‘That’s a hell of a video!’ Trump’s reaction to Pentagon’s declassified UFO footage leaves ET hunters puzzled

Weighing in on recently declassified footage of “unexplained aerial phenomena” – better known as UFOs – US President Donald Trump seemingly cast doubt on the videos’ authenticity, driving some alien enthusiasts up the wall.

The president’s remark came during an Oval Office interview with Reuters this week, which was largely focused on the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic but briefly veered off into the paranormal sightings, prompting some playful skepticism from the commander in chief.

I just wonder if it’s real. That’s a hell of a video.

The three video clips were officially released by the US military on Monday, one of which dates back to 2004, showing a now-infamous ‘Tic Tac’-shaped object darting around over the Pacific Ocean. The second and third videos were filmed in 2015, both also depicting a strange object flying through the night sky. In one of them, astonished Navy airmen can be heard as they tried (and failed) to identify the object, which seemed to defy the laws of physics.

Though the videos had previously circulated online between 2017 and 2018 after they were obtained by a company co-founded by Tom DeLonge – a member of the pop-punk band Blink 182 who’s become a major UFO buff – the Pentagon finally dispelled any questions about their origin by releasing them itself.

Remaining doubtful that the clips prove mankind is not alone in the cosmos, Trump’s response to the footage was seized upon by Twitter’s resident UFOlogists, who soon developed a number of theories and interpretations, some more... elaborate than others.

Some netizens deemed the whole episode a “distraction,” part of a shadowy plot to take Americans’ minds off of the raging health and economic crises now gripping the country, with one critic dismissing the supposed UFOs as “high speed drone nonsense.”

As for the implications for “disclosure” – a watchword for alien hunters who believe the government will someday reveal proof of extraterrestrial life – users were divided, some insisting it would never happen, while others were sure it was imminent.

Trump has voiced doubt about UFOs in the past, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in 2019 that he’d attended a “brief meeting” on the subject, but noted it did not turn him into a believer. “People are saying they’re seeing UFOs,” he said, “Do I believe it? Not particularly.”

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