026, that he was directing the Pentagon and other agencies to declassify and release government files on UFOs, UAPs, and extraterrestrial life.
“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!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social.
This has fuelled even more theories, with some netizens saying that former President Obama’s slip-up and the subsequent announcement by Trump signal “disclosure” of full government revelation of alien contact is finally happening.
An X user wrote that Obama’s comments are a “soft launch” for declassifying information, especially with Trump’s file release order. Some others claim the timing is suspect because it follows other scandals, such as the release of the “Epstein files”, which have triggered global outrage.
Aliens & UAPs Dominate Discourses
The question of whether we are alone in the universe or if there is or has ever been life beyond Earth is undoubtedly one of the greatest puzzles in science.
More than 6,000 exoplanets, or planets circling stars outside of our Solar System, have been confirmed by astronomers since the field of exoplanet research took off in the 1990s. Experts believe there may be at least one planet around each star visible in the night sky. Moreover, the galaxy is believed to contain as many as 400 billion stars.
Some scientists believe this increases the likelihood that life exists beyond Earth, even if it is merely primitive microbial life. Meanwhile, others argue that without firsthand evidence, judgments cannot be drawn.
“If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans,” Hawking said in 2010 during an episode of the Discovery Channel’s “Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking,” a show hosted by the Discovery Channel.
Hawking later again voiced his fears, “We don’t know much about aliens, but we know about humans. If you look at history, contact between humans and less intelligent organisms have often been disastrous from their point of view… A civilization reading one of our messages could be billions of years ahead of us. If so, they will be vastly more powerful, and may not see us as any more valuable than we see bacteria.”
Ex-ISRO Chief (Indian Space Research Organization), Dr. S. Somanath, has publicly spoken about extraterrestrial life: “No doubt about it… My conscience tells me yes, although I have no proof.”
As the chairman of ISRO, I am telling you this: “If there exists an alien civilization that is ahead of us by just a thousand years, or 10,000 years, it is highly likely that they are extremely advanced and capable of visiting other planets where life exists… It is highly probable that aliens are already interacting with us in ways that are beyond human understanding as of now. I always believe there are aliens around us, much more evolved. We were the very recent origin of life… Aliens are definitely there and present around us.”
Massive Surge in UAPs
A year-on-year surge has been recorded in UFO/UAP incidents, including visual sightings.
According to an air traffic control (ATC) audio clip that leaked earlier this year, a pilot flying a Piper PA-32RT-300T Turbo Lance II over Rhode Island reported spotting a suspicious “small silver canister” hanging just feet from his wingtip at 3,500 feet. The pilot called the object “astonishing” during real-time contact and ruled out common explanations, such as balloons or drones, because it appeared still.
Earlier, Ryan Graves, a former US naval lieutenant who formerly piloted an F/A-18, testified to having seen UFOs.
That incident occurred when two aircraft from his squadron flew side by side, and one of these unidentified objects flew directly between them. Grave noted that a team member characterized the object as a “dark gray or black cube inside of a clear sphere,” adding that although these objects occasionally remained stationary in an odd manner, they did not act like “tethered balloons.”
The Tic-Tac UFO incident, the most well-researched and plausible unexplained aerial phenomena (UAP) case in contemporary history, is another significant event in recent memory. It happened in November 2004 while the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group was practicing off the coast of Southern California. Radar operators on board the USS Princeton at the time swiftly descended from roughly 80,000 feet to sea level in a matter of seconds, detecting odd objects over a period of days.
The Pentagon established the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) to investigate Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAPs) across air, sea, and space in 2022.
As part of their study, the investigators, led by Sean Kirkpatrick, the first director of the AARO, reviewed government documents dating back to 1945 and interrogated current and former military officers.
While many UAP encounters were previously attributed to extraterrestrial beings, there is now a significant contradiction.
UFO sightings were merely conspiracy theories that the Pentagon fabricated and exaggerated as a cover-up for classified military activities, according to a shocking Pentagon report from 2024 that was published in mid-2025.
The agency discovered that the US military intentionally planted UFO conspiracy theories, including those linked to Area 51, to hide classified weapons programs during the Cold War.
According to the study, the purpose of these disinformation campaigns was to hide military equipment testing from anyone who had accidentally observed classified military experiments. It was discovered that the Pentagon spread false information, including Photoshopped images of flying saucers.
The US Air Force’s first premier stealth fighter, the F-117 Night Hawk, was being tested, and at least one theory was made up to hide it.
Before that, the CIA declassified records in 2013 that verified Area 51’s use for testing advanced aircraft, including SR-71 Blackbirds and U-2 spy planes, and explained certain UFO encounters as misclassified military programs.
Separately, AARO released an extensive report (hailed as historic) in March 2024, stating that there was no evidence that the US officials had encountered aliens.
It asserted that most sightings were just misidentified ordinary objects, adding that some cases required further study. Presenting the report, AARO stated that there are now 50 to 100 UAP sightings every month, up from earlier figures.
However, more clarity will emerge once the US government declassifies the much sought-after information.
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