Donald Trump's long-trailed UFO disclosurelanded in Washington and online on Friday, 8 May, when his administration and the Pentagon released a cache of previously unseen files. ButJoe Roganhas already questioned whether the move was really about transparency or a distraction from the war in Iran.
The Pentagon has spent years declassifying material linked to so called unidentified anomalous phenomena across the US government. The new online archive, unveiled the same day Trump promoted it on social media, brings videos, photos and documents together in a single public portal. It also arrives at a politically awkward moment, with US forces still entangled in a conflict in Iran that many Americans never supported.
On Thursday's episode ofThe Joe Rogan Experience, recorded just before the files went live, Rogan pressed Republican congressmanTim Burchetton why the White House had suddenly accelerated the release.
'What doesn't totally make sense, is why now disclosure?' Rogan, 58, asked. He tied his scepticism directly to the situation in the Middle East. The war in Iran, he argued, was 'not going very well' and many Americans were 'very upset' by the conflict.
'A lot of people don't think we should've ever been involved in the first place and we need some good news,' Rogan continued. 'We need something to distract us, we need something to take our focus off.'
He stopped short of claiming there was proof of coordination between the Pentagon release and the political calendar. Even so, his point was clear. In his view, Trump's UFO disclosure looked suspiciously like a shiny spectacle dropped into a tense news cycle.
Nothing released so far shows that Trump personally timed the disclosure around developments in Iran, and the Department of Defense has said declassification has been under way for years. Still, Rogan's scepticism reflects a broader suspicion in Washington that spectacle is often used to redirect public anger.
On paper,the release is substantial. In a statement quoted by US outlets, the department said: 'The American people can now access the federal government's declassified UAP files instantly. The latest UAP videos, photos, and original source documents from across the entire United States government are all in one place, no clearance required.'
The archive reportedly contains more than 160 files covering over 400 incidents worldwide, stretching from the 1940s to cases as recent as last year. For UFO researchers, it is a significant new trove. For Trump, it is also a chance to claim he has done what earlier presidents would not.
'As for my promise to you, the Department of War has released the first tranche of the UFO/UAP files to the public for their review and study,'Trump, 79, wrote on Truth Social on Friday.
Source: International Business Times UK
